How Green Is Germany? Cars, Recycling And The Environment | Meet the Germans 

Germany is shooting itself in the foot by dismantling its nuclear reactors. Nuclear, unironically, is one of the greenest and most efficient power sources and Germany is not the Soviet Union with the overt corruption that led to Chernobyl or sits at an edge of a tectonic plate which causes earthquakes (like Japan) in fact Europe is one of the safest places to build nuclear reactors because of the rarity of natural disasters. Please Germany, stop being foolishly idealist!

Nice video, but a missed opportunity to talk about the not so near future in producing power, like with fusion. Germany has an experiment running with Wendelstein 7-X, and ITER is an international experiment in which Germany is also involved. They are actually making good progress.

@@BalasielVOD Not only Wendelstein, the Stellerator is very experimental while the Tokamak of the IPP is developing parts for ITER ;)

I was very surprised when i arrived in Berlin and I saw in the supermarket too much plastic usage, even for small things people use plastic, why it can't be stopped ?

@@appleslover it’s not even idealism, it’s all a result of misinformation and misconceptions about nuclear power.

Agree! I'm married to a German and this series is helping me a lot with cultural differences.

You do know that DW is pretty much national TV, right?

As long as she doesn't introduce English meals like Spotted Dick, Toad in the Hole, English sausages, bread or even warm beer

@@moritzrothacher2669 Pretty much? DW is part of the ARD network.

@@Nikioko True but it's not technically on tv it's online content only. Thats what I meant 🤷

That's the best idea we need her back In UK.

haha you made my day. You are from a country where 18% of all deaths are due to pollution and its rivers contain more rubbish than water - and you complain about other countries haha

@@hanszimmer9224 What is wrong with you? I live in Germany and I love the country. Stop being a brute for no reason. I am only saying there is much more to being green and eco-friendly. Like for e.g. Rich west countries have been for decades sending/dumping tons and tons of plastic to south asian countries. Thats a fact. Ofcourse, it does not happen without diplomatic ties, but thats how things work. There is more to this stuff than meets the eye.

@@gullals.cheema1487 haha I know I know it's all the foreigners' fault that your country is the most polluted place in the world. Then stop talking nonsense and blaming the country for your mistakes. No one forces you to buy plastic crap from the supermarket. Buy your stuff from your local market or from a package free shop like everyone else

@@gullals.cheema1487 let me explain what's wrong with him. If you're a foreigner (no matter how long you live in Germany, if your name sounds foreign you'll always be a foreigner no matter if your grand grand grandparents are even born here) you can't critize Germany not even in a very constructive way because there'll always be people like him who tell you to go back to your country if you don't like it here. Even if you like it here but still want to change some things to the better. But this is not limited to foreigners. Even as a german, if you criticize Germany and say for example country xy is better then you'll here "well, if you like it there so much, why don't you just move there." This weird thinking isn't limited to Germany btw.

@@knusperhirsch7056 haha what a clown show. I would prefer any Expat over poor minded Germans like you (you seem to be one). Gullal has already the right thoughts but just needs to understand that he is part of the problem if he don't change his buying behaviours. And they are plenty of alternative ways doing so - just needs 10 min of research. So he should start blaming himself instead of the government or politicans. On the other hand, I don't see any potential that you understand any of those things discussed after your primitive ideological rant

Danke!

Ja, Deutschland ist sehr schön

Stewart

@@crazydrifter13 Thanks for this correction. Apologies to Rachel and the rest of the"Meet the Germans" community. Keep up the good work, guys.

@@martinguerre8220 🤗

Actually I am quite impressed by this video. Public bradcaster in germany let some guy say that nuclear phase out was nonsense. I must admit that for years I have thought, that once you speak german you are incapable to have a resonable opinion about nuclear power.

@@AB8511 I haven´t watched the whole thing as I expected it to be 100% renewable nonsense. The perception has shifted and we are on a good way to returning to nuclear energy but I don´t know if it will be fast enough to stop the nuclear exit till 2022 or in the best case before the end of 2021. Stupidly the "greens" and the Fridays for Future movement are both anti-nuclear still blindly believing in the 100% renewable Utopia.

Did I miss that the problem with the nuclear waste has finally been resolved? Otherwise, I would say that nuclear power is free of CO2 emissions but cause a lot of other problems for which there is no solution so far.

@@Nikioko Ever heard of the Onkalo nuclear waste storage and the BN fast breeder reactors. The newest one has 800 MW and is able to use 97% of the spent fuel as new fuel while converting the long living radioactive materials within remaining 3% byproducts into short living ones so that the waste only has to be stored for three hundred years. There are also some videos withing my playlist if you're interested: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-IGRMGmPw3Kw.html ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-oAVCaUonrbE.html

@@Nikioko Nucleas plants produce very small amounts of waste compared to coal power plants. Coal waste is full of heavy metals like mercury and lead, so it also has to be stored and sealed away forever. Compared to that, nuclear waste which there is a relatively small amount of and can also be converted to completely harmless substances whenever we can get around to fusion technology or whatever is a relatively minor problem, even though it's much sexier to scaremonger about it in the media. Now in the context of todays's problems where we absolutely don't have any time anymore to drastically reduce carbon emissions, a relatively small amount of waste that *might* be a problem in a couple of thousand years because some unlucky cave explorer stumbles onto them is just really not the priority. But no, people still vote for the greens that caused this climatic desaster, and then even vetoed carbon capture technology which would have at least miigated that somewhat....

You're very welcome 😀

Also I noticed that it's not the case in English, "Germany" doesn't have that of a positive connotation, it mostly reminds of the cold war the refugee crisis

Well Heidi is actually Switzerland produced in Japan

Don't know where that comes from. Heidi is Swiss, Germans don't eat mutton or lamb - sheep are not very common - and only a small proportion of the country is mountainous.

@@jackybraun2705 Heidi lives in Switzerland, but it is a German Produdtion

@@hydro6683 No, it’s produced by ZDF in Germany and Studio100 in Belgium

Thanks Katja! That's a cool idea 🚴‍♀️😊

That sounds good!

Germany sucks

Hybrid cars usually have a bad milage, except driving in cities. Hybrid cars on long distances are nonsense. A small underpowered turbo engine need to work near its limits which consumes enomous amount of gas plus the additional wheight of the battery and the electric motor that need to be moved. Hybrid cars are only good for green washing the manufacturers fleet consumption which isn't worth the paper it is written on.

It would be ok as a transitional solution, but since the construction of renewable energy production is hindered more and more, it really seems to become long term. So buckle up, I guess

Any reliance on Russia, Russia may use against you.

You do know that (west) germany has imported gas from russia for almost 5 decades?

@@peter_meyer Yes, and all the more reason to be guarded.

@@ardiris2715 By whom?

I promise I am very alert on my bike in real life 😀

@@RachelStewart04 LOL, glad to hear it.:} Keep up the great work.

@@jeffrp8388 Thanks!!

@@RachelStewart04 Yeah, I thought that was a setup! I like your presentations. Our daughter's significant other is German, and these videos help us understand him a bit more.

wait, when "lying in the hospital" is American English what is the British way to say/write it?

👀

Well, actually i do believe that it's the loonies who protested nuclear, which led to switching them of and moving energy production towards brown coal (which is the dirtiest energy source there is) are the actual loonies (and that'd be the green party itself) but whatever suits your beliefs.

@@6Oko6Demona6 As far as facts are concerned, the decision to accelerate the shutdown of all nuclear reactors was taken by the CDU/FDP government in 2011....

@@bigernie9433 as far as facts are concerned it was done after antinuclear protests organized in the whole Germany by the greens, so the government did under the pressure produced by the greens. So, yeah, facts are facts but deliberately leaving out facts is nothing short of lying.

@@6Oko6Demona6 The CDU/CSU/FDP government only rolled back their own decision to extend the lifetime of the nuclear reactors. Without their law in 2010, all the nuclear power plants would've shut down last year anyways due to the governmental agreement with the nuclear power industry from 2000.

@@6Oko6Demona6 But they aren´t fans of fossil fuels either and they can´t really do anything when the CDU decides to stick with brown coal and gas, even after a slow transition is deemed unconstitutionell.

Still better than following "policy advice" from most career politicians.

We also have a science movement called Scientists For Future, so teenagers a basically a mean of communication

@@steffenschneider6422 Wrong. For all their faults, career politicians are at least adults who have stood before the public and been elected against a vigorous opposition. Teenagers are the least mature, least experienced, and least educated segment of society. Their opinions are worthless.

@@deathgun3110 That only serves to discredit Scientists for Future.

@@PeterPanMan Ok, if their opinions are worthless you'd have nothing to worry about, right? Since you are obviously worried, maybe opinions of young people actually have a point and shouldn't be dismissed so easily (saying this as a guy in his late 40s...).

We are, but our youth want to involve more into it… And I’m pretty damn proud.

@@anja6983 the environment is one of my main priorities. I want to move to Europe, and Germany is my first choice. Seeing how much they care about the environment helps with that dream.

@@Demonetization_Symbol We still cause a lot of pollution tbh, but we're working on it :)

The German constitutional court recently ruled that not taking proper climate action is unconstitutional because the consequences would hurt people's basic freedom in the future. And it ruled that the then current plan was not enough and demanded a more fleshed out and less vague plan of how to actually achieve the goals. That was *super big*, because it was the first time the court had confirmed some kind of generational responsibility when it comes to ensuring people's freedom.

@@Demonetization_Symbol why would you want come here?

yeah but it reminded us of what could happen and then there was tschernobyl, 1986... which was pretty close and actually affected some areas here.

You should seriously first watch the episode on taxes.

@@randycastillo4530 it's mostly for the quality of life and engineering education, a bit of tax is bearable. I've got friends who moved from Canada to Germany for jobs so🤞

@@randycastillo4530 anyways thanks for the advice, language and taxes are some of the reasons due to which I'm a little hesitant about Germany. On the other hand, no pain no gain!

I’m from Germany, if you have any specific questions go ahead! And language wise: most Germans speak English and don’t mind doing so either, but we like when foreigners at least give German a good go ;)

Oh wow, thanks Roshan!

Glad you're enjoying them! :)

It depends. What would you say is the lifetime of a nuclear reactor? The youngest nuclear power plant in Germany is Neckarwestheim 2. It was build more than 30 years ago.

@@felicious6384 more than a hundred years for sure

@@felicious6384 thats not old for a nuclear reactor, well older than 30 yrs could mean 1000 years but i guess you mean around 30, and thats not particularly old

Right?! Must be all that coffee he's buying...

Sorry to disappoint you, but he's actually speaking quite normal. Us Millennials tend to speak a little faster with our peers

@@myeramimclerie7869 I mean I can't complain, I talk way too fast in English 🤷

@@RachelStewart04 LOL

😆 well thanks!

It is actually about the materials. The green dot is just an indicator that the manufacturer has paid the license fee to put the dot on their product(s). The general rule is that a green dot means you should throw this into the yellow bin/sack. But, you can usually throw any recyclable material into the sack/bin -- this depends on region and also their sorting capabilities.

You, as in Germany. The video was nicely done, which asked these contradictions to be noticed.

Yes there are definitely a lot of contradictions! It would be great if there was more of a push to reduce overall waste rather than recycling it.

Germany has an higher standard of living than most countries in Europe. So they will produce more waste per person then them; and some probably don't even have reliable data about their waste production. If you compare these stats to American waste and CO2-equivalents emitted the picture starts to change dramatically in favour of Germany although the American BIP per Capita is 10.000$ higher. Especially if you compare Canada with Germany, which have almost the same BIP per Capita, Germany emmits only around 56% of the CO2-equivalents than Canada does per Capita. Germany produces per Capita 633kg of waste, ~60kg less than Canadians and ~160kg less than Americans. Germany dumps only 1kg of its waste per capita in Landfills. Canadians dump 511kg in landfills and the US citizens dump 425kg in landfills. You have to put Data always in context to other Data. Otherwise it's like claiming China is the biggest CO2-euqivalent-emmiter. That is true, but per Capita they only emmit ~8 tonnes. Compare that to the average US citizen, whom emmits ~16 tonnes p.a. And then all the CO2-intensive manufacturing in China which products get sold in other countries isn't even considered yet. Edit: Of course there is no reason to not try to reduce CO2-emmissions or waste production. The Netherlands, for example, produces less Garbage per Capita than Germany while having an higher BIP per Capita than Germany. But they emmit more CO2 per capita than we do. Although, if you set in the relation to the higher BIP they should produce more than the Germans do. So for their standard of living they do quite well.

It's not so much a contradiction as a tension between different groups and interests. Environmentalism vs. consumerism, fear of nuclear power vs. pragmatic CO2 reduction, future-oriented thinking vs. lobbyism... It is as frustrating to many of us Germans as it must be confusing for an outsider.

uhm actually, no VW cheated by the standard of any country. The scandal was about a program that recognized that there was a check up and during this, it produced far less emissions compared to the real environment on the street. That would be a scandal everywhere in the industrialized world. And even the emissions which accumulate between the buildings of a city aren't standards set by Germany but the European Union. But that is a completely different story.

@@derorje2035 what about the US?

Ja klar, deswegen dürfen zum Beispiel Betonfabriken ja auch Müll verbrennen ,mit ganz gewöhnlichen Filtern die fast nix filtern XD Wir mögen auf dem richtigen Weg sein, so halbwegs, aber Geld bestimmt immer noch, und die Wirtschaft weiss wo sie ihr Geld einsetzen muss um gewisse Regelungen zu umgehen.

@@georg3607 There was actually a huge lawsuit in the US against Volkswagen for their emissions scandal. I think the penalties against Volkswagen were the strongest in the US of any country. The US may not have the strongest environmental regulations at the moment but Volkswagen still violated them.

@@georg3607 Afaik the VW scandal even started in the US.

It always depends... trust me XD

Everywhere there are great and not so great people, just don't follow stereotypes!

@@Edmo96 yeeee xD

If we keep improving... yes. I WANT TO believe that we never face such a pushback in our efforts like the US did with Donald Trump.

It would be good if people realised that paying more for their energy is not really "paying more", but that it would just be no longer shirking paying the actual price...

Where are you from?

Fair comment! There's an awful lot of paperwork still going on in Germany 😅

Yup. Would've been better to keep them running until we can go fully renewable.

True, unfortunately. But at least we are useing the Legos in third generation now!😇

🤪😢

And here I have 3 supermarkets, 2 gas stations, 3 streetfood joints and 3 drugstores within walking distance. Also within walking distance are 2 bus, 1 tram, and 2 train stations that will take me to the city center within 20 minutes. In a city of roughly 600,000

Interesting - which things in particular suprised you the most?

@@RachelStewart04 Since it was nearly 5 years ago that I moved I can't remember everything but one thing that stands out is energy. There were a lot of memes and such at the time alluding to how much renewable energy Germany produces and how it makes up some majority of the energy used, but if that is ever true it is only a few days in the summer maybe. I didn't really anticipate the coal consumption. I was also surprised by the lack of selection in the grocery store for fresh fruits and vegetables. I've bought way more produce that is nearly rotten already in Germany. I would also say I expected more organic food, and cheaper organic food. There are some cheap organic foods but it seems comparatively less than how much is now available back in the US. I find the selection to often be better when I ride my bike over to the Netherlands, though it may often be more expensive depending on the product. I was a bit disappointed with the public transit as well but part of that was my unfamiliarity with German and the concept of a "taxi bus". But the train that comes to my city is also extremely unreliable. It is always late, except when I am, and there were times where it never even came or instead of going to where it was supposed to (Düsseldorf) it went instead to Duisburg. And the train was WAY more expensive than what I excepted. To go two stops with a bike seemed outrageously expensive to me when I arrived. It is much cheaper to drive (by car) actually. Speaking of cars, I really expected more electric cars to be used, or produced, in Germany. Overall, I expected things to be more progressive, politically or otherwise. Instead, I was met with the rise of AfD and a lot of people who seem much more resistant to change or new things than I anticipated. That is pretty much all I can think of that is at least somewhat related to the topic. I appreciate the interaction though.

@@peterschmidt5583 I can definitely relate to some of those disappointments. I think that is often the most frustrating thing here: the feeling that things SHOULD be further ahead than they are in this area. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

To hear Rachel speak impeccable English and German.

Your bieautufl girl Ciara 😄❤️

this is wrong. how come you say this? how do you know what i am doing with my bike?

There's definitely a lot of cycling going on here, but it could still be increased the the infrastructure was better. I cycle around Cologne and I'm constantly dodging tree roots and cars parked half on the cycle lanes!

@@RachelStewart04 that is very true. If the infrastructure was improved there would be even more cycling going on. Compared to the UK it is still a bike paradise though.

@@natalieeis9284 Yes what I like here is how confident the cyclists are - the road definitely belongs to them as well as the cars!

Well, you know 2/3 of the year it's constantly wet and cold. Not really the weather you want to commute 20km by bike, which is a typical distance to work for most people.

👀😀

There's definitely a lot of room for improvement!

I agree that France is basically Paris and rural. In Paris you can get amazing transport and broadband connections, while everywhere else you can be lucky if things are even close to rural Germany.

@ZeroFalcon What a wonderful suggestion...Rachel did you hear that?

@Ann_the Snowowl exactly. The recycling Industry can sort through all the waste instead of giving the troubles to people who anyways don’t do it properly.

That would be pretty much what the 1€ jobs would lead to. low-paid side jobs to support the welfare system.

Bottles? As in Pfand? Most places should have to accept most bottles by now. That said, I never shop at Alnatura. But regular old bottles and cans are accepted across the board.

Yes there does seem to be a lot of public support for "green" ideas, but then also a lot of contradictory day-to-day habits!

In the case of fridays for future, "students" means at least also school students, not only university students. And most people get 18 in Year 12, if they go there until then. And there are many people aged 15 or 16, when they have joined the movement, at least in my region. And how many people complaining about "the youth" are talking about early twentiers?

or maybe not and you just don't know, where this decision is coming from. Just to throw some buzzwords at you: peak uranium, waste disposal, uranium mining, tschernobyl and the inherent dangers. I am fairly certain that this decision will happen in every country with the difference that once France, the US or other countries have to make it, Germany has already adapted to it for decades.

Funnily enough, the vegan has by far the most positive impact on the environment, followed by the "no car" person.

Sadly, you're probably right!