Pop canning or: How I learned to recycle for money and love the pop can

Growing up in a comfortable middle class family, I’ve never had to worry about money. My parents paid for college. I didn’t get a job until I was 18  because mom and dad said school and athletics were my “job.” 

I even got a pretty decent allowance.

Unfortunately, those days are over. I’m poor and I’m in debt. I have a couple of evil credit card bills. I’m paying my mom $365 a month for an old loan, and while I have seriously cheap rent for my basement apartment, I’m barely scraping by. 

Then there’s my random work schedule as a reporter — I can’t exactly get a part-time job. So I’ve decided to gather pop cans and bottles until I can’t pop can no more. In short, I’m gearing up to rocket myself into a month-long quest for recyclables. About $1,010 worth, to be more exact. That’ll pay off all of my bills for the month, or possibly one entire bill plus some. 

I’ve recycled for cash before. Through my roller derby league Coos County Roller Girls, my teammates and I have raised hundreds of dollars by gathering and redeeming pop cans. Admittedly, it’s a sweaty, annoyingly dirty and time-consuming business. People put a lot of weird things in beer bottles — think bodily fluids, chewed tobacco and cigarette butts. 

To help track my earnings and adventures, I’ll write “Running on Empties” for The World Web site. I also plan to keep a running tab of miles driven and steps taken. 

Got pop cans and plastic bottles you don’t feel like dealing with? Write me and I’ll come running for your empties.