Reduce and Reuse

I did something this weekend that I haven't done in years. I returned some 5 cent deposit bottles.

Not to sound elitist or anything - on the contrary in fact. I generally separate my deposit bottles from the rest of my recyclables, and leave them on the curb in a separate bag for someone less fortunate to grab and add to their stash. (If you happen to be reading this from somewhere other than Boston, on our trash / recycle days, people walk the neighborhoods, often with shopping carts, taking deposit bottles before the city's recycling trucks get them). It's a symbiotic relationship - I recycle, someone who needs the cash gets it.

Returning deposit bottles is a tough way to make a living. I remember my parents allowing me to keep the deposit money each week, and I would diligently bring the deposit soda bottles to The Food Emporium, and collect my dollar or so every few weeks. Deposit bottles were 5 cents back in the early 80's, and they are still 5 cents now. Inflation did not drive up their cost. Therefore, professional bottle collectors haven't had a raise in decades unless they collect more bottles each year (I know they exist, because I remember seeing a story on TV about some hard-working parents who earned $30,000 a year doing this, and their daughter went to MIT on a scholarship after their scholarship committee heard their story).

I haven't been in town for a trash / recycle day in months. The trash bags, in case I'm away on trash day, I can put into our garbage cans locked behind our side door, and my upstairs neighbor will usually check to see if there's anything in the cans on the night before trash day. The recyclables though - I suppose I could have put them back there as well, but for some reason I like to be in town to bring the blue bin back upstairs. I have already had one disappear, and while they are free, I suppose my concern is valid.

With St. Patrick's Day behind us, and the various nights I have had friends over drinking beer, I accumulated 63 deposit bottles. Enough to fill a tall garbage bag. I kind of wanted to just get rid of them, even though they were on my deck, out of sight (for me). Connecting the dots, I thought getting rid of a full garbage bag + $3.15 + heading out to do errands = return the bottles. Why not.

Off to Stop & Shop I go. Their new recycle area at the Dorchester store is clean and fully functional. The 9 plastic bottles went without a hitch. Hit the button, cash out a 45 cent certificate - just like a new winning slot machine that doesn't dispense coins. The cans, though, were a problem. After the second Miller Lite can, I realized that this store was not going to accept beer cans. In New York, grocery stores sell beer, so it was never an issue those rare times my father consumed some beer along with the Coca Cola we drank religiously (I was never told it was going to get me fat - bad parenting!) So, I fished out 9 non-beer cans, cashed out another 45 cent certificate, and put my garbage bag back into my car, with a sticky right hand that now smelled like old beer.

I went home, and brought the remaining stash to my local corner store that also sells a nice selection of beer, wine, and spirits. I asked if he accepted deposit cans, he said he "wouldn't take like 500...how many do you have?" I showed him the half-filled bag, told him there was $2.25 in there, but to be sure to just give me 2 bucks - which is exactly what he did. He seemed a little suspicious of the quantity, and clearly neither of us felt like counting the cans there. A small discount off my desired amount moved things along smoothly.

With 2 extra dollars in my wallet and 90 cents worth of certificates in my car, I forge ahead into my first week in town since January!