Lektionsüberblick

In the United States, especially in large states like Wyoming and Texas, we are accustomed to having space and land to create landfills to dispose of a great deal of our trash. In smaller countries like Liechtenstein, Austria, Switzerland, and Germany, for example, there is a strong sentiment towards recycling, living more sustainably, and environmental stewardship in general. That’s the focus of this lesson. In the end, you will be able to 1) identify a variety of zero waste methods and 2) talk about your plans for zero waste.

1) Zero Waste Prinzip – Abfallvermeidung und -entsorgung

In German-speaking countries, the Zero Waste method (often called Zero Waste Prinzip or Zero Waste Lebensstil) refers to a philosophy of living aimed at reducing the amount of waste a person or a household produces with the ultimate goal being zero waste. It emphasizes sustainable living and mindful consumption. Abfallvermeidung und -entsorgung (preventing trash and trash disposal) are important tenants to this philosophy. We will look at some ways that are used to accomplish this.

Pfandflaschen — Kompost und Biomüll — Mülltrennung und Recycling

Pfandflaschen

The German-speaking countries have a Pfandsystem (deposit system) for specific bottles, jars, and other beverage containers. You pay a little extra depending on the container, and when you’re done with the drink, you return the container and get your deposit back. The Pfand is meant to encourage people to recycle their bottles. In the past, many of those bottles were Mehrwegflaschen, meaning they would be sanitized and reused. In the meantime, since the economic and ecological effort of doing this is higher than simply recycling the bottles, there is a shift to Einwegflaschen.

Germany and Austria still have Pfand on virtually every kind of drink container. Liechtenstein and Switzerland’s Pfandsysteme are much smaller. Instead, people are encouraged to recycle without a Pfand.

Let’s practice some important words and phrases dealing with the Pfandsystem.

Kompost und Biomüll

German-speaking Europe is pretty organized when it comes to composting and dealing with organic refuse. They are a part of the Mülltrennungssystem, the trash separation system. We will talk about that more in a minute, but first…Was ist Biomüll genau? Look at the short slideshow below to understand what constitutes Biomüll/Bioabfall und Kompost, and what does not.

Mülltrennung und Recycling

Listen as the host of Authentic German Learning talks about his local Mülltrennungssystem.

🎥You can also watch this video from the Goethe Institute about die Mülltrennungssystem und Recycling.

Let’s practice!

2) Wie ich nachhaltig lebe

There are many ways to live sustainably. Read and listen to the vocabulary in the presentation below for a few such ways.

Listen to some ways that Frau Bade decides which products she will purchase based on packaging (die Verpackung) and how this adds to her living as sustainably as possible. Then complete the activity.

🎥You can also watch this video Grün ohne Geld produced by a student at the Universität Tübingen about sustainable living on a budget.

➡️You can read Weniger Plastik – 8 Tipps for deinen Alltag for some helpful tips for reducing plastic.

Media Attributions

• Mülltrennungssystem video by Authentic German Learning licensed under CC BY International License.
• Menschen und Umwelt video and activity from Grenzenlos Deutsch, licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 International license.