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I put glass bottles in our recycling bin because they are too heavy for me to haul but every 2 months I turn in the plastic water bottles and cans that my family and a few relatives save for me. I usually get $20-$30 when I go but I admit I only do this because I live a few minutes away from a recycling center. If it was inconvenient I don't think I'd bother.
Here in NY they give you 5 cents a bottle, being from NJ, I thought it was strange going to the food store and seeing people bring trash bags full of empty bottles to the store. I can't see the hassle of returning bottles, I sure they are sticky, dirty, having to put them into a redemption machine one at a time. I just put them out with my recycling at night, I see the next morning all the redeemable bottles were removed, all the power to them, but for me I earn a good living, I can't be bothered.
Yes, we return the returnable bottles and recycle cans and other bottles. Not for exchange or anything - when I was a kid I was taught the value of avoiding waste. That's worth passing along to kids regardless of whether there are a couple of bucks attached to it.
For those of you who live in a state or country that has enables you to return bottles for cash:
- do you do it? Because you need the money or the fun of it?
- how much have you made so far?
This concept is not about making money or getting rich. It's about forming a recycling habits and getting a small reward by doing it.
In Germany, for example - they sell drinks in glass/plastic/cans, by the crate. Very popular by just about everyone. It's called a pfand system. It regulates the sale and return of plastic and glass bottles, as well as aluminium cans. Plastic is usually refilled 25 times, glass 50 times.
The first time you buy the drinks, you also pay for the bottles and the crate (deposit). The next time, you bring empty bottles and the crate, you just exchange the whole set for a new one BUT now you pay only for the drinks, not the bottles or the crate. It makes a huge difference in price and encourage recycling. From now on, everytime you bring the empty bottles in the crate back to the store, you just pay for the liquids
If you decide to stop or buy different drinks, you get all the money back you paid the first time for the bottles and the crate.
You see how the concept works? The multiple re-use of the bottles and crates?
Some plastic bottles don't get reused, but they get recycled and new bottles (or other products) could be made from the recycled material, so they don't litter the streets and landfall.
Single use bottles carry a higher deposit. The logic for this is that the higher deposit should act as a disincentive.
To make it easy, most stores that sell drinks and supermarkets have automated machines which accept the returned bottles. They will take 99% of what you throw in there, provided it’s a bottle with a valid German Pfand label and barcode on it.
It takes a little effort to follow the rules, but they are to save the costs of producing containers for drinks every single time, and to help the environment.
People happily follow those rules.
It takes a little effort to follow the rules, but they are to save the costs of producing containers for drinks every single time, and to help the environment.
People happily follow those rules.
You can save money on gym fees, too, by lugging those heavy Bierkasten (cases of beer) to and from the market.
For those of you who live in a state or country that has enables you to return bottles for cash:
- do you do it? Because you need the money or the fun of it?
- how much have you made so far?
Honestly, by the time you pay for the gas to get there and back, you're not even ahead.
Plus, the recycling places around here are just gross and packed and you risk driving over something that will puncture your tires.
Around here, to me, it makes more sense to just stick the recycling into the city containers that they come around to empty. It's just not worth it to me, and I'm really frugal.
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