{"id":27221,"date":"2020-07-15T13:22:00","date_gmt":"2020-07-15T11:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/the-fizz-old.testpage.click\/?p=27221"},"modified":"2023-12-18T10:51:39","modified_gmt":"2023-12-18T09:51:39","slug":"the-very-german-concept-of-waste-separation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/the-fizz-old.testpage.click\/en\/the-very-german-concept-of-waste-separation\/","title":{"rendered":"The Very German Concept Of Waste Separation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The reason behind waste separation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The most complicated thing for a foreigner coming to Germanyis to distinguish between the articles “der”, “die”, and “das”. As a person affected, I can tell you a thing or two about it. The second most complicated matter is actually quite profane: it’s about taking out the garbage. It seems simple at first, but the Germans make a BIG deal out of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m going to be honest here: When I first moved to Germany, I did not take this matter seriously. I was lazy and always told myself: \u201cOne person will not harm the earth if he didn’t separate. This is too much for nothing. Besides, I don’t have enough space in my apartment to separate.\u201d Well, damn me I was wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u200d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Start with the basics: What is waste and what does it do? <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Waste in the Cambridge Dictionary:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most of our waste is a man-made material that needs to bedealt with (recycled) or it will decompose and poison the earth. Imagine this: It takes up to 1.000 years to decompose plastic waste!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Realizing that what we produce as consumers every single day truly is terrifying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to a National Geographic article, since 1950 we\u2019ve produced more than 9.2 BILLION tons of plastic, of which 6.3 billion tons never make it into the recycling loop. In North America, the daily production of waste is 2 kg per capita<\/strong>. Each year we dump approximately 8 million tons into the ocean, endangering the marine life. This is a global problem and it depends on every single one of us. We are the cause and we need to be the solution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u200d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The
TRASH ISLAND in the pacific | Photo by steemit<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Since it’s the only place we can live in for now (fingers crossed for the Mars mission with SpaceX!), we as consumers need to contribute in the recycling process. It starts in our very household, that is: in your THE FIZZ apartment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u200d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to seperate waste?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In my opinion, the very simple concept of the bottle return system – “Pfand” – in Germany should be implemented as law wider than just in Europe! The waste separation culture should be taught to us in schools, just like Math. I mean\u2026  plenty of us won\u2019t ever use \u201csinus & cosinus \u201d trigonometry! So why not teach us how to get rid of our trash?! I can imagine myself writing an exam about which garbage goes into which trash can.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking of: In Germany, there are different trash bins to choose from:<\/p>\n\n\n\n