How to explore Copenhagen for a lower cost with eco-friendly app

The National

a day ago

CopenPay, then, is a breath of fresh air – a new, innovative initiative that brings joy and real benefits for both locals and visitors; helping you literally clean up Copenhagen as you visit.
'CopenPay is something real that improves our city,' beams marine biologist Izzy Smith, as she guides me, my wife and our two teenage daughters around the Danish capital's spectacular waterways in our battery operated small boat. Izzy works for GoBoat, which offers free rentals if you fish out rubbish on your trip, as part of CopenPay, a scheme whose organisers stress rewards 'conscious actions'.
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As CopenPay develops, it's growing organic arms and legs. 'This summer, we're recording how much rubbish people pick up and what type,' explains Izzy. 'And then we're collating the data to measure trends and to learn more about the issues facing our city. We're also working with the WWF and other bodies on regeneration and biodiversity programmes.'
We ease around the Frederiksholms Kanal and the Christianshavns Kanal, armed with wee fishing nets. I wasn't sure what my teens would make of this, but they buy in instantly, fishing out a crisp packet and a soft drink can as we slip along in the shadow of some of Scandinavia's most impressive architecture. 'Everyone wins as you get to have fun, save money and Copenhagen becomes cleaner. It's been really popular. I've got family in Aberdeen, so maybe you should try something like this in Scotland,' adds Izzy.
Trying something like this in Scotland is a brilliant idea. In 30 years of travelling around more than 100 countries I've just not seen anything quite like CopenPay, with almost 70 businesses embracing it.
Søren Tegen Pedersen, CEO at Wonderful Copenhagen, believes CopenPay can create wider ripples: 'Our long-term vision is included in our tourism strategy 'Copenhagen, all-inclusive'. Here, we adopt a holistic approach to tourism, which considers both its positive and negative impacts. Our vision is to make tourism in Copenhagen contribute positively, not only locally and nationally, but also globally.'
I had worried that despite good intentions CopenPay – in its first full year after a successful pilot last summer – might crumble against the practicalities of the real world, but it couldn't start any better. As we arrive sustainably by train we're rewarded with vouchers at the station that, using the Too Good To Go app, give us a free meal made up of items 7-Eleven would have otherwise thrown out. It's enough for breakfast for us all. Our other three vouchers are similarly rewarding – one place giving us four heaving bags of pastries we passed on to some appreciative locals as 'a gift from Scotland'.
One of the things that really impresses about CopenPay is that everyone seems to be embracing it; even our hotels. At the hip boutique 25 Hours Hotel Indre By (www.25hours-hotels.com) in the city centre, we enjoy free iced coffees when we show on our phones that we've walked 5000 steps. At the swish, towering Crowne Plaza Copenhagen Towers by IHG (www.cpcopenhagen.dk) – another great base, just five minutes by train from the airport, CopenPay gives us the option of a free yoga session, though I opt to peer instead over the sea to Sweden from our 23rd-floor room.
You don't go to any Scandinavian city for a budget break, but CopenPay helps take the edge off. And while you're saving money you're travelling more sustainably. The Copenhagen Museum just ask us to show we've arrived using public transport to grab a free coffee. At the Danish Architecture Centre, you can get a free guide to go with your veggie lunch. Their Recycle! temporary exhibition (until September 10) chimes well with CopenPay. And over lunch at the excellent Bryggeriet Apollo at the landmark Tivoli Garden – where we'd planned to go anyway – we all get a free CopenPay drink, with beer an option. I enjoy delicious Skarsgard prawns washed down with a free fresh lemonade.
Handily we also had a Copenhagen Card, which offers free use of public transport – including to and from the airport – and entry to a whole host of attractions. This award-winning app proves seriously easy to use and dovetails well with CopenPay – it allows us easy access to places, where we then enjoy the CopenPay rewards for our sustainable actions.
Sustainability is a serious multi-faceted issue facing travel today and it's reassuring to see a city taking a stand and doing something about it in a practical way. As we handed those rubbish picking nets back at the end of our boat trip, my youngest Emma smiled: 'I didn't know going out picking up rubbish could be such fun. Maybe it's something we should try back home'. Well done Copenhagen and well done CopenPay, an innovative scheme that will hopefully inspire other cities.
Further information at www.wonderfulcopenhagen.com. It's best to book CopenPay activities in advance as some are on specific dates and others have limited spaces.