1 Sep
Reduce, Reuse, Forget It?
Green flowery things, cute little animals, crisp fresh air; I love all of these things. Really I do. So my question today comes down to one of economics and I am interested in your feedback.
Our city, like many across the country, offers a waste recycling program with separate bins for waste (aka Lets-just-bury-this-in-the-ground-and-cover-it-with-dirt-like-it-never-happened) and glass & plastic.
Over the weekend I packed the kids into the car with our latest experiment in frugality: doing our own recycling. Wondering if we could actually add to the budget, we have dutifully saved our bottles instead of putting them in the bin.
It was a quick drive to the local Re-planet center where I learned the ins and outs of recycling etiquette. Taking two four year-olds along may have been a mistake, but they kept me entertained while I waited in line.
Yes, the line. An absolutely wonderful mix of socioeconomic characters awaited us and our laundry basket full of glass, but we had nothing else to do so we bought in to the fun. They all seemed to accept us silently into their community.
Even the cigarette-smoking, tattooed, American bandana-wearing gutter-sitter was kind enough to give us his empty Smirnoff bottle to add to our pile. At least 5 cents, that one.
All-in-all it took about an hour to transfer our haul to the proper container, get weighed-in and receive our receipt for redemption at a nearby grocery store. Gross profit? $5.09
I am struggling with myself over the worth of this venture. An hour of my time plus the storage space of the recycling in the garage, loading and unloading, and the gas to drive to and from the center certainly does not add up to any real value here.
Assuming my local waste collection center is doing what they promise, just tossing the bottles into the recycling container must be a better value, right?
I have to factor in a few more variables, however:
- The kids and I had nothing else we had to do so this provided an hour of time together
- We were in a new environment with new people to meet and talk to and about. All kinds of discussions came from the types of people there.
- We were not out spending money on something else like a matinee at the dollar theater = additional earnings in the form of savings.
That brings me to a very soundly undecided on the whole recycling thing. Green flowery things aside, I’m not sure whether to continue it or not. What do you think?
the Dad
Posted by Tutu on 09/01/09 at 11:34 am
I used to take my son sometimes to feed the homeless, to sell our stuff at the Swap Meet to help make ends meet, to Church, to Karate and Piano lessons, to Concerts – you name it. I think it’s all part of “civilizing” and humanitarianizing (word?) our off spring – to help them develop compassion
and understanding and to realize the world is bigger than their home. I applaud you for venturing out and most especially for taking the kids along – you might not do it forever, but for a while it will no doubt instill some values that “can’t be bought”! We love how your amily is growing up together.
Posted by Kelsalynn on 09/01/09 at 7:44 pm
I think you should continue doing it as if it weren’t an option. That’s just my take on our responsibility.
Do it as if it was “normal”. Do it as if you didn’t have the option to sit at home instead.
It truly does make a big difference… to our earth and to your children. Instead of thinking of it as, “it took an hour and I had to do this and that…” think of it as, “It only takes 1 hour to make a difference…”
From my perspective, it blows my mind that we have to PAY PEOPLE to recycle. It’s just crazy to me… we should all do it regardless. It should be the norm, not the exception.
Sorry, I’m off my soapbox now. Please let me know what you decide. I’m not a hater either way! : )
Posted by the Dad on 09/01/09 at 8:41 pm
Kelsalynn, don’t get me wrong, we’re recycling either way. The only question is do we bother taking it ourselves for the resulting refund or do we just put it all in the recycling bin for waste management to recycle.
Posted by KELSALYNN on 09/02/09 at 6:13 am
Ooooooh!!! Sorry Dad… I read your post wrong, that’s my bad. I thought you were torn between recycling and not recycling, not taking it yourself or putting it in a bin. OOPS!!
Okay, well, then let’s see… Is the $5 typical or was this the first time you’ve done it? If you’re unsure, I would do it for a little while and see what kind of proceeds you get. If you decide it’s not worth your time, I think the bin is just fine. Maybe when your kids get older, it could be their responsibility and they get the money from it… it’s a chore that pays for itself!!!
Sorry for the confusion on my earlier comment.
Posted by Rae on 09/02/09 at 10:00 am
Is say keep doing it, the more often you go you just may learn some tips, like maybe when a better time to go, that is less busy may be, maybe you could plan to be there when they opened. if you could find some ways to reduce the time you are there it may make it even more worth it. I have actually been thinking of doing this, it is hard to justify spending money for someone to take it away when I could be making money on it.
Posted by Tutu on 09/02/09 at 4:18 pm
Another thing I’ve heard about people doing, is keeping a box or jar that’s JUST for the recycle monies and then counting that up together with the kids and wife at the end of the year – seeing what a difference it makes, not just to our planet but to the family budget – then you can all vote on how to spend it.
Posted by Coffeenut on 09/03/09 at 10:30 am
When there was an aluminum recycling place here, we used to take our cans for recycling for cash back. Now we still recycle, but we drop it off at a dropoff site and get nothing. When we could cash in on it, we would save that up all year, plus we would save all of our pennies, and at the end of the year, we would cash it all in and divide the cash among the kids for them to buy Christmas presents for each other. We still do pennies and “found” change for that purpose. When I was a kid, I once financed a trip to DFW for a shopping spree with my sister to get school clothes mostly with cans I collected. I was too young for a real job and my mom didn’t have money for me to go. My sister sent me the airplane ticket, but I had to earn my shopping money.
Where I live, there is no longer a recycling center anywhere close, but I still recycle.
I agree with finding a less busy time for dropoff, but stick with it. You might be surprised by how much it adds up. Most of DRers are THRILLED with a $5 snowflake!
Posted by Amanda on 09/13/09 at 3:27 am
When I was a kid in New York(state), we would actually go can hunting, walking or riding our bikes with my dad along the roads and if we saw a can or bottle we would pick it up, wash it when we got home and and save it for the can and bottle machines in the grocery stores. We always split the proceeds. It was a different experience doing the same thing as you in California after my childhood experiences.