Going ''green'' is not a new phenomenon, nor is it uniquely German.  In the US, well, at least in Michigan, returning your pop cans and other forms of recycling are common.  However, recycling is usually limited to aluminum cans from preserved foods, perhaps glass, and old newspapers and boxes.  Composting is becoming more common, but it still rarely seen.  In Germany, they recycle, quite literally, everything.  And learning how to do it properly can take years to master. Here is the 9 page document for Mannheim on proper garbage sorting.  Yes, 9 pages.  On garbage.  Did I mention that Germans also tend to love paperwork ;)