Ask anyone, even the French neighbours, and they will all tell you that Germany is a very green country, making so many efforts and having loads of initiatives for the environment.
Even I thought the same, until I moved in Bavaria last year.

Cars

First, many people here do not use public transportation. However, it is difficult to blame them as the network has not been maintained probably since the reunification so Germany's reputation about punctuality has been severely damaged, among its residents and now it has become well known around the world.
As many people use cars, mostly powerful fossil fuel huge German cars, air pollution is an issue, especially here in Bayern (the Land of the Car, the land of the Föhn).
I am always amazed by the impressive quantity of car dealerships by square meters here. I have never seen so many of them. Wherever you live, may it be a small village in the Alps, a small city like Augsburg, you are sure to find a German's paradise: a car dealership.

Fireworks

Between 31st of December and about 4th of January, the air quality is as high as in India.
Yeah, for some reasons, it seems fun for a German to throw its own fireworks party. I just feel like I am in morons land or in the middle of the Midwest in the US.

Wood burning stove

For a German, burning wood is a very green way to heat your home. It is natural, even organic. When I walk in the streets here, I feel like I am in a chimney (in addition to feeling like I walk in the middle of a congestioned motorway... see "cars").
I just cannot wait to leave the country for the sake of my lungs.

Intensive Agriculture

When I went hiking in the Alps, I was amazed by the landscape: a succession of golf courses, so very few woods (let alone forrests), usually the same variety. Only fields, with no hedges (as opposed to France, for instance) to retain water.

No Refills, no bulk

There are many organic cosmetics and cleaning products German brands, but none (except Sonett) offer refills.
To me, it is very surprising.
I guess German would say that the plastic bottles of your Weleda can be trashed in the "plastic bin" so it will be "recycled", probably in thermal energy (in other words: burned).
In organic shops in France, most offer bulk buying, not here.

Furniture store

I feel that there is a very strong "new or disaposable" culture here.
I have never seen so many furniture stores in any other country I have lived in (I have lived in 3 continents). Not so far from my shitty place, there are 1 Jysk and at least 2 Bauhaus or Obi and only in Augsburg or the very near suburbs, there are Ikea, many Jysk, XXXXXXXXLutz, MöMax, hardware stores that sells furniture and decoration items, Tedi, and many other chains.
I think that Germany is the country where you can find the most Ikea.
I know that German apartments are just walls, so you need to buy everything, but it just feels like people are changing the whole content of their home every year. Or, or maybe, Germany is so popular that there are a lot of newcomers from abroad.

I tried to sell stuff I do not use on Kleine Anzeigen, but what's the point of buying second hand if you can buy brand new stuff for cheap online or in one of the numerous furniture/decoration stores.

Recycling

Yes, Germany has consignment bottles, but France is reviving the system.
Plastic bottles are more and more favoured to the detriment of glass bottles, probably because they are too heavy. (And also, you must have a car).
Recycling and sorting is not very neat, from what I can see in the bins of my building.
I mentioned also earlier that plastic is considered recycled when it is used for thermal energy production. Very green indeed.
Just look at the side of any roads, and you will see garbage littered everywhere so Germans are not cleaner than any other country in this world.

Please, stop telling me that Germany is green, especially if you never lived there. And if you are, open your eyes and nose.

Nature Connectedness

It seems that Germany is not very connected to Nature according to this article based on this research.
I was a bit surprised about how low Germany performed, and after careful thinking, I just thought about what I just listed in this post and this so low ranking made so much sense.

All just smoke and mirrors

It just confirm the image Germany is advertising is just an image and exposed its numerous flaws. Of course, all occidental countries are heading the same directions but I am disappointed by Germany.
There is no country that is going the right way regarding the environment, but it feels Germany is the more hypocritical, telling the World how green they are, how good they are at recycling glass and plastic and compost.
But we now all know it's just words (limit on pesticides have been killed in Bavaria for instance).
Here is another interesting article: Germany’s challenging fight to go green