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Food

Germany Is Enlisting Garbage Cops to Curb Its Massive Grilling Trash Problem

Last year, 165 tons of food trash piled up in Munich parks alone. This summer, German civic authorities are stepping up their game to stop littering during grilling season.
Photo via Flickr user bigbirdz

Summer is around the corner, and German civic authorities are steeling themselves for an annual blight that can leave a foul aftertaste lingering on even the most glorious of sunny days: barbecue season. Turns out that the famously tidy Germans aren't so fastidious when it comes to cleaning up after grilling, and towns across Germany are enlisting "rubbish scouts" to help prevent barbecue trash from piling up in city parks and other public spaces.

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The Local reports that it isn't uncommon to find public parks littered with plastic cups, chicken bones, and other barbecue garbage after a particularly nice summer day. Last year, Munich spent 5,000 euros per week to clean up the incredible 165 tons of barbecue trash that accumulated throughout the season.

This year, 22 private security guards have been hired to patrol along the city's Isar river and help persuade people to clean up after themselves. In the past, guards only were on duty on nice days, but some real barbecue fans started grilling under the city's bridges, weather be damned. The guards will now report for duty, rain or shine.

Elsewhere, other municipalities are turning to schoolchildren to help turn the tide against trash. Werdersee Verein, a community group that looks after the Werdersee lake near Bremen, now has four students dedicated to handing out trash bags and anti-littering flyers.

"We've noticed that it isn't enough to put out signs," Gerhard Bomhoff, a representative of Werdersee Verein, told The Local.

Like other parks, Werdersee has dedicated grilling areas, but German grillers often bring their own disposable grills to public parks and set up wherever they please, leaving burn marks on the grass. Others set up campfires.

Frankfurt has turned to cops to help fight barbecue-related litter, giving police the authority to fine litterers up to 50 euros and to stick them with a bill for cleanup. Berlin, meanwhile, is setting up large trash bins near grilling hotspots. In Cologne and Dusseldorf, politicians have proposed installing electric (thus charcoal-free), coin-operated grills in popular areas.

Hopefully this will mean fewer rib bones and plastic forks in the grass or at the bottoms of lakes and rivers. Barbecue might be messy by nature, but hopefully the new rubbish squads will help keep the mess where it belongs—all over your face and T-shirt.