Looking for Beer Cans
I was 12 years old and wanted a new bicycle. “Collect beer bottles this summer and you should money to buy one,” said my father. I hustled every day, grabbing beer bottles on the ditches leading into Westmeath. The most bountiful stretch was Rapid Road (known as River Road back then). The next spring I had enough for a three-speed bicycle with the weird handlebars.
My three-speeder was one of only a few at that time. I suppose I bragged about my good fortune too much. A year later, the wheel hit a rock on the sidewalk in front of Joe Ethier’s boarding house and threw me flying. My chin was cut from a fragment of a broken beer bottle. It needed stitches from Dr. Woods. Could have it been poetic justice?
There is definitely a mystery regarding discarded beer cans on particular back roads. A day hardly goes by without additional ones being discarded. Fortunately, there are some who pick up these cans, winter and summer, and save the tabs for the Lions Club who turn them in. Monies received are for charitable causes. Others collect them to simply help with the grocery bills each month.
For generations the iconic Elliott’s Hill, with its camouflaged cloisters on the west side facing Gore Line was a magnet for teenage lovers needing a little privacy. Near the crest of the hill, it was alluring to young people gathering for a drink or two. They could spot traffic from both directions. For many years cans and bottles have accumulated on the west side only – again facing Gore Line. It implies that drivers were tossing their empties. Speculation for empty beer cans on these rural roads is that men on their way home need a drink away from a main road.
Until I hooked up with Sheila, I had been known to buy a six-pack or a bottle of wine for consumption. Never once did I return empties to LCBO. Sheila was horrified to discover this wasteful trait about me (I said I was lazy). She saved all returns until she had a little nest-egg to cash in.
Sheila has been collecting wine bottles in the shape of a cat. A new colour each year entices her to buy regularly. The wine, itself is so repugnant that is generally thrown out.
Eugene Gadsden, a self-described canner says, “Check carefully: You might encounter shards of glass, dog feces or worse. In canning, you’re your own boss.”
Gadsden began gathering cans and bottles after moving to New York City. Over 30 years, he has made ends meet on container deposits. Along the way, he has taught dozens of new canners, including a Catholic nun with whom he founded, a recycling redemption center in Brooklyn.
He recommends targeting a neighborhood and then research the city’s recycling/collection days. “Being consistent means you know where the cans are,” says Gadsden. He usually starts at 1 a.m. and works until about 7 a.m. In that time, he’ll collect 1,000 or more containers, worth $100 or so.
To make any money, you need to be in one of the 10 states where glass, aluminum and plastic containers are worth collecting. You’ll also need a shopping cart that rolls smoothly and fits your style. Fill the main compartment with evenly distributed glass; off-kilter and heavily loaded carts tip over easily. Put lighter aluminum and plastic in large trash bags and hook them to the outside of your cart. This is a neat system that rewards recycling and reduces litter while serving as a safety net for the neediest.
I heard this story from a contractor who was renovating our house in 2012. Apparently, a garbage collector in Renfrew County made it a habit of picking off beer cans from blue boxes and stuffing them under the driver’s seat. As luck would have it, on making a sharp turn, a number of cans rolled out from under the seat messing up his footwork. The truck veered off the road coming to a complete halt against a homeowner’s fence. The accident was investigated but he didn’t know if any charges were laid.
Before I met Sheila, I didn’t do returns and I still don’t. I do believe in charity and have other means of helping out.
