In Germany, ‘green’ and kitsch don’t always mix
Posted: Monday, February 25, 2008 2:13 PM
Filed Under:
Mainz, Germany
By Andy Eckardt, NBC News Producer
RUMMELSHEIM, Germany – Fair warning: This story involves one of those fairytale, somewhat kitschy German villages.
It also includes a cuddly toy, environmental laws and high-tech sneakers.
Let’s start in Rümmelsheim. Rummelsheim is the type of village where the grass seems to have been cut with rulers and fingernail clips. The sidewalks are so spotless you could eat off them.
Many Germans would call this little wine-growing town near the Rhine River a "lawn gnome community"– referring to those plastic dwarfs which often characterize "proper" German gardens and are a common sign of the German propensity for orderliness.
Sometimes that penchant for order is taken to extremes.
Take, for instance, a recent visit I made in an effort to shoot some video of the picturesque village. After I parked my car – perhaps a little sloppily -- I was immediately approached by an elderly local man, who was passing by with his grandson.
"You should be filming your car and the violation," the man began yelling at me.
Startled, I turned around to see what had gotten him so angry. It turned out that the tires of my car were on the edge of the sidewalk.
"This is not in order," were his last words as he walked away, steaming mad.
Which leads me to the cuddly toy....
Not first to violate strict codes
A couple of years ago, another criminal – this time it was not me – disposed of an old white plastic garden chair beneath a lonely tree along the country road between Rümmelsheim and a neighboring town, Waldalgesheim.
A scandal! Especially in such a tidy town. In addition, the German Product Recycling and Waste Management Act, plastic requires adequate and special waste disposal – and the chair was in clear violation of the code.
"We were just about to send out our waste disposal team, when somebody placed a large teddy bear in the chair," said Albert Fastner, Rümmelsheim's mayor.
Fastner and others in the town liked the colorful new roadside eye-catcher – and the town council quickly voted to leave the chair and the stuffed animal in place for a while.
"Ever since then," Fastner explained "cuddly toys have come and gone. Even the original bear disappeared for a while. And once, somebody added an umbrella to protect it from the rain."
Today, the big brown teddy enjoys the company of a happy, fluffy red heart, a colorful caterpillar, Disney's Pluto, a gigantic stuffed banana and a smiling yellow guitar.
The mayor admitted that strictly speaking, the "cuddly-toy-cemetery" – as a few disgruntled locals call the site – violates municipal waste disposal laws. But, Fastner argues that the generally positive response from the community justifies an exception to the rule.
He may also have in mind the fame that the cuddly collection is bringing to his town – over the past months, German, as well as international, media have picked up on the story and numerous radio, television and newspaper reporters have visited the toy-strewn tree.
"As long as whoever is responsible for this little shrine keeps the site clean and it does not impact public order or obstruct local traffic, we will tolerate its existence," he said.
Which leads me to the sneakers....
Recycling: serious biz
Protecting the environment is a hot issue in Germany – and, just as in Rummelsheim, adhering to environmental standards is taken very seriously. These days, almost every German household has a minimum of three different garbage cans: one for paper, one for plastic and one for "regular garbage."
Many German communities even top the "sorting enthusiasm" by providing an additional brown bin for organic substances.
My hometown, like many others, even has three extra containers for glass (one for brown, one for white and one for green).
And if that’s not enough, a pending legal decision may even create new regulations for throwing out old sneakers.
Adidas, the German sports clothing manufacturer, is waiting for a decision from the Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig on whether or not its new high-tech running shoe, the Adidas Intelligence 1.1, will be considered "normal waste" or fall under special rules for electronic appliances. The reason? The shoe contains an electronic cushioning control unit.
Since 2005, manufacturers in Germany are required to take back electronic devices and assure environmental-friendly disposal under German law – creating additional costs for the manufacturer.
Get ready for sneaker-sorting bins!
