Recycling and Travel

Why Parks in Copenhagen Don’t Look Like This!

There are lots of reasons to like Copenhagen.

Swimming in the harbour is one. But there are many. It’s phenomenally relaxed, it’s not as expensive as people say, it’s friendly, and there is loads to do. Plus you can cycle everywhere. It’s quite easy to get a job, people speak English (and French and German), and nobody really cares that much.

It’s also clean.

Why? Because of this:

It’s perfectly normal to see people of all ages and social backgrounds wandering around the streets or parks with a can or bottle of beer in their hand.

It’s also normal to see people picking them up off the floor and putting them in plastic bags.

Imagine that in the UK or France. You’d be called a bum! Not in Copenhagen though.

This is called Pant collecting. Pant in English translates as deposit (or mortgage) as all bottles and cans here (except wine bottles and a few others) have a value depending on their size. Each bottle or can is labelled as either Pant A, B or C.

When you’ve got enough, you take them to the machines in the supermarkets called Pant Stations where you get a ticket for the value you’ve collected. With this you can buy more beer (or food), or get cash.

It’s a good system as any waste gets recycled as there’s always people (like me) who’ll pick it up.

It’s become an obsession of the city. Everybody does it. Especially in the parks and open areas. The Fælledparken is a goldmine. After a recent concert I collected almost 120 kroners worth of Pant. A similar amount after a football match.

But you’ve got to be on the ball. If you don’t get there on time, there’s not a can or bottle in sight. The entire park has already been scavenged by anybody with a bin bag. The entire park spotless within hours.

It’s amazing. As though the park has a built-in self-cleaning function. Press the PANT button and within hours the park is as clean as when it was built.

It’s funny because of all the things to do in Copenhagen, this is one of the things I enjoy doing most. You wouldn’t think it, would you? But I do. Seems perfectly normal. I help the environment, and I earn a few quid.

I’m actually a resident of France, and will soon be going back. To pictures like this:

This is so normal in France, and seems to get worse every year. Not only do people leave their bottles, but anything goes these days: clothes, nappies, pieces of metal, cartons, radios, gardening waste.

And it made me wonder what happen if you had a system like they have in Copenhagen?

I’d tell you what would happen!

Those bottles in the picture wouldn’t be there, I guarantee it. Because people like me would collect them.

For more on my ideas and views on recycling, you might want to read a previous article called: Why I Don’t Recycle My Waste — I Burn it!

Or alternatively read Scott-Ryan Abt’s piece on recycling in Jamaica.