[buggymcbugfix]

Is this a US phenomenon? Here in Germany, people always return their shopping carts. Yes, the carts take a coin as a deposit, which can be removed when the cart is returned, but many people have shopping cart openers (for want of a better word) on their keyrings, that circumvent the deposit, yet I haven't EVER seen anyone leaving their shopping cart. I'd go so far as to say that'd be even less socially adequate than urinating in public.

I've been around Europe a fair bit and from Bulgaria to Portugal, people just return their carts. It's a no-brainer.

[ninkendo]

> Is this a US phenomenon?

The answer to this question is always “no”. Regardless of the subject. Basically 100% of the time.

At my local grocery store everyone returns their carts. In the other place in the US I lived 10 years ago, there were loose carts everywhere.

The US is a very, very big country. Really more like 50 big countries. With huge variation in culture, income, background, etc. There’s barely anything you can say that applies to the whole country, regardless of the subject.

[binary132]

someone clever ought to do some kind of statistical analysis and figure out what hidden variables are causing these differences.

[gverrilla]

It was never said that it was a phenomenon on the whole country.

It is a US phenomenom yes. When it exists in other countries it's because of Hollywood exporting american culture.

[PLMUV9A4UP27D]

Greetings from Finland. No deposit required for the carts, yet almost all carts are being returned (I can't remember when I last saw one not returned).

[veeti]

It happens: https://www.is.fi/hs-vantaa/art-2000006387011.html

You have to read between the lines on why that is so.

[HeinzStuckeIt]

Wherever you are in Finland is more considerate than wherever I am in in Finland. Often when I arrive at my local Prisma there’s an employee outside wrangling abandoned carts.

[whazor]

Recently in NL many supermarkets have dropped the coin completely. But people have been conditioned for years to return the cart. Though there are cart thieves.

[graemep]

In the UK some places have it, some do not. Lidl does need the coin, Waitrose does not but has a system that stops you taking them out beyond the car park (there are warnings on, other supermarkets do not.

Almost everyone returns them in all the supermarkets in my area.

[1718627440]

Same in Germany, it started during Corona, as people should touch things as less as possible.

[trashface]

My elderly mom never shops at Aldi (in the US) because she can't figure out the coin thing. Given that she spends outrageous amounts on groceries, Aldi is losing a ton of money by paywalling the stupid cart.

[iamnothere]

Aldi is the only place in the US that I know of that uses this system. It works well enough, no carts in the lot, and surprisingly people sometimes leave a quarter in the cart as a sort of “pay it forward” minor charity. (Good because not everyone keeps change these days.)

[tguedes]

The only downside of this in the US is that homeless people will tend to hang around Aldi's asking people if they can return their cart to get the coin. Most of them are friendly and thankful but every once in awhile an aggressive person would make me very uncomfortable.

I also expect Aldi management isn't thrilled about homeless people camping outside their stores.

[Doxin]

I can't say for the US, but over here the coin system is ubiquitous, and if you've not got a coin you can ask at the service desk and they'll hand you a branded coin to use.

[buggymcbugfix]

Naww, that is very sweet!

[tclover]

Took this picture close to the place where I’m living, people just come home with the cart and then drop it outside. This is Germany https://ibb.co/rGXfb0PY

[bombcar]

This is the true chaotic neutral option and you see it anywhere that walking is common AND the carts don’t lockup their wheels at the lot line.

However, shopping carts SuCk on anything but smooth cement.

[snovymgodym]

Yeah, looks like NRW alright

[buggymcbugfix]

Whoa!

[tclover]

You’re living in some different Germany. In the Germany where I’m living shopping carts are everywhere… (nrw)

[NekkoDroid]

In my part of Germany (BW) I also almost never see carts outside of roughtly where they should be. Sometimes they are just lazily pushed under the enclosure (if you want to call it that), but most of the times they are just how they should be.

[buggymcbugfix]

PS: This is not meant as snark, but rather an observation, that by means of a small nudge (in this case the coin deposit), people can learn to do the Right Thing. To quote Charlie Munger:

> Show me the incentive and I'll show you the outcome.

[bombcar]

I always thought it a sneaky way to pay children .25 cents a cart return.

An enterprising 10 year old could rack a few bucks sometimes.

[kalx]

People here too return them. It is a social class question.

[arwhatever]

The difference between the ratio of people returning their carts at Wal-mart vs at the Natural Foods store where I live is substantial.

[buggymcbugfix]

Here, US?

[trgn]

you just explained it, they're not coin operated.

[dirkt]

I am old enough to have lived in Germany when they were not coin operated, and most carts were returned at that time as well.

Though occasionally you saw a cart far far away from a supermarket, where someone had basically stolen it, either teenagers to have fun, or someone asocial who, I don't know, used to carry all the shopping home? I don't really know what they did with it.

And it was the cost of replacing those stolen carts that drove the adaption of the coin operation system. Not that people just left them in the parking lot. Some supermarkets also tried a system where the cart locked if you moved it out of range of some radio in the supermarket, but that one really didn't take off.

(Also, quite a few people in Germany just do shopping by walking or biking to the supermarket).

[bluedino]

At ALDI stores they are!

[linehedonist]

What about Gittertiere? https://www.reddit.com/r/Gittertiere/s/KIDj4EhElD

[buggymcbugfix]

Of course hooligans steal shopping carts. This was about people leaving shopping carts in the parking lot :)

[brettgriffin]

Why do the stores have the coin deposit if leaving the shopping cart, even if you circumvented the deposit, is morally more morally reprehensible than urinating in public?

> Is this a US phenomenon

Yeah, you can kind of do whatever you want here. It's sort of our thing

[mhb]

> It's sort of our thing

Also it seems to be our thing to have an unbounded number of assholes who do stuff like throw rental scooters in rivers.

[gcbirzan]

If it's on their keychain, do you really think they'd leave their keychain there?

[buggymcbugfix]

Haha I was wondering if this part was unclear but assumed it was obvious from context, that the cart opener can be removed from the coin slit. Imagine leaving your keyring on your cart... yikes!

[simlan]

Good point. Think of the device as a lock pick for Aldi carts you can remove it and don't need to leave your keychain.

[jq-r]

The "coin" part is usually detachable, so no need to leave the whole set of keys with the cart during shopping.