Waste or trash prevention [Müllvermeidung] has been a hot topic for years in Vienna. One of the first things I noticed 24 years ago when I arrived was that you had to pay for bags in the grocery stores. Most people brought their own and I quickly learned to, too. Stores are now required to have containers for different kinds of packaging after the checkout area, and customers have the right to unpack what they have bought right there and leave the trash in the store. No point in carrying it home and then having to separate it and dispose of it there!
A truly creative approach for preventing unnecessary waste was written up in yesterday’s Kurier*. A man named Christof Stein has had the really clever idea of buying heir-less estates and getting the public to come directly to the effects and choose what they want. He waits until he has several such estates, puts together a list of the addresses which he publishes on Facebook a few days ahead of time (www.facebook.com/RamschRosen). People who are interested pay EUR 10 for “entrance” to the apartments in question and, for that sum, can take away whatever they can carry and fit into their car. One of the photos showed two young men carrying out a (presumably working) refrigerator! And if the treasure seekers don’t find anything they want, they even get their EUR 10 back.
Even better than craigslist, I think!
* “Nachlass-Hopping: Auf Schatzsuche in alten Wohnungen”. Kurier, 21. Juli 2012.
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