Wednesday, 09 September 2009
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Do You Return Cans for $$$?
Growing up in Michigan, I always took it for granted that you can return bottles and cans to get the deposit money. When I was little, I used to collect all the cans from my brothers' rooms (they were such pigs!) and then take the cans to the store for the deposit money. I could make decent money this way since deposits here are $.10. And when you're little, the dollar I'd get from just ten cans was a fortune. I distinctly remember buying my candy and little kid magazines (anyone remember Disney Adventures magazine?!) with deposit money.
In college, people would regularly come to the dorm rooms trying to collect bottles for either their student organization or beer money. It was pretty funny because there were never any bottles or cans in the recycling rooms. Even trashcans here don't have bottles or cans because so many people pick through them and collect the cans for money. I noticed the same thing happening in NY while I was there, but I remember thinking about how it must suck to only get $.05 a piece. I can't imagine not having the option at all!
It's easy to forget, however, that the we pay for the great returns up front when we buy the drinks. A 12 pack of Coke costs an extra $1.20 right off the bat because of the deposit. But while Michigan may have the highest deposit, we apparently also have the highest redemption rate, at a whopping 97.2%. Since returning containers for deposits gets the bottles recycled, we're going strong with the container recycling!
Does your state do bottle returns for money? If it does, do you take advantage of it? If it doesn't, would you if you could?
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- From: Cara
- Name: Cara
- About Me: I'm a 24 yr old back in the Midwest for law school. I've survived the first semester as a law student after working as a paralegal for two years. Let's see how the rest of the time goes!
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Comments (31)
Only beer cans and bottles, I dont usually drink out of cans of pop. (more value in a bottle, but I mostly buy juice anyways)
Usually we save them until we have about $80 worth and bring them back. Always nice to buy more beer with it :)
They dont do it in PA. I have turned them in for deposits in Europe. When we were in CA, I just gave our empty bottles to a friend before returning home. I let her keep the extra few cents!
In NYC, I see a lot of elderly going around picking up cans and bottles. I usually save what I have until my next trip to the supermarket
We don't get money for recycling our cans/plastic bottles/etc here in Manitoba, but I have done this while visiting Oregon.
no
Yep. Outside of grocery stores like Ralph's and Albertsons, they have these recycling centers and you just stick your cans and bottles through a machine and get a certain amount depending on the size and whether it's plastic or glass. We don't get actual money, though, but store credit for whatever grocery store we're near.
I do recycle them here in Wisconsin, and I wish I got the 10 cents you get. I have entire garbage cans designated specifically for the cans.
my dad has about, i'd say... 20 garbage bags full of cans above the garage to turn in. (we recycle all of our aluminum, cardboard, newspapers, glass, and plastics.)
I live in michigan, and every month or two my family returns pop cans to make, like 40 bucks. it pays for groceries, and since you paid for the deposit, it just seems normal to me that you would return them for recycling and get your money back.
I live in IA, and it is a $0.05 return. I return all my cans and bottles with a deposit on them! If I end up putting the money I get back into a jar and at the end of the year I cash it in and put it into savings for something I've been saving up for like a trip.. or just to save it period.
I am in the UK and I dont know anywhere which gives you some money for returning the bottle to the shop.
We recycle all our cans and bottles etc by taking them to the recycling banks in the city.
my neighbor's drink a lot so we collect their cans, they're giving me extra money for college next summer since i got a full ride. but they don't even know it.
i drank a lot of soda when i was living in california and they charge you 5 cents additional for every can or bottle you buy so why not take it back to the recycling centers. on an average, i would get about 10 bucks for a month's bottles and cans i used.
Not here. I'm saving cans anyway until I get a full load to sell to a local recycler. I haven't got around to calling about what they pay for aluminum though.
yup i tend to if i remember or if theres a lot
Yep! Always! :)
My mom recycles can for money. :)
Brings in some nice change. The last time I went with her to redeem them it was over $100I recycle all the time. I don't really do it for the money though, even though it is a nice bonus. I think it's more important that people do it to try to recycle and not have so much stuff in the landfill. Even if they stopped giving out money for recycling, I'd still do it.
always do!!! fast, easy gas money!
i "save" money because I don't buy sodas anyway?
I'm a Michigander too and I love the deposit! When my husband and I both worked nights we used to scour our local park during the day looking for cans and bottles while we were out for a walk. We would usually find about $30 to $40 in bottles and cans each week which we bought our groceries with! I still pick them up when I'm out and I've noticed many, many others doing it too. Everyone in Michigan seems to store plastic bags in their pockets when they are walking just for this very thing. Keeps the roadsides tidy too.
No deposits, but a metals recycler operates locally. Florida.
i live in michigan, and yes i do return mine  i usually bring back $30-$40 a time... its good money and only takes about 20 minutes!   heck me and my brother fight over the cans every time the bin is full!
i remember helping my mom when i was younger... and getting excited that she would give me $5 or something to buy something... it was so exciting
not cans cuz i dont think we have that in Canada. But I do return bottles to the beer store to get some $$
They do in FL but not that much. :/
1 pound of cans is like.. 50 cents. D:
though my dad and I gave like.. four trash bags full of them and got twenty dollars split it in half, was great. :]
But no I let them have the rest, cause everyone needs money now a days.