Building wealth, one can at a time

Okay, the title of this post is facetious; I don't really think one can become rich by turning in soda cans for the 5-cent refund. So why do I bother? Long ago I examined my grocery store receipt and found I was being charged an extra $.60 on top of the cost of a 12-pack for a "deposit" fee. This made me angry! Soda cans are the easiest thing in the world to recycle, so why are we being charged $.60 every time we buy a 12-pack? Why not charge us for anything we buy that's made of type-7 plastic instead?

I began by returning my own cans, and found that a paper grocery sack could hold about $2.00 worth of cans. I also found it was sort of fun to feed the cans into the recycling machine; I liked the “schlok” sound it made when it sucked the can in. And, it took about a minute to empty my bag. All in all, not a huge waste of time or effort.

Then one day, while standing in the kitchen area at work I noticed two cans sitting on top in the recycling container. When I saw no one was watching, I quickly grabbed the cans, washed them out, and shoved them into my lunch bag. I’ve since decided that if the cans are within easy reach I’ll take them—but I’m not going to start digging in the garbage.

I know, I know, the easiest solution would be to stop drinking soda. Maybe one day.