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Best usages and practices in Germany

Last activity 09 March 2017 by beppi

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Priscilla

Hello everyone,

Living in Germany means learning new ways of doing things and incorporating to your daily life unique practices.

We invite you to share unique practices, tools or methods that could also make a difference in other countries.

For instance, have you recently discovered new rules or habits regarding transportation, the environment or health in Germany? Are there innovative and useful practices or services that make daily life simpler?

Thank you for your contribution.

Priscilla

beppi

Well, it might not make life simpler, but Germans are world-champions in recycling and have a very efficient (and sometimes difficult to get used to) system you must follow to separate your household garbage into various categories and dispose of it in various containers or methods.
If you want this world greener (and who doesn't?) or simply avoid trouble with nosy neighbours who do, then you better internalise and follow the garbage separation rules to the point.
Unfortunately, these rules are made by each township and thus differ locally.
It is common to separate paper (which goes into the paper bin), glass (which you bring to the nearest glass container), bottles with deposits (which you return to the seller), compostable organics (which go into the compost bin), packaging materials (which go into the yellow bag or bin), batteries (which you must put in a battery collection box, which you find in most supermarkets), hazardous chemicals incl. medicine, motor oil and, interestingly, energy savings bulbs (which you must bring to a public collection point), bulky refuse (which some townships collect regularly, or you can bring to a collection point) and all the rest (which won't be much and  goes into the normal waste bin, often in grey or black colour).
If that is not enough for you, many townships also separately collect wood (to be used as pellets to heat buildings), aluminium, steel and sometimes other metals, various kinds of plastics, electronics scrap, etc.
The better you separate materials, the better chance they have to be recycled. Germans made a science out of this!

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