The Helpful Husband Recycles, Part 2

Some men bring home roses. Some men bring chocolates. Some men make late night ice cream-and-olive shopping trips. (Okay, that was my man too.) But my man brings home a car full of recycling.

Sadly, his office doesn't recycle paper or cans. So he frequently brings home a box of shredded paper to throw in our recycle bin. Sometimes he brings a bag of cans and bottles. But this week, my hubs had call to actually drive the car into work instead of taking the metro and came back with three huge trash bags full of cans and bottles and two heavy boxes of paper. Added to our usual weekly findings on walks to the park, outside Target, walking the dog, helping friends move, on the ground outside daycare, at the movies, -- Toy Story 3 is ALL about recycling-- we came up with 351 more bottles. That is $17.55 that people have thrown away.

Seems like a lot of money, until you realize that (according to bottlesandcans.com) Californians throw away $300 million last year.

Either way, it brings our total to 2264! Over the 2,000 mark and getting closer to our goal all the time!

Grand Total: 2,264, or $113.20

Check us out!

I have to thank Jenny Platt for writing about us for both SoCal.com and Smart2BeGreen.com!

If the links aren't working, I will copy them here.
Here's the SoCal.com article:

Local Mom Turns your Trash into Cash

By Jenny Platt

Like many parents, Kim Rily wondered how she and her husband would provide for their two young children on a single salary when the company she worked for unexpectedly handed her a pink slip last March. But instead of turning to despair, she embraced her newfound time by starting the Five Million Can Project. Rily, a self-described “youngish mom who is trying to take care of her kids’ future and the planet too,” has created a blog to document the progress of her goal: to recycle five million cans (and bottles), using the CRV (California Redemption Value) she collects for her kids’ future college educations. “I try to pick up trash when I see it outside,” Rily explains, “and I actually started having discussions with my husband and friends where I said, ‘well, a can is worth a nickel, or sometimes a dime, and wouldn’t you pick up a nickel if you saw one?’” It was actually the trash left behind at a movie theater that inspired this mom to become the “Can Mom”. Recalling that eventful night, Rily shares, “people just left their bottles all over the theater and I knew they weren’t going to be recycled – they would just be thrown away. So I started picking them up…there were so many juice and water bottles littering the theater that my husband and I couldn’t hold them all.” But while she began doing the public’s dirty work at the theater, Rily didn’t come up with the idea for her blog until the following day. Collecting miniscule unemployment checks, she admits, “I was kind of freaking out about how much things were costing, like daycare. The idea of transferring something seemingly difficult to earn, like $250,000 for two college educations into something easy, like finding cans, came together. It took me a while to get up the guts to make the blog…but after I made it, I really didn’t want it to be something I failed to pursue.” Rily now carries collection bags in both her purse and her car, just in case any extra “nickels” are lying around, whether it’s at the park, in the parking lot, or even by the side of the road. “The hardest part to get over is the idea that people are going to stare at me because I’m reaching into a trash can. I know I’m drawing a fine line between being an eco-activist and a bag lady,” she remarks. “But there are other things that are happening. My daughter is becoming more aware of recycling. I never thought a three-year-old would ask, ‘is this trash or recycling?’” Rily often brings her daughter Samantha and her one-year-old son Max recycling. Her kiosk of choice is an automated machine next to a local Albertson’s that counts her cans and dispenses a refund ticket accordingly. A blog entry from June 4th proves just how much of an impact this has had on Samantha. “Recently, I've been bringing the little girl with me to the point where now she got angry because I only had 37 cans and let her sit and watch me deposit the recycling instead of getting her hands dirty and sticky. She yelled at me afterwards, ‘I didn't get to help with the cans!’ She knows about recycling and is enthusiastic about it. She CRIED about not recycling cans. Cried. I’m so proud.” It may seem as though life in the Rily household has been dramatically affected by multi-weekly recycling trips or that bottles and cans have overtaken their home. But other than her outspoken husband Mitch asking strangers for cans, not much has changed, and the Can Mom shrugs it off, defending her new eco-lifestyle. “It hasn’t slowed me down at all. The other day I was driving home from Target and someone had left a 2-liter bottle of Pepsi in the parking lot, so I stopped the car for a second and put it in a bag in the car. Five seconds here, five seconds there, that’s all it takes.” Almost four months have passed since the Five Million Can Project’s inception and Rily has collected nearly 2,000 cans for a grand total just shy of $100 – a far cry from the $250,000 she hopes to acquire. But she’s not giving up and she brushes any thoughts of failure aside; for her, this is just the beginning. “I don’t know if I can make it by my daughter’s fifth birthday, like I had initially written in my blog, but I really do think I can achieve this goal. This whole thing is educating me just how much a million is. But we'll keep at it!” Five million may seem like an unfathomable amount of unclaimed recyclables, but according to www.bottlesandcans.com, over seven billion cans and bottles were tossed into trash cans in California alone last year. So, what does Rily think of this astonishing number? “Hmm…all that stuff isn’t getting recycled,” she says, without missing a beat. “I’ll take that.” Her motivation may have been to reverse the damage done to college funds after she lost her job, but Rily swears, “this project isn't just about getting money for my kids' educations. It's also building this sense of accomplishment for me and for the community. Just think if everyone saved their bottles and cans, recycled them, and donated them. How much money could they raise? Or, if everyone decided not to use bottles and cans. Think how many landfills wouldn't fill up as quickly. When we work together, it becomes very doable. And that's something I see as I work on this more and more. I've noticed other people picking up cans and bottles. I'm not alone. And that makes me happy.” It might seem that Rily would be eternally grateful to all of the strangers across Los Angeles who have unknowingly contributed to her kids’ college savings accounts. However, she can’t quite bring herself to thank people for littering the city’s streets. “While I’m glad that there is a way for me to find a little ‘easy money’, I really wish that everyone would take responsibility for their own actions, and their own waste,” she says. “I wish that everyone recycled and this wasn’t even an issue. If my blog could bring into people's consciousness that they are throwing away something that is a: worth money, b: is a valuable resource and c: is just uselessly filling a landfill, I'd love it.” In spite of wanting others to do their own recycling, several people close to Rily have earned her deepest gratitude for doing just the opposite. “To my friends and family who have donated their cans and bottles, and my husband who has dragged bags of bottles and cans home on the Metro, I thank you so much for contributing and believing in me.” So what’s next for the Five Million Can Project? Rily plans to seek out partnerships with businesses in her neighborhood that may not already be recycling, perhaps to trade their cans for links to their websites on her blog. To donate your recycling refund via Paypal or to follow Can Mom’s progress, visit www.fivemillioncanproject.blogspot.com.

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And here's the scoop from Smart2BeGreen!

June 15, 2010

Where Can You Find Extra Money?

If you pick up another man's trash
You can turn his old junk into cash
It may take awhile
But you'll show your green style
And soon you'll have quite the big stash.

Show Me the Money

Even when times aren't tough, it's nice to make a few extra bucks on the side for doing something you believe in. So what's the best way to profit off your green ways?

• Recycle it Yourself - The contents of your household's recycling bin may get collected once a week, but it's not all that hard to do some of the work yourself - and to benefit from your independence. Locate your nearest recycling center or kiosk, then separate out all your bottles and cans. If you walk or bike to the center with your bag o'loot, you'll pull double duty for the environment and your wallet by saving on gas and preventing unnecessary air pollution.
• Make it a routine - Head over once a week with your recycling booty and keep the money you make in a jar or make a chart to show how much you've earned.
• Save your profits and have a lofty goal - A handful of change each time you go may not seem like much, but it can add up quickly. One blogging mom started the Five Million Can Project, determined to collect and recycle five million cans over the next several years to pay for her kids' college educations.
• One man's trash can be YOUR treasure - Train your eyes to look for abandoned plastic bottles and cans and see them as found money - on the subway, at the movie theatre, at the beach. Carry a bag with you in your pocket or purse for collecting - a simple bottle of hand sanitizer should chase away any fears of touching used beverage containers.

Another way to save money by utilizing your eco-friendly ways is to monitor your home utility usage with My Emissions Exchange, where your carbon credits are traded and you earn cash through PayPal!

Earth911 provides a list of additional ways you can earn money for recycling anything from electronics to clothing.

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Thank you SoCal.com and Smart2BeGreen.com! And thank you, Mrs. Platt, wherever you are!

The Helpful Husband Recycles

Doesn't that sound like the title of a 1950s how-to book?

I don't know how your spouse acts, if they're chatty or shy, a doer or a thinker. My husband is definitely not shy and is definitely a doer. He works in downtown L.A. and got off work early because of the Lakers game. (They are usually cautious about anyone getting caught in downtown if there's a win OR a loss.) So, wonderful man that he is, he stopped off at the L.A. Convention Center (not the Staples Center) where they're having a certain yearly electronics convention. He stopped by there, did a quick walk of the convention, and in 3 minutes picked up a trash bag full of cans that had been thrown into the trash. Mind you, there are recycling bins right next to every garbage can there. Somehow, the cans and bottles just didn't make it into them. So, thank you, sweetie, for the $3.50 in cans and bottles you were able to get by making a quick stop on your way home.

And gamers! I know you're distracted by the booth babes, but come on! Just take a look and put the bottle in the right container!

Also, a friend this week donated her cans and bottles on Wednesday. I didn't know people drank so much Perrier.

Another $5.10 (102 cans) in just 2-3 more days.

New Grand Total = $95.65, 1913 bottles and cans

Yes, we CAN!

So, where did I find cans this week?

Helped a friend move and box things;

They lovingly donated
all their cans and bottles they had accumulated
All their recyclables added up
When they bought cans and didn't use cups
Drinking from cans is convenient and nice
But glasses can be used much more than twice!
However, it works out well for me,
82 more for the project, you see.

Okay, enough with the rhyming, I know. I sometimes break into spontaneous poetry--
Occupational hazard of being unemployed and needing to use your brain.

Also, you know that you have been thinking about bottles and cans as nickels when you find a quarter on the ground and think, "Hey, five cans!" This project is really changing how I view recycling. Bottles and cans have value, not just monetarily. I'm actually kind of proud that I have saved so many cans from the rubbish heap.

So, where did the other bottles and cans come from this week?

I find my nickels everywhere! Went shopping at Staples, someone had left empty soda bottles in the corner of the store. So, I picked 'em up. The trash can at the metro station where I pick up my husband, (Mr. Can) had a couple sitting on top. I can no longer stand cans and bottles going to a landfill. So, I picked 'em up. My friends, Alex and Phil had a bunch of people over for pizza and beer. The beer bottles were donated to the cause. And the juice bottles someone had left at the beach party last week? Yeah, the kids have been making good use of those. So, a few more there.

Total number of bottles and cans from this week? 138
Grand total of 1,811= $90.55!

FMC: Weekend Update: At the Beach!

So, beach bonfire at Dockweiler State Beach was successful. Hubs and I and the little ones scored a fire pit around 12:30 in the afternoon and set up a tent to hang out in and stay out of the sun. (We are a pale lot.) We read. Sammie and I built a sand castle. Okay, we filled buckets with wet sand and dumped 'em out. Not really a castle, but kind of a fort. We ran from the waves, and Sammie warned me, "Look out! You'll get wet!" as she watched in her bathing suit, staying as dry as possible.

And eventually, our friends showed up with some food and drinks. (We provided the wood to burn.) We had a good time, the hubs reminded everyone about this Web site and we collected the used cans to return and recycle. I also saw other people going about the beach, poking around in garbage cans and rescuing recyclables. So, there weren't many for me, as I was mostly there for fun and the cans were a side-bit for the day. However, I did find this:








It looked like someone just decided to not bring anything to pick up their trash in. Or perhaps a bin had fallen over and things had blown away, but no one cared enough to pick it up. So, as I walked along the sand looking for discarded cans, I found this flock of seagulls, (not the band) and they were happily picking through the trash, some eating paper plates, some snacking on plastic cheese-food wrappers. So, trying to be a good example, I captured some of the plastic bags floating around in the wind and started picking up the trash, running off the seagulls, and my brother and 3-year-old Sammie came to help me out. Once we almost had everything picked up, a nearby picnicker came over and helped out. I don't know if he or the group next to him was responsible for the mess, but I was grateful that someone else at least noticed.

The people who do this kind of thing, just dump their stuff out for the ocean to collect, make me sick. It's just as bad as the people who let oil pump out, poisoning the water. Poison is poison. Anyway, this weekend I rescued three or four cans besides our own on the beach. Found a few plastic water bottles in the parking lot as we left.

Cans from the beach: 46. $2.30 more for the fund.
Total so far: 1673, $83.65.

Respect for some of my fellow humans? Somewhat lessened.

FMC's Weekend Update

So, yes, I know it's Friday, but every week I head to the local recycling center to cash in my cans and bottles. Recently, I've been bringing the little girl with me to the point where now she got angry because I only had 37 cans and let her sit and watch me deposit the recycling instead of getting her hands dirty and sticky. She yelled at me afterwards, "I didn't get to help with the cans!" So, I let her take the ticket into the Albertson's and redeem the cans, later letting her put the cash and coins into her piggy bank (which we later deposit into her college savings acct.)

So, although this week we only collected 37 bottles and cans-- some left over from my friend's game day, some picked up after a movie-- (You can't imagine the nickels people just leave at their seat, some empty, some almost full.) But although we only got $1.85, I now notice the difference in my daughter. She knows about recycling and is enthusiastic about it. She CRIED about not recycling cans. Cried. I'm so proud.

This weekend, we head to the beach for a big bonfire with lots of friends. In years past when we've gone, the amount of trash-- recyclable and not-- has been horrifying. I was truly angry at the group of a dozen or so teens last year who came, shared our campfire and then left a pile of cans and plastic all over the beach. We cleaned up after them, and the beach patrol let us stay an extra 10 minutes after closing so we could pick it all up. Of all the places you'd trash, why would you trash the beach? However, their carelessness in this case is my gain. Tomorrow beach clean-up, pics to follow!

Can total: 37 this week, for a total of 1627. $81.35.