This is kind of embarrassing, but when I was a kid, my dad used to take me picking at the dump (yes, we were that poor). It was really hit and miss, but sometimes you would find some really valuable and totally salvageable stuff. I remember one time we found a near perfect antique pedestal sink. We took it home, cleaned it up and put it on the front lawn. Within about 15 minutes it was sold for $200. It was mostly old building materials (boards, wiring, fixtures and appliances), but I would usually find good toys and stuff too.
It's harder to do that these days as the landfills especially in bigger towns are more organized and do their own salvaging/recycling. It's big business now.
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Forget that. Too much work for too little. Came across a thread, and it seems old Asian couples in the suburbs are doing it to supplement their pension money:
I talked to a fella that picks bottles for an income, and he grinds 8 hours a day 6 days a week and its not easy because as he says, he pretty much fishes out his routes every week so by the start of the next week he has to work twice as hard to find bottles and cans.
On top of it he goes rain or shine or snow in the summer he puts a bike in the back of his crappy pickup but in the winter, its just miserable work. There are weeks when he makes a hundred or two a day and its tax free. But there are also weeks where he makes a pittance.
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When I lived in Edmonton, there was an elderly Asian couple who did the rounds through the alley. Pretty much the entire neighborhood was university students, so I imagine they did pretty brisk business.
They certainly made some coin from our house, and I imagine many of the other houses and apartment buildings were similar. If I was smart I would have done the same to recoup some beer money.
In Nova Scotia it's $0.05 per bottle on return. For the most part it's not worth my time. Sure once every few month's I'd fill my trunk only to get $5 back.
That said I have a neighbour that collects bottles and returns them (mostly because he supports the environment and doesn't like to see them go into the trash, but it also is a few extra dollars in his pocket). He has a plow on his truck and always clears the snowbank at the end of our driveway for us, in return when my bin fills with bottles I drop them off to him.
That said, I wouldn't imagine you'd really supplement your income other than a couple cups of coffee.
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Bottle fairies can really help out if you have to clean out the can bins at work and your co-workers load them up with garbage -banana peels, coffee cups, used kleenix, and anything else that would fit into the can shaped hole-. At one location I would leave the bags leaning against the dumpster and always in less half a hour they would be gone.
I have also heard stories where post-secondary aged adults would pass out at a outdoor party and all the empties that were strewn about earlier would be gone.
In addition I know several people who save up pop cans in Manitoba -0 deposit- and use them to pay for some of the gas money in Alberta.
I have to say, out of all domestic chores its the bottle depot that I hate the absolute most. Hate it. Just...all of it. The collecting all the bottles, storing them somewhere in my house forever (since I only go like twice a year because I hate it).
If someone came to my house and wanted my bottles they can have them!
Hell, last week the Boy Scouts were doing a 'bottle drive' but you had to bring the bottles to them at a central location.
Thats not a 'Bottle Drive' you just set up an ad hoc bottle depot. Whatever happened to coming to my house and picking them up?
If my wife would let me I'd probably just throw them all in my Blue Bin and let the City have the deposit. Could you imagine if we all did that? We probably wouldnt need to keep jacking up Property Taxes to make ends meet.
I mean, I go to the bottle depot twice a year and probably net like $200. Not worth it for me.
I've run the math and it just isnt lucrative enough for me.
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You see the pickers on the LRT platforms all the time, and I truly do think they are performing a public service by keeping the bottles/cans from getting to the landfills.
There are always a few cans/bottles rolling around on the trains too. The service lane attendants were able to make a $5,000 donation from all the cans/bottles they picked off the trains in 2015. I can't remember what charity it was donated to.
I have to say, out of all domestic chores its the bottle depot that I hate the absolute most. Hate it. Just...all of it. The collecting all the bottles, storing them somewhere in my house forever (since I only go like twice a year because I hate it).
If someone came to my house and wanted my bottles they can have them!
Hell, last week the Boy Scouts were doing a 'bottle drive' but you had to bring the bottles to them at a central location.
Thats not a 'Bottle Drive' you just set up an ad hoc bottle depot. Whatever happened to coming to my house and picking them up?
If my wife would let me I'd probably just throw them all in my Blue Bin and let the City have the deposit. Could you imagine if we all did that? We probably wouldnt need to keep jacking up Property Taxes to make ends meet.
I mean, I go to the bottle depot twice a year and probably net like $200. Not worth it for me.
I've run the math and it just isnt lucrative enough for me.
More or less the same way. I begrudgingly will try to go every four months so it doesn't pile up. I absolutely love it when the scouts or sports teams come to the door looking for bottles. Usually give them a large garbage bag full. Helps delay that trip to the depot and kids eyes light up when handed a bag of bottles half their size.
You guys that would rather have someone come to your door to pick them up... why don't you schedule the OP to come to your door to do that? The OP could even advertise this service for other like-minded people.
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You guys that would rather have someone come to your door to pick them up... why don't you schedule the OP to come to your door to do that? The OP could even advertise this service for other like-minded people.
Because hes a Jets fan and Jets fans are inherently fickle and untrustworthy. I dont want Jets fans to know where I live.
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You guys that would rather have someone come to your door to pick them up... why don't you schedule the OP to come to your door to do that? The OP could even advertise this service for other like-minded people.
They could also just set them outside or out back...and the very people who this thread are about will take care of them with no fuss.
I have to say, out of all domestic chores its the bottle depot that I hate the absolute most. Hate it. Just...all of it. The collecting all the bottles, storing them somewhere in my house forever (since I only go like twice a year because I hate it).
If someone came to my house and wanted my bottles they can have them!
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Call Vecova, they will pick up your empties about once a quarter and leave you a charitable donation slip.
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