Munich: How Sustainable is the Bavarian Capital?

Munich: How Sustainable is the Bavarian Capital?

I’ve arrived in the Bavarian capital of Munich. And today I’m going to show you: how can you spend your time in a sustainable way in this city? I’ll take you to a café that saves old bananas. And we’ll visit an Indian restaurant that is reducing its plastic waste.

And what about the famous Hofbräuhaus? Is it also committed to sustainability? That’s what I’m going to find out. And now, time for some sightseeing. If you’re coming to Marienplatz, make sure that you’re not late. Be here by 11 a.m. or 12 noon to see the special performance by Glockenspiel.

From March to October there’s an extra performance at 5 p.m., too. When the time comes, you’ll understand why everyone is looking up. They’re watching life-sized figures reenact stories from Bavarian history on a centuries-old mechanical clock! One of the biggest challenges for Munich’s sustainability goals is air pollution.

Despite bans on diesel vehicles in the city, air pollution limits established by the World Health Organization are regularly exceeded. I think you do not need a car in Munich. The parking spaces are quite expensive and most of the sites that you will be visiting are not far from each other.

You will enjoy a lovely walk here. Now let’s visit the famous Viktualienmarkt. Where you can find lots of sustainable products, which are regional, seasonal and fresh. The Hofpfisterei bakery, for example, is dedicated to sustainable production. The bakery has been a pioneer in local and organic production since the 1970s.

The grain from the region is grown without synthetic chemical fertilizers, which is good for the soil, groundwater and biodiversity. They also don’t use artificial additives in their baked goods. Before I show you what bananas have to do with sustainability in Munich, let’s make a stop at the Hofbräuhaus.

I wonder what sustainability strategies a famous brewery like this has in place? Did you know that Bavaria was not a beer drinking state until 16th century? But that changed with the very famous Hofbräuhaus. It was the city’s first brewery and began as a Bavarian state-owned company.

These days, Hofbräuhaus is a sustainability role model by aiming to make all of its beer production climate-neutral by 2025. Food and beverage ingredients are also sourced locally. Because it has its own storage facilities and beer tanks, delivery transportation is kept to a minimum.

In other words, behind the desire to keep tradition alive lies modern, climate-friendly technology. But I know you’re still wondering about the bananas and what do they have to do with sustainability. Normally, bananas are thrown out when they turn brown. But not at the Keep Banana café.

What is the idea behind this startup? The idea was to tell people about food waste and how you can reduce food waste. And especially about bananas. Because bananas is a food that is thrown away a lot. So we focused on that. And because we are totally vegan we always need something

To replace the egg, you know? And for this the banana is really good. So we use it to make the banana bread and the ice cream. The second part of this outlet is also packaging. Tell us something about that.

We said: ‘Okay, if we want to tell people about food waste, we also want to complete the concept, a zero waste concept.’ So we decided to take only recups for coffee to go. Recaps? Yes. You just order the coffee to go here.

And then you pay 1 euro deposit for the cup. And then you can return it in all Germany again. All over Germany? All over Germany. 20,000 cafés so far. And you don’t have to wash it. You just give it back and then you get the euro back.

Okay, it’s lovely and the cup is really full. It was really cool to learn how they make ice cream and bread from brown bananas that would otherwise end up in the bin. A vegan banana bread and a coffee in this recup.

It feels really good because I’m not going to dispose this cup of like thousands of cups are disposed every day in Germany. We continue to Munich’s famous park: the English Garden. It starts behind this building and it, too, is being threatened by climate change. Why, you ask? More on that later!

Did you know that Munich has more than 70 museums? And this one here is one of the most famous, Haus der Kunst. And at the entrance to the English Garden, you’ll also find one of Munich’s special activities: Surfing! Thanks to an artificial wave in the Eisbach river.

Before going inside the English garden, you should definitely stop at this point because this is where the surfers can be watched from this point. This is the real fun. The English Garden is one of the most visited places in the city.

But sadly, it’s not only climate change and its dry spells that endanger the park. Many people carelessly throw their garbage into the greenery. So be sure to respect nature and throw away your trash properly!

This is perhaps the best place to come and soak in the beautiful views of the English Garden. And that structure right behind me is the historic structure that allows people to come in and entwine in this busy city.

It’s really extraordinary to walk through one of the largest urban parks in the world and have such an amazing view. So standing here at this monopteros, it feels as if this is a different part of the city. In fact, there is a different city outside of this place.

It’s so quiet and serene. If you go out, you’ll feel the hustle and bustle of Munich. But here it’s very different. As an Indian, I am intrigued to know how people from my country live sustainably here in Munich. So I end my day at Saravanaa Bhavan.

The Indian restaurant chain can be found all over the world. So its contribution to sustainability is all the more important. Let’s see how they do things here in Munich. What is it that a chain like Saravanaa Bhavan, which is global is doing and thinking about doing to become more sustainable?

We will try to avoid the main the plastic things from our industry. Mainly we are not using the plastic spoon and we are using wooden spoons and forks for takeaways for the customer, as well as using paper bags and take away containers.

Also now we started using the ones made of paper. And we are focusing on the coming months or coming year, to be completely free from plastic. The restaurant only serves vegetarian dishes. My colleague Andreas and I try dosa, which is a very thin pancake served with different chutneys. That’s coconut.

And that’s peanut. I think that’s coconut. Sustainability efforts may not be seen everywhere in Munich. But I still enjoyed seeing how I can enjoy the city’s environment friendly side as a tourist. The city of Munich wants to become carbon neutral by 2035.

It means that the people of Munich and tourists can expect a better experience of being in this city. 1

We‘re off to Bavaria to show you the sustainable side of Munich: How sustainable is the world-famous Hofbräuhaus? Which ideas are being implemented to avoid trash and recycle waste? And how can tourists support sustainable projects? Join DW reporter Swati Bakshi on her tour through Munich.
Which location from our video are you especially fond of? Let us know in the comments!

00:00 Intro
00:29 Marienplatz
00:56 Air pollution; how to get around
01:20 Viktualienmarkt and Hofpfisterei bakery
01:55 Carbon neutrality; Hofbräuhaus
02:47 Food waste; Keep Banana café
04:52 English Garden
06:45 Plastic waste; Saravanaa Bhavan restaurant

CREDITS:
Report: Swati Bakshi, Andreas Kirchhoff
Camera: Holm Weber
Editing: Klaus Hellmig
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