Swapping instead of throwing away is the motto behind the telephone booth that was opened in December at the entrance to the Ecological-Botanical Garden (ÖBG) in Bayreuth. The project called "Tauschkabine" is a place where a wide variety of items can now be exchanged in an uncomplicated way.

Helena Keim from the organisers of the project explains the principle: "Items that still work well but are no longer needed are brought to the phone box. This can be a household appliance, such as a waffle iron that has never been used. Another person might need that very item well and take it for free. Basically, the place works like a bookcase, except that much more than books are exchanged there."

The project is an initiative of students at the University of Bayreuth. It took a lot of planning and preparation to get the phone box to its final location. Some of the organisers have since completed their studies at the University of Bayreuth, but have remained loyal to the project. In keeping with the project's motto, the telephone booth itself is a model discarded by Deutsche Telekom and was transported from Stuttgart to Bayreuth for this purpose. With careful centimetre-by-centimetre work, employees of the Ecological-Botanical Garden and the University's Central Technology Department finally lifted the 350 kg telephone booth into its foundation. 

"There are already a few places in Bayreuth where objects are exchanged. The TransitionHaus also has a free shop and of course a lot takes place online," says Luca Thomas, who is also part of the project team. "With the exchange booth, we are making the idea of exchange culture and the idea of sustainability even more present and, with the space at the ÖBG, we are also appealing to people who perhaps knew less about such possibilities before."

In the course of the current semester, the telephone booth has now been finished, given a fresh coat of paint and can be used immediately. So it's worth looking for the telephone box the next time you visit the ÖBG - maybe you'll find something you've wanted for a long time there.

Luca ThomasStudentischer Organisator


Tel.: +49 (0) 176 53529589
E-Mail: luca.thomas@uni-bayreuth.de

Jennifer Opel

Jennifer OpelDeputy Press Officer

University of Bayreuth
Phone: +49 (0)921  - 555357
Mail: jennifer.opel@uni-bayreuth.de

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