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| My e-bike with panniers |
I purchased my first E bike over a year ago and put over 1000 miles on it in the first year. Prior to that I used to walk around my neighborhood with my friend to get exercise and we would also take a garbage bag and pick up trash and recyclables and redeemable bottles and cans. After we both got E-bikes, I installed large panniers on my bike so I can carry more than two grocery bags full of trash.
Partial screenshot from the Clynk app
In the last seven months, I have redeemed over 1700 containers. It is shocking how many beer cans and bottles and miniature liquor bottles I pick up every week. Apparently there are dozens of people who drink and drive and then throw these containers out of their vehicles onto the side of the road.😲 I cover a range that encompasses roughly a 3 mile radius from my rural home here in Maine which is all two-lane blacktops.
The redemption system here in Maine pays $0.05 per container redeemed and $0.15 for vodka and wine bottles. I signed up with a system known as Clynk that makes redeeming these containers easy. You just put them in their special biodegradable bag with a barcode and drop them off. They process them in the next few days and then give me a credit that I can pick up at the grocery store as cash.
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| This is a typical catch from a 10 mile bike ride |
When I get home, I separate out the trash, recyclables, and redeemables. There are many containers that I cannot redeem because they've been crushed on the road, I also clean up dirty cans and bottles before redeeming them, many of the beer cans are filled with dead slugs which is really gross. There are also a lot of fast food containers and other general trash that I pick up.
Shown above is just the separated out redeemables. There is a surprising number of miniature liquor bottles. The state of Maine only recently enacted a law requiring $0.05 per miniature bottle, previously they were not counted as redeemable materials. This does not seem to have diminished the use of these bottles much.
I enjoy getting the exercise and cleaning up my neighborhood - it's like a treasure hunt for me - looking for shiny objects along the road. I call this my "get rich slow scheme" since I make around $100 per year, but it's not about the money for me. I just use some of it to buy candy or lottery tickets.
I encourage those of you who might live in areas where you find a lot of trash along the roadside to walk with a garbage bag and pick it up. Even if your state doesn't have a redemption system, much of the trash I find can be recycled. I feel strongly that it takes all of us working together as a community to improve the planet.
