How does a nation achieve the highest recycling rates in the world? In 2023, Germany recycled 66.1% of their municipal waste -- a number nearly double that of the United States, which came in at a mere 35%. To achieve this impressive feat, Germany worked diligently throughout the past few decades to implement infrastructure including the Pfandsystem (a bottle return system) and an array of marketing strategies to further motivate its citizens to recycle.
For Aachen, Germany, this initiative meant giving the city's garbage cans a little bit of a makeover.
Sprinkled throughout the city of Aachen are trash cans with googley eyes and speech bubble stickers. Each sticker voices a message about trash such as:
"Hallo! Gebt mir etwas zu futtern. Aachen ist unser Zuhause, halten wir es sauber." = "Hello! Feed me something! Aachen is our home, let's keep it clean."
"Mull? Gefällt mir!" = "Trash? I love it!"
Marketing via Anthropomorphism
The concepts of adding eyes and the ability to "speak" to a garbage can demonstrates the marketing concept known as "anthropomorphism". Anthropomorphism is when marketing teams ascribe physical characteristics, mental abilities, and emotions to inanimate objects with the hope that people will pay more attention to what their eye may normally choose not to see.
A great example of anthropomorphism marketing in the United States can be seen with the company Imperfect Foods. The addition of googley eyes to "ugly" misshaped fruits suddenly causes consumers to see the fruit as cute and want to buy it. In the case of these garbage cans, the cuteness factor paired with eco-friendly messaging results in people almost wanting to throw away their garbage.
Was this campaign a success?
When Aachen mayor Marcel Phillip first launched the campaign back in 2012, he said:
"Diese Kampagne ist nicht kurzfristig angelegt, sie soll in den kommenden Jahren mit unterschiedlichen Schwerpunkten immer wieder neu aufgelegt werden" = "This campaign is not meant to be short-term, it will be relaunched again and again in the coming years with different focuses."
Ten years later, this creative and fresh take on eco-marketing has proven itself a success. The old perceptions of Aachen as a dirty city have gradually been phased out. Today, the sentiment that Aachen is a city that cares deeply about keeping the streets clean and disposing of waste correctly is widespread. When I inquired about the impact of the cans on Reddit's Aachen community, positive responses flooded the comments section. The city's sustainability achievements are clearly regarded by many with pride.
Not all waste makes it to the bins, but sometimes it is intentional.
If you ever see these garbage cans in Aachen, you may notice bottles stacked neatly underneath the bins on the ground. This practice is common in places like Germany that have bottle return systems in place. With the understanding that people collect bottles/cans to return for cash at the store, some Aacheners will set their bottles under the can so collectors do not have to rummage inside the bins themselves. The gesture is simple, but it speaks volumes about how the forward-thinking the citizens of Aachen are when it comes to waste. So next time you throw something away, try to think like the people in Aachen: take a moment to contemplate where might your waste could end up, and ask yourself, "how might the environment/the people around me benefit when I dispose of my waste responsibly?".
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