Where is your treasure?

There's more to this project than money.

It's true, I make five to ten cents per acceptable bottle or can that I recycle. However, I make no money for glass jars, wine bottles, or paper that I encounter. However, I still recycle them. Yeah, it sounds like I'm tooting my horn. I recycle. Big deal. But what I truly love is that I'm reaching my kids, not just teaching my kids.

I was driving my 4 year old to a school field trip with two other little girls. And on the back of my car, I have a sign taped up that reads, "Five Million Can Project, 5,000,000 cans = 2 college educations. And one of the girls asked my daughter, "What's that?" And my little blonde imp said, "Oh, that's so everyone know that we recycle and they can remember to do it too."

Sometimes you don't realize what kind of impact you have on your kids. And then a little glimmer of light comes through that shows that they're really soaking up what you say.

And my 1 1/2 year old son-- one and a half-- was relieved when I finally let him out of his car seat and propped him up in the grocery cart so he could place cans and bottles in the machine that takes each item and sorts it. He giggled madly as he peered into the hole and watched the conveyor belt carry it left or right. Just showing this to my kids... at least it's one thing I'm doing right.

And I want to thank Kathryn for letting me come clean out her apartment's garage. She had several bottles and cans for me and said that her garage had not had the recycling taken in a few weeks. They don't have a service, apparently, but had a tenant who moved take out the recycling. I couldnt' fit it all in my car, there was so much. I have returned 378 more bottles today, not including the 50 or so large containers that won't fit in the machine and the 5 bags of glass jars and bottles that don't count towards the California Refund Value. I'll be stopping by Kathryn's apartment later today to pick up the 200 or so glass bottles that are still waiting for me.

I wish I could get as excited about pretty much anything else, but finding a recyclable item (especially one I can recycle and make money from) is like a treasure hunt for me. And like the bible says, "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." My heart is really in this.

So, today, my treasure has rewarded me with another $18.90 plus.
Grand total: 5,396 cans and bottles and $269.80

Never give up, never surrender!

So, I have several friends who have asked me, "What's going on with that recycling thing you're doing?" Well, it hasn't caught on like the wildfire I thought it would, but I am still plugging away at it. I took another few bags (soaked from sitting out in the rain) over to the refund center and made another $6.10. That adds up for a grand total of $250.90 and 5,018 cans or bottles rescued.

Now, I know... this isn't much. Over the past few months, had I been working, I could make $250 in a day. But it is something to take trash and make it into something. When I was young, my mother would always say "Waste not, want not." And I never understood what "want" was in that sense. I always just thought "want" meant, "Hey, I want that toy. I want that My Little Pony. I want that Atari." But want means lack. And I will never lack if I don't waste what I have, is what "waste not, want not" means. And I have so much, I am very grateful. I am very grateful to have been able to spend these last 9 months with my son and my little girl. When I look back on his pictures in February vs now, I realize what a little boy he has become. Even though he doesn't eat his vegetables or spills Cheerios all over the car... I know I will miss these days.

But I am grateful for all the "muchness" I have. (Has anyone seen Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland? I love this phrase. (Watch the clip here.) I don't have a paying job outside the home. But I have plenty to do. And I thank God and the universe for a good husband who supports our family and loves me and our children. I thank God and the universe for sending me so many unexpected blessings-- focus groups to make money, people who want to buy some of our old things. And I love that I have gotten to the point where I know what Max's favorite book is. I know what his routine is. He knows me and that I stick to what I say.

But I will never stop picking up my nickels. I will never waste a single bottle or can. I'm not going to give up until I reach my goal. And I have other goals too. (Finding a job, writing and selling a novel or screenplay.) I will never give up or surrender my goals. Never give up, never surrender!

$250.90; 5,018 cans.
Not bad for so much. Much more muchness to come!

Hundreds of Cans in a week

So, I don't drink from cans. I do sometimes drink out of 2 liter bottles of soda. (Okay, usually I use a glass.) And yes, I do drink milk straight from the carton.

But today I took 5 bags of cans, (thank you K family) and three bags of beer & soda bottles (thank you S&W) and lots of juice jugs (thank you SC Preschool) And those are families and people who use that many cans and bottles over time. It just all adds up. I got $24.10 for my kids' college fund.


Not bad for recycling some trash.

So, the total for the week is 482 cans ($24.10)
And the total for the project so far is 4896. ($244.80.)

Five Bucks Here

I've recently been listening to Dave Ramsey on talk radio. I like hearing people stick to a budget and figure out how to overcome problems and work through debt. We don't have any credit card debt, but do have a Southern California mortgage and expenses like preschool, gas, food for a family of four, insurance, bills, etc. Oh, how the fun things add up.

So, five bucks here and five bucks there help. We still put a few bucks from each of my husband's paychecks into a college acct. for the kids. But five extra dollars is five extra dollars. However, I wonder if I'm getting too crazy about this. I took the trash down to the Dumpster at a friend's apartment. (She has a newborn, so I try to help her out when I can. Why taking the trash out at my OWN house isn't as fun, I'll never know.) Looking for the trash, I walked past the recycling bins that were FULL of cans. If my friend hadn't had her mother there (and had my toddler not been running crazy throughout her living room at the time) I would have asked for some trash bags and taken those nickels! But, they were being recycled anyway. It still drives me crazy to see all the trash on the side of the road, and it also surprised me as I walked to the grocery store with my son to notice just HOW MANY trash cans are along the sidewalk there. How much trash do we make, people?

And in that vein, I will add: SHAME ON FRITO-LAY.

If you haven't noticed, Frito-lay has gone backwards in its efforts to be eco-friendly. Because their bags were "too noisy" they are trashing their new 100% compostable bags. :( Major :(

Who needs quiet when they're eating chips? The chips are noisy themselves!


So a mere 100 bottles and cans recycled for $$ this week. However, many milk jugs and giant water bottles from a certain preschool were recycled. (They're not the right type of plastic for the California Recycling program, but are still recyclable.) Thank you for instilling a sense of responsibility in the children there.

Grand total: Our grand total is now up to 4,414 cans.