Confessions of a Street Recycler: I Pick Up Trash for Money

I recycle the disreputable way. I admit it. Respectable recycling is turning in household generated aluminum cans, plastic containers and glass bottles which is merely recovering California Redemption Value (CRV) paid at checkout stands. I get my hands dirty recycling for personal profit. Nor do I receive any neighborly assistance of giving me their recyclables. That means I collect recyclables the hard way on the streets.

When spying a soda can lying in a gutter, I see a nickel and discreetly retrieve the item. Picking up containers is all too often an embarrassing act and I frequently pass up on that nickel if too many people are around or if I think someone is staring. More difficult is passing on a 24 ounce plus container because their value is a dime. I am self conscious concerning the negative connotations associated with street recyclers. People look down upon scavengers and trash pickers rummaging through garbage cans, trash bins and dumpsters thinking them dirty and subhuman.

This image derives from bedraggled homeless people pushing container filled shopping carts draped with bulging garbage bags. So why do something considered demeaning? For the money in this somber economic climate. I began recycling as a lark five years ago. The State of California was urging its citizens to recycle and easy access rePlanet recycling centers sprung at local Ralph's markets. I had always saved my own container which were few as I do not partake of adult beverages, sports drinks or bottled water.

When tossing my garbage, I noticed bags of empty beer cans or loose container lying on top begging to be plucked with a minimum of getting one's hands dirty. There were cans and plastics littering parking lots waiting to be scooped up. Why not carry a bag for loose strays when walking for exercise. The embarrassment level is somewhat tempered by the justification of cleaning up the environment. I was happy cashing in for a few bucks requiring a minimum of time and effort. The CRV then was 2 1/5 cents for small and 5 cents for large.