It started at splash! fest. I noticed that when you went to buy any type of drink that came in a bottle, you were given a chip back. Downing one of the best soft drinks Germany has to offer, 'Lift", an apple like carbonated juice, I had a stack of chips and no knowledge as to what to do with them.
Peeping the scene, I noticed some people bringing emptied bottles to the counter, along with their chips, and getting money back. Just like how they have it in the States, except for one huge difference...
They were getting Euro coins back.
So, let me break this down for you. In America, the most you can get back for recycling cans and bottles is around ten cents. Nothing, in reality. In Germany, you can get back 1 euro, on a drink that may have cost 2 euros. With the conversion rate, that's like getting $1.50 per bottle you return. That's a legit investment.
I found it so efficient because what starts happening is people clean up after themselves. And I admit to doing this too. I found myself with chips, and no bottles. I then proceeded to scour the area looking to return someone else's empty bottle for them. Thinking this was just at splash, Thomas told me at a waterfront bar, that it's just how they operate. It's seen as a good deed to leave an empty bottle out in a park or in a public area, because you know that someone who needs it will definitely find it, seeing how lucrative they are.
Getting almost a 50% return on a drink purchase sounds like amazing bottle service to me...
