Waste collection in Cologne: Start small

What do a smartphone, various items of clothing and a discarded hoover have in common? we found all of this (and much more) during our internal team rubbish collection campaign. What appears clean and tidy at first glance (the Rhine promenade and the area around the HDI headquarters in Deutz, Cologne), unfortunately looks very different on closer inspection.

As a strategy team, we took a few hours to "sweep the area" together. There are numerous ways to do this: In Cologne, the AWB supports the "kölleputzmunter" (https://www.awbkoeln.de/koelle-putzmunter/) campaign, in Hanover, for example, the "hannoversauber" (https://www.hannover-sauber.de/) initiative, for which our Hanoverians were already out and about in September.

"What can I do to make a difference?" is something you hear again and again when it comes to sustainability. It gives me a good feeling to make a difference on a small scale through campaigns like this. It doesn't always have to be a huge campaign. Because what really counts is getting into action. Another little tip of a personal nature: the whole thing can also be implemented in the family. Simply take a rubbish bag with you on walks and let the little ones join in. Advantage: Children learn how to treat our environment with care in a playful way, have fun searching and finding...and are knocked out in the evening.

PS: The rubbish bags were collected within 2 hours by AWB, Abfallwirtschaftsbetriebe Köln GmbH & Co. KG- top organisation! In any case, our Deutz corner has now been spruced up again. Let's see what it looks like after the start of the carnival season. But that's another story...