A Wedding in the News

[Bramble]

In Washington State there isn't really an easy way to turn the amount of cans that an average household would generate into cash.  There is no deposit, and to do the type of scrap metal sale that is talked about in the article requires a significant amount of cans.  So, most people would put them in the recycling bin for city pickup and not get anything for them.  The city would likely aggregate all of its pickups and sell them, and then use the funds to offset the cost of the recyling program (pickup, sorting, etc...), but on the other hand if there's nothing to pickup it reduces the city's costs, so in the end I think its a tossup.

[LadyPekoe]

I grew up in Iowa, where there has been a bottle deposit for a LONG time.  Five cents on cans and ten cents on bottles adds up pretty fast--I grew up on a dead end that was well known for teenage parties and I would go out every morning and pick up beer cans and bottles to redeem and bolster my allowance. 

[mandycorn]

I live in an area without an organized recycling program and no can/bottle deposit, so in my area, the only way to recycle cans is to go out of your way to collect them and take them to a recycling place/scrap metal buyer. If this couple lived here, I would say that if they can convince people to specifically save cans for them and then go through the work of gathering them and redeeming them, they would be fine, I think.

[MyFamily]

I live in an area without an organized recycling program and no can/bottle deposit, so in my area, the only way to recycle cans is to go out of your way to collect them and take them to a recycling place/scrap metal buyer. If this couple lived here, I would say that if they can convince people to specifically save cans for them and then go through the work of gathering them and redeeming them, they would be fine, I think.

In a situation like you describe, I agree with you.  Then they are actively doing something that while will benefit them also benefits the environment (to a degree, but I won't get too nitpicky on this).