Redeeming cans and bottles for fun/the environment/exercise/profit

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.

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.