#LivingResponsibly

My week of sustainable living begins at the office. I take the train to work every morning - my employer offers a special “job ticket” for local public transport. I buy myself a coffee in a returnable mug from the bakery at the station. I can return the mug at the canteen later thanks to a Germany-wide deposit system.

My employer and I believe that it is important to make office life as climate-neutral as possible. Carbon emissions generated by office materials, heating or travel are identified and then offset by supporting a climate protection project.

I live in a shared flat because I believe that a sustainable lifestyle involves everyone occupying as little living space as possible. This saves resources and helps preserve nature. There are lots more ways to make a home environmentally friendly, however - especially when building houses. In Germany funding is even available to support sustainable building.

After the clean-up walk, the rubbish needs to be separated for recycling! Many German households have four different bins: for organic waste, paper, packaging and residual waste.

Working out which bin to put what in requires some practice. I didn’t know at first that a used tissue goes in the residual waste bin, not the paper bin. It’s important to separate your rubbish so that it can be properly recycled.

In 2023, around 68.9% of plastic packaging was recycled in Germany.

This proportion is set to increase - though this will only be possible if packaging ends up in the right bin. If you’re still unsure about any of this, Stella and Christian will show you how to separate waste correctly in Germany.

I’ve taken the day off today - so at last it’s the weekend for me! I’ve already laced up my hiking boots and am ready to walk the Schluchtensteig trail in the south of Germany. I’ve come here by train and have a sleeping bag and camping mat with me in my rucksack. I’ll be spending the night under the stars - on a campsite at Lake Schluchsee. Hiking and camping are popular in Germany:

in 2024, German campsites recorded 42.9 million overnight stays, and a network of hiking trails totalling more than 300,000 kilometres extends across the entire country.

This is a particularly sustainable way to enjoy Germany’s forests and meadows, deep gorges and high mountains. But remember always to leave nature unspoilt.

The most beautiful hiking trails in Germany

I’m going to put my feet up today and relax on my lounger in the garden. It’s one of my favourite places, with colourful flowers and vegetables all around me and the sound of birdsong in my ears.

Christian is dropping by shortly to show me how to make my garden even more sustainable - for example by planting flowers for bees and other insects or installing a composting system.

Producing and transporting food accounts for around a third of the greenhouse gas emissions generated worldwide. Animal products are responsible for a large proportion of these emissions (69 percent). Vegetables have a significantly smaller impact on the climate, on the other hand. Sourcing our food from the local region is the most sustainable approach. A Frankfurt collective shows how this can be done.

My conclusion: even small changes can have a big impact and help protect our environment. Sometimes it’s even a good way to save money - like when you don’t pay for an expensive flight or save on petrol by not taking the car. Obviously, a sustainable lifestyle will differ depending on where you live - but it’s certainly possible anywhere.