Swiss consumers lead their European counterparts for recycling and waste reduction producing only 170 kilos of waste per year by each citizen, well below European standards. It is this awareness that is attracting the Berlin based supermarket Original Unverpackt (which translates as original unpacked) to consider opening a branch of their new supermarkets in Basel. Simply put, all 350 of the items that the retailer sells are on display in bulk format containers, and customers bring their own bags, tupperware and bottles. Because the store doesn't pay the wholesale costs of packaging and stocking, neither do their clients, often finding large savings relative to conventional food stores. Needless to say, the environment is a huge beneficiary, as there is no packaging waste at the retailer or at the consumers home. Initial response from surveys and regulatory agencies has been extremely supportive. CEO Sara Wolf said "we are in discussions with franchisees. If everything goes according to plan, we hope to celebrate with a 2016 opening in Basel". She continued that Unpacked is "working on a supermarket revolution".
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Basel Based software Studio Couch have succeeded with a mobile device game app called Fairy King. According to Oliver Müller, one of the five young founders of the software studio, the games developed by the team are done in their spare time in addition to their academic studies pursuing university degrees. Focusing on simple two dimensional shooter type games, the team has published 2 successful downloadable apps, which have generated sufficient downloads to generate advertiser attention. Although a critical mass of users has not been reached, Müller and his team have taken the challenge in stride, and claim to have collected enough revenues to buy a few kebabs for their lunches. Team coder Alexander Timmermans revealed that the group has big plans to develop and release full fledged console games, though when that would happen was not disclosed.
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late in the hours of Friday into Saturday morning, a motorist drove his vehicle into the St. Johan tunnel and accelerated to 161km/hr before losing control of the vehicle and crashing into the tunnel wall. The signage in the tunnel indicated a maximum speed of 80 km/hr and further complicating the situation, the driver of the vehicle was tested to have a blood alcohol level of 1.38 per thousand where the legal limit is .5 per thousand. Luckily, no one was injured, and the driver and his two passengers also managed to escape from the crash unharmed. The vehicle itself however, was a total loss, and the tunnel suffered considerable damage at the crash site. In addition to surrendering his foreign driver's license, the offending driver had to post a deposit to cover the repair cost of damage, which will likely be significantly less than the criminal penalties and fines he will be paying to settle his infraction.
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In the latest Switzerland-wide rock band contest named "Rock Highway", Basel based band Carvel managed to take first place against 100 other entrants. Saturday night was the concert finalé of the contest held at the Alte Kaserne in Zurich. The alternative electronic rock quartet was founded in 2012 according to band member Tobias Metzger. According to Metzger, they hope to use the prize money to complete recording of a Single and an EP which should help them reach a wider audience in their native Switzerland, and expect to release it in the spring of this year. Hoping to continue to capitalize on their success, the band has now planned a fall tour and plan to do as many shows as they can to tighten their musical chops further. According to one of the jurists in the contest, Jake Gutzwiller, "the band managed to thrill with an innovative and refreshing sound". Organizers of the Rock Highway contest seek to promote the Swiss music scene by affording participants a national audience and a platform to generate attention from the press, critics and of course, fans.
Did you know that Switzerland has around 65'000 kilometres of hiking trails? That's about 1.5 times the circumference of the earth! A huge number of municipalities and volunteer organisations maintain the hiking trails and offer hikes in all the cantons.