Recycling is sexy! Unfortunately it isn’t a perfect system. You never get 100% of the material back, but it’s still much better than being wasteful. The clever Germans have found a way of getting it all back by reusing bottles. Every beer or cola you drink in Germany comes from a previously used bottle that has been put through a sanitation process. That’s right, the bottles are washed. Don’t judge. You drink from someone else’s glass every time you visit a restaurant, and I promise you they aren’t as thoroughly cleaned. It’s safe, economic, and fun. Yes, fun. The best part is bringing the bottles back to the store. Check it out:

You get anywhere from 8 to 25 cents for every bottle you return. Don’t get too excited, you have to pay that nominal fee (Pfand) for every drink you buy. Not everyone cares enough to take their bottles back, but luckily there are scavengers that regularly search out bottles in the name of easy cash. Using greed as an incentive to encourage recycling is pure genius!