Win don't bin

A normal, average human being living in Berlin gets through bottles of beer like a parrot gets through sunflower seeds. Even with a swimming pool sized kitchen, you'll soon be wading through bottles like a moorhen with the misfortune to be born by the Manchester ship canal.

As recycling replaces religion, you'd think a Sunday trip to the bottle bank would be the right move. But how's this for a proposition: stretching this eclesiastical metaphor further, instead of having to chip in to the offertory plate, how about getting cash back on your observance?

You see almost every bottle has a deposit on it. So, if you don't bin it, you can win it. Cents make sense with two carrier bags of glass and cashing in is as simple as going to the supermarket. My first trip liberated almost 5 euros. Guess where that went? Yep. Up the wall.

So take your empties with you when you shop and head for the drinks' aisles. Nearby, if you're unlucky you'll meet a wizened dwarf with the manners of a rusty can-opener who'll snatch your bags from you, make sounds which may or may not be words then disappear before returning with a scrap of paper bearing biroed runes. You can't read this, but checkout ladies can. She'll convert it to coins or knock the total off your shopping bill. But if you're lucky you'll find a new-fangled machine into which you feed your bottles. When you've fed it everything, you hit a button to print a voucher redeemable at the check out.

Note: most supermarkets only take back bottles from brands they sell.