I think something interesting about Germany is how interesting in recycling the country is (as compared to America). Just walking around, it’s easy to find trashcans that allow placement of paper, glass, etc.
Not only that, though; trucks, SUVs, and other huge vehicles that are really common in South Carolina (and which I abhor, as most people who drive them don’t need them and are simply using them as a status symbol and using up all of our resources) are pretty much non-existent in Germany. I think that I only saw one pickup truck in Berlin the entire time that we were there, and relative to the amount of cars that we saw there, that’s really crazy.
Something that’s kind of inconvenient about Germany, but that’s pretty cool at the same time is the Pfand.
The Pfand, for those of you who are reading this back at home and have never heard of it, is a fee that you pay separate from the cost of your drink in order to pay for your bottle. But here’s the thing; if you bring the bottle back to the store, you get the money that you paid for the Pfand back. Essentially, this encourages bringing bottles back to the source and therefore, encourage recycling with the returning of your money. I really think that this is something America would benefit from. Imagine how many more people would recycle if they had to pay a fee for bottles, but if they got it back when they recycled their bottles. People who would never think to recycle would see an obvious incentive to do so, and as a result, plastic products would become cheaper because more plastic would be being recycled than previously.
I really don’t see a negative to the Pfand, other than that it can sometimes be inconvenient to go back to stores to return bottles. Perhaps in the future, America can work out some kind of Pfand-like system.
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