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Solid waste is generated every day all over the world. In some countries it is managed very well, whereas in others it still needs improvement. How is it managed in Germany? What do people in other countries think about solid waste management in Germany? Actually, people in many countries have very high expectations about solid waste management in Germany. But what is the real situation? What is the first impression a tourist gets, coming to Germany for the first time?
It was a great shock for me when I first came to Germany in 2004. I was so disappointed to see people throwing garbage around without any concern about the environment. When I first walked into this university, I saw the students here (local and international) just throwing garbage wherever they wanted. Students smoked everywhere on the campus. And where did they finally throw the cigarette butts? Right on the ground! Is this a good image of students studying at university level?
In the student halls of residence there are only a few garbage bins
provided by the Studentenwerk in each kitchen. Are the students
here separating garbage properly? The answer is: No!
Hence, to manage these problems especially in the halls of residence, we decided to start a project founded on an idea of Dr. Klaus Fischer (lecturer at ISWA), which could be a good example for all the students on this campus. In Allmandring 22A we started sorting garbage into eight types: biowaste, plastic, paper, aluminium, steel, glass, residual waste and other waste. By doing this, we have managed to collect valuable materials that can be recycled without any contamination. Perhaps this is the first step to encourage students to start recycling. This project was started in September 2005 and it’s still going on well today.
At the beginning it was quite difficult to persuade all the students in this hall to start sorting their garbage: they all come from a variety of countries and have very different points of view about garbage. But all the students were totally cooperative.
„We students in this building hope that we can give a good example to the students in other halls of residence,” emphazises Kavitha Pathmanathan. „Everyone should care for our environment and start taking appropriate action to protect it. And I would like to thank Dr. Klaus Fischer for all his help and encouragement in carrying out this project.”
Kavitha Pathmanathan
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