Author Archives: Josephine

German Pfand System

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The very first time I heard about the Pfand system was when I spent an extended summer in Berlin, Germany. Some other student I was with told me about a system to return bottles and receive a deposit back. While sometimes, we would return them ourselves, we would also purposely leave empty bottles out at parks for others to pick up and get the return deposit. This would typically be homeless who could return the bottles in exchange for money in grocery stores to purchase food and other essentials.

The German Pfand system is something that I am surprised more grocery stores have yet to adopt. Essentially, it works by attaching a bottle deposit price when customers purchase glass or plastic bottles. When the bottle is empty, customers return the bottle and receive their deposit back. Many grocery stores have a depository bin or can be returned to the cashier. In Germany, this can be up to $0.29 for bottles that can be re-used like glass and PET plastic bottles, which is set by the producer, or a set $0.29 by the government for single use bottles. When returned, the re-usable bottles are sent to their wholesaler warehouse to be sanitized and then refilled. The single use bottles are shredded, melted, and the turned into new plastic bottles or other materials. This system continues on and on to reduce the amount of plastic produced.

The Pfand system began in Germany where they have seen a bottle return rate as high as 98%. This means less raw materials, less energy, and less carbon emissions, all just by encouraging bottle returns. Traditional recycling is not as effective as the bottle recycling system because bottle are mixed with other recycling and get contaminated by other food products. The Pfand system is for bottles and only bottles, preventing the issues caused by traditional recycling programs.

Ideally, this system seems pretty straight forward to replicate. However, it requires a whole new system in factories to pick up, clean, and refill bottles. Replicating this in a country who consumers more, moves more, and is much larger could prove to be difficult. Beginning simply in cities with smaller grocery stores and a denser population may be the key to creating this system in the U.S.

However, it is not unlikely that the U.S could successfully replicate the system. With a growing amount of conscious consumers, stores are forced into more sustainable practices like reusable or paper bags instead of plastic bags. If the Pfand system begins in cities where trends grow, it has the chance to grow into a new sustainable movement in grocery stores.

Bibliography

Ruiz, I. B., & Cwienk, J. (2021, November 24). A look at Germany’s bottle deposit scheme – DW – 11/17/2021. dw.com. Retrieved May 7, 2023, from https://www.dw.com/en/how-does-germanys-bottle-deposit-scheme-work/a-50923039

Nils Udo

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Nils Udo is a German artist from the mid 1900’s. He specializes in environmental art after realizing that the environment is endangered. Udo began by painting in Paris until he realized that he can include natural materials into his work. Soon after, he moved back to Bavaria and began to do his artwork outside and delved into environmental art. Udo does two types of artwork, one being sculptures with material he finds in nature and the other being environmental art that he brings back into cities. In almost all of his works, Nils primarily uses material that he finds in the space he is using. Eventually, Nils decided that he wanted to make something that would have a last effect. So, he turned to photography. By photography his natural art, Nils Udo has been able to sell this photographs and show how important nature is all over the world.

The piece of art that I focused on was his piece call Stone Age Man. This giant monument was created in 2001 in Wittgensteiner-Sauerland, Germany. It is a large temple shaped monument made of large tree trunks as the frame and a cube shaped rock. Everything that was used in this piece was found from the forest.

Nils Udo created this sculpture to highlight the fact that nature is forever and we are just living in it. The ancient temple shaped monument allows viewers to look at it and understand their vulnerability in life and nature. This work is in a German forest which allows those spending time in nature to admire its meaning.

This artist and art work is based in Germany but also connects to Germans sense of connection to nature and the forest. Germans have a word to describe their feeling in the forest, “Waldeinsamkeit” which translates to solitude in the forest. This solitude allows Germans to connect and appreciate nature for what it is. Udo continues to represent this in his art by creating natural sculptures in forests for Germans to admire.

Udo attempts to mimic nature in many of his works. While the Stone Age Man may not look like something that mimics nature, it represents the deep connection to nature that has been held over centuries. Other works of his also attempt to mimic the shape of animal made structures like nests and beaver dams. This shows his appreciation to works of art found naturally.

While Nils Udo creates these sculptures throughout the world, his appreciation stems from the culture of nature in Germany.

Nils Udo artwork “Stone-Age-Man” (photo found at https://www.komoot.com/highlight/232660)

Work Cited:

Grande, J. K. (2021, May 27). Nils-Udo: Nature works. Sculpture. Retrieved April 24, 2023, from https://sculpturemagazine.art/nils-udo-nature-works/

Nils Udo. Art for the Environment. (2016, June 2). Retrieved April 24, 2023, from https://ecoartseurope.wordpress.com/2016/06/01/nils-udo/