Travelers Clean for Tours

Travelers are on the lookout for ways to save money while cities popular with tourists are looking for ways to keep common areas clean. A new program in Berlin, Germany, offers tourists a free guided tour in exchange for an hour of trash pickup in a city park, the European Cleaning Journal reports.

Parks in certain areas of Berlin have long been marred by cigarette butts, corks, broken glass, and other trash. City administrators promoting a new “Clean City” campaign are optimistic travelers will be a part of the solution to improving the parks, including Mauerpark, which is popular with tourists because it was part of the former Berlin Wall and its “death strip” which divided East Germany and West Germany.

Tour guides participating in the program, which began late last month, provide tourists with information on the history of the Berlin Wall with insights into the life of the former German Democratic Republic. Then they give the tourists brightly colored vests, gloves, and garbage bags for the cleanup.

City officials say the program is a way for tourists to give back to Berlin in appreciation for the hospitality, along with a way to ease tensions between tourists and locals, which sometimes arise due to noise and litter.