4 ms·

For dealing with the bottles Germany has a bottle deposit, (up to 0.25€ depending on bottle and kind of drink, for partially weird reasons) Aside from many peo

For dealing with the bottles Germany has a bottle deposit, (up to 0.25€ depending on bottle and kind of drink, for partially weird reasons) Aside from many people returning bottles, that makes it "lucrative" for some people to collect thrown away bottles and returning them. (while I find it questionable to have a situation where people search through trash for that little money ...)

daneel_w 4y ago
It's indeed socially unideal to have people rummage in trash, but it's because it's not "little money" to them. It's what they need to get by. Searching in other people's waste makes the difference of enough money to buy a fruit and a bread roll.
- tokai 4y ago
  Yeah definitely not little money. Here people travel to the country and buy tickets to large music festivals with the only purpose being collecting bottles and cans. While a calculated hourly pay would be bad compared to most salaries here, it still end up being much more than it is possible to make many other places.
- johannes1234321 4y ago
  Yes, it's not little money for them. That's not what I wanted to imply. It is little money for most parts of society, but to them it is enough to warrant digging through dirt. Which, in my view, shows that there is something wrong as we like to praise our social system. (but then things are more complex ...) Thanks for making the distinction clear!
jve 4y ago
> while I find it questionable to have a situation where people search through trash for that little money ... Living in a post-soviet country... Yeah, I don't see that often today (but I do), but 10+ years ago I would constantly see (poor) people collecting glass bottles and depositing for up to 0.06€, to get another drink... Nowdays plastic bottles go for 0.1€. And it is not littered where I live - but they would get out that stuff from bins too. Anyway, it still is a thing.

daneel_w 4y ago

It's indeed socially unideal to have people rummage in trash, but it's because it's not "little money" to them. It's what they need to get by. Searching in other people's waste makes the difference of enough money to buy a fruit and a bread roll.

tokai 4y ago
Yeah definitely not little money. Here people travel to the country and buy tickets to large music festivals with the only purpose being collecting bottles and cans. While a calculated hourly pay would be bad compared to most salaries here, it still end up being much more than it is possible to make many other places.
johannes1234321 4y ago
Yes, it's not little money for them. That's not what I wanted to imply. It is little money for most parts of society, but to them it is enough to warrant digging through dirt. Which, in my view, shows that there is something wrong as we like to praise our social system. (but then things are more complex ...) Thanks for making the distinction clear!

jve 4y ago

> while I find it questionable to have a situation where people search through trash for that little money ... Living in a post-soviet country... Yeah, I don't see that often today (but I do), but 10+ years ago I would constantly see (poor) people collecting glass bottles and depositing for up to 0.06€, to get another drink... Nowdays plastic bottles go for 0.1€. And it is not littered where I live - but they would get out that stuff from bins too. Anyway, it still is a thing.