“No, that’s a stone, Emma, we’ll leave it there,” says Mirjam Städele to her 16-month-old daughter. Emma and her siblings Klara, two, and Josef, four, continue to inspect the gravel-covered banks of the Isar with their paper bags, looking for the metallic glistening or rotten things that adults call bottle caps. The family of five actually came to Munich from the Bavarian Forest to visit the zoo. But it wasn’t open that early on Saturday morning. From the Thalkirchner bridge, they saw that there was a waste collection campaign down below and spontaneously joined the Isar fishermen to shorten the waiting time, says father Dominik. As a part-time job as a board game tester, he has already brought the game “Captain Nature” to other children. It’s about saving the oceans from garbage.
The Städeles burst into the Ramadama 2.0 campaign. On this morning, the fishermen on the Isar clean the shore zone of small parts such as cigarette butts and bottle caps that are harmful to animals, water and the environment. The association, which has 1,075 members, not only manages parts of the Isar and other bodies of water in the surrounding area. Under the umbrella of the Upper Bavaria Fishing Association and the Bavarian State Fishing Association, it is also a recognized nature conservation association.
According to various studies, it takes between 80 and 200 years for a carelessly discarded bottle cap to decompose. In addition, they are coated with plastic on the inside and paint on the outside. In the case of cigarette butts, investigations assume two to seven years. However, each butt contaminates around 40 liters of water and also damages organisms such as fish, birds and insects.
Every year, hundreds of kilograms of small rubbish are left behind on the banks by revelers and walkers. The municipal building department has the beaches cleaned daily during the barbecue season. “But the squads don’t have the time to pick up the small things,” says Chairman Klaus Betlejewski. The Isar fishermen tackled the microwaste last year. But for the first time, the crown caps are being separated from the rest, weighed and donated to the “Kronkorkenliebe” aid project run by the Protestant Church. In turn, she sells this to a scrap dealer and uses the proceeds to finance health insurance for children in Africa.
Something is coming together: the Isar fishermen and their helpers have collected a whole lot of bottle caps within a few hours. The proceeds of the campaign benefit children in Africa.
(Photo: Mark Siaulys Pfeiffer)
As if nature knew that something would benefit her on Saturday, the rain that had lasted overnight suddenly stopped around eight in the morning. Hardly any of the volunteers stay longer at the collection point. Bent over or equipped with magnetic lifters, wooden tweezers or gripper arms, everyone gets to work right away. The collectors are busy just around the small party at the bridge. Some bottle caps have stepped in or become wedged between pebbles. Others are already so rusted and deformed that they are hardly recognizable as such. “Augustiner is very well represented,” says Klaus Brnabic, the club’s second treasurer, looking at the transparent floor-to-ceiling vase into which the crown caps are placed for weighing.
Frank Meißner from the board knows how to explain the essence of fly fishing to the layman in a wonderful way. “Reading the water” is what the Isar fishermen call it. He compares the insects on the menu for fish in their various stages in and on the water with schnitzel, meat loaf or dessert as the perfect buffet to get close to trout, grayling and huchen. Which leads directly to Mio Hübner. The young doctoral student is researching unknown insect species at the Zoological State Collection. He came with a strong neodymium ring magnet on a homemade brand rope. He came across the material, which does not fail even in puddles, in the laboratory.
Magnets make the work of the helpers easier, which usually eliminates the need to bend down.
(Photo: Mark Siaulys Pfeiffer)
A total of seven weighing actions are ultimately required to adequately record all loads. Optimists like Evi Brnabic assumed just three fillings. In the end, around 100 participants collected almost 40 kilograms of bottle caps alone in just under three and a half hours in a section of one kilometer on each side of the bank. That corresponds to around 20,000 pieces – one weighs two grams. Nevertheless, according to the Bavarian State Office for the Environment, the general pollution with plastic particles on the Isar is still below the values of Altmühl, Danube and Inn.
“We will not save the world with it,” says Meissner. “But it’s a signal,” said Klaus Brnabic. At the same time, Stefan Zehntmeier held back a few particularly beautiful specimens for daughter Ella. The four-year-old was crazy about it. “We are the winners,” announces a helper who is still arriving with a full bag. “Everyone won,” replies Evi Brnabic. “Especially nature.” Despite their full concentration on small waste, Emilia and Vincent, five and nine years old, recently discovered a petrol-colored e-scooter in the middle of the water at Flauchersteg. Together with Mama Lucia Rüth, they fished it out – if you are interested, you can pick it up at the kiosk there.