Since June 2021, Deutsche Bahn has been using the special vacuum cleaner “Vakmobile” for the cleaning cations
By Isabel Pancake
Now Berlin shines a little more: Hundreds of volunteers cleared the city of rubbish at World Cleanup Day (WCD) on Saturday.
The global day of action aims to draw attention to environmental pollution. Numerous actions took place in Berlin.
In the morning, the Deutsche Bahn (DB) cleaned their tracks! This is usually done at night between 1.30 a.m. and 4.00 a.m. when the railway service is closed. The cleaning squad also used a special vacuum cleaner – the so-called “Vakmobile” – at the garbage dump on Warschauer Strasse.
Deutsche Bahn employees found four rental bicycles and eight e-scooters next to the tracks on Warschauer Straße Photo: Olaf Selchow
“During the two-hour campaign, we collected around ten bags of garbage with the machine and by hand,” said Deutsche Bahn spokeswoman Sandra Spieker.
The S-Bahn station Warschauer Strasse is one of the garbage hotspots Photo: Olaf Selchow
And some finds don’t even fit in trash bags! Among other things, there were eight e-scooters, four rental bicycles and a microwave under the bridge on Warschauer Straße.
Even a 10 euro note was found Photo: Olaf Selchow
For the year 2022, Deutsche Bahn expects a total of 30,000 liters of small-sized waste. Every year, DB spends a mid-six-digit amount on cleaning.
The governing mayor and patron of the WCD, Franziska Giffey (44, SPD), also lent a hand: she was present at a cleaning campaign in the Hasenheide public park.
Berlin’s governing mayor and patron of World Cleanup Days Franziska Giffey (44, SPD) helped with a garbage collection campaign in Volkspark Hasenheide Photo: Olaf Selchow
Environment Minister Steffi Lemke (54, Greens) and Environment Senator Bettina Jarasch (53, Greens) also helped in Treptower Park.