Where Sustainability Isn’t a Trend – It’s Just Germany

By Miranda Dreisin (Universität Leipzig, Germany)

I had a friend visiting me recently in Germany, and on an afternoon walk through one of Leipzig’s most beautiful parks, she asked me if the entire city had randomly woken up that morning and decided to go cycling. It was that comment that made me realise that the sustainability that had initially suprised me, had become something I had slowly stopped noticing. Living in Germany has made eco friendliness seem like less of an occasional effort, and more like a consistent everyday expectation.

One of the first things I noticed after arriving in Germany was the recycling system – and how it’s normally not as simple as throwing an item into one bin.

Most regions in Germany follow the four bin system:

Paper and cardboard waste, which we have in England.
Biotonne: food waste, which is incredibly strict. For example, in the bins outside my flat, plastic, paper, and biodegradable bags are forbidden (you have to pour the contents of your food bin directly out into the bin).
Leicht Verpackung, where you can recycle plastic items, drink cans, cartons, yoghurt pots and their lids, aluminium foil, and bottle caps.
Everything that cannot be recycled goes in the Restabfall black bins (though this is usually very little).

Glass is not included in this system, but is recyclable, and is sorted into Glass white, green, and brown.

Germany is also very good at producing less waste in shops, cafes, bars and universities. In the 8 months I’ve been in Germany, I’ve yet to see anyone at the supermarket use a plastic bag for their shopping, everyone uses reusable bags. (With fruit and veg there is the option of a small plastic bag for it to go in, and even though it can be recycled, I, like many people, use a reusable mesh bag instead to keep it in). I also typically opt for loose fruit and veg which I will weigh at the till, rather than pre packaged stuff.

In supermarkets, cafes, and bars, water and other drinks will more often than not be sold in glass bottles. Water, especially at uni, is typically expensive especially if it is in a plastic bottle, which I believe incentivises people not to buy it. There are also not any water fountains (to my knowledge) at my university as all the tap water in the buildings is drinkable. I also very rarely see disposable water bottles or coffee cups as everyone has something reusable. The university cafeteria and library cafe also serve coffee in mugs, which you can take to your classes or the library, and then return at the end of the day.

The Genius of Germany’s Pfand System

The first time I fed an empty bottle in a German Pfand machine and saw money appear on the screen, I realised Germany takes recycling far more seriously than anywhere I’ve been before. The word Pfand in this context translates to deposit return and refers to Germany’s bottle deposit system, where customers pay a small fee on drinks containers and receive the money back when they return them to recycling machines. The Pfand bottle deposit typically costs as high as €0.25 per container, depending on whether it is Einweg (single use) or Mehrweg (multiple use). From my experience, single use plastic bottles and energy drink cans are €0.25; whereas reusable glass bottles for juice, water, or beer, are about €0.08 – €0.15.

Normally about once a week, I will take bottles to my local Pfand machine (which you can find at pretty much any supermarket), and get my deposit back before doing my weekly shop. The deposit can be returned in physical cash, but I prefer to get it in the form of a coupon, which I will then scan when I check-out and get the money taken off my shop. The reason I love this system so much is that it serves as such an incentive for recycling for everyone. It has return rates of single use containers reported as high as 98%, making it one of the most effective recycling systems in the world.

The Culture of Reusing

One of my favourite things about Germany is its culture of reusing. In recent years, second hand shopping has made a rise in England, however it is still second to that of Germany’s. When I first moved to Germany, the student union organised a crockery exchange for new students. It was held in a small room in the student union building, of which the walls were lined with hundreds, if not thousands of pieces of second hand crockery and cooking equipment. They were all items donated mainly by international students. Since being here, I haven’t bought a single piece of cutlery or pots or pans or bowls. When I went, I took 38 things, and signed a form to say I would bring it back at the end of the year. I was so grateful for it as I saved so much money, and also reduced a lot of waste.

One of my other favourite things is the culture of Zu Verschenken, which translates to “to give away”. In most apartment blocks, such as my own, there is a Zu Verschenken box normally in the foyer, or outside, where people will leave items they no longer want, and are happy for anyone to take. I have also got a couple of pots and pans from the one in my apartment block, and I have had friends who have gotten room decor, plants, clothes, bags, shoes, and even lamps from theirs.

The other great second hand initiative in Germany is the frequent flee markets, which are authorised and sometimes even run by the state (Stadt Leipzig). There is normally one happening almost every weekend somewhere in the city, and they are very easy to find out about. This is the website my friends and I normally use to find out about them: https://rausgegangen.de/en/leipzig/category/market/?geospatial_query_type=CITY&lat=51.339697503238774&lng=12.373063482329266&city=leipzig

Similar to England, there are vintage shops all over the place, and a lot of people wear second hand clothes. Second hand clothes websites such as Vinted are normally much better here; for example with a German Vinted account, you get access to all of Europe’s Vinted.

Transport and Infrastructure

It wasn’t a coincidence that my friend noticed so many cyclists that afternoon. Cycling here isn’t treated as an alternative form of transport – it’s one of the main ones. There are cycle lanes that take me straight from my front door to uni, bike lanes run alongside most roads, and are treated by the public with a lot more respect than they are in England. There are places to lock bikes everywhere; my university campus has a huge underground bike shed with ramps. My apartment block has the same, and you have to use a separate key to access it, making it very secure.

My absolute favourite thing about transport in Germany, however, is the Deutschland-Ticket, which is a monthly public transport pass that allows unlimited travel on trains, trams, buses, and underground systems anywhere in Germany. It doesn’t cover the cost of ICE trains, which are fast and direct, meaning that you can only get regional trains, which take about double the time, and it normally requires a few connections to get anywhere far. Normally it costs around €63 per month, but university students in Leipzig receive it automatically as part of their semester fee (we pay about €313 each semester to the University). In my opinion, this makes public transport much cheaper and easier to use than in the UK and incentivises people to use sustainable transport alternatives to driving.

My Thoughts

From the way rubbish is sorted, to how people here travel and shop, I can confidently say Germany is the most environmentally conscious place I’ve ever been. Since moving here in September, I have become so much more environmentally aware and started putting in even more effort than I did before to help the environment. What once felt surprising now feels like second nature – and it’s hard to imagine going back to living any other way. Sustainability is so much easier when local infrastructure supports it, and I hope one day England will become as environmentally aware as Germany.

Other Sustainable Practices I do:

Cleaning:

Reusable cleaning cloths instead of kitchen roll
Refillable soap rather than buying a whole new one
Less frequent washing and heavier loads
No tumble drying only air drying

Studying and Reading:

I am currently learning Russian, which requires a lot of handwriting, which I am doing on my iPad instead of paper. Everything I need to write down, e.g. to-do lists, etc. I will generally write on my iPad.
When I absolutely need to use paper, for example, handwritten class assessments, I have a pad of lined recycling paper which I use.
I enjoy reading but don’t buy physical new copies of books, I download them on my Kindle. A lot of the German books I’ve read here have been from car boot sales or Zu Verschenken boxes. The same applies for textbooks – I try to get them first from the library, then online, and if that isn’t possible, then I will get them second hand.