Earlier quoted context omitted.
Do the bottles need to be full size, or do they accept crushed ones?
For plastic bottles at least for the machine you would have to un-crush it, it scans the bottle. For beer bottles, I dunno, try it out and report back?
My parents collect cans for a living
271–280 of 419 posts
Re: My parents collect cans for a living
#272During the great recession I had a co worker, a legendary game designer in some circles, tell me he was collecting cans to pay for gas. When he was unemployed he was desperate for any type of work. I was more interested in how gentrification makes her family's life harder. Back when I was 19 you could get a place in LA for 600$. Now same place is 1300$, no matter how many shifts or cans you pick up your not covering…
Re: My parents collect cans for a living
#273Earlier quoted context omitted.
The writing in this article is incredible and I have nothing but admiration for the author and her family. But, to me, this situation is what’s wrong with America. Why are people who are clearly so hard working struggling to get by?
It's not a "problem" per se, it's unskilled, untrained labor and someone with no resources trying to make it. Not all hard work gets a reward. Not everyone has a happy ending. While statistically, you have a better chance of making a "high" salary in the USA, it really also depends on what you do and who you know. Picking up cans also sounds like they could be undocumented, with no "legal" work papers. Many times, it…
Re: My parents collect cans for a living
#274Earlier quoted context omitted.
Here in Norway a half litre or smaller container has a deposit of 2 kr, bigger containers are 3 kr (22 and 33 US cent respectively). But it isn't the size of the deposit that drives the return rate (95% or more here in Norway) it is the ease of doing it. Here all shops that sell such goods are required to accept the containers in return even if they were not purchased in that shop and even if they are of a different…
Saw that at your neighboor's in Copenhagen, and after the first outrage of paying +50cts per drink, I understood that I was seeing a glimpse the future… If littering is equivalent to throwing money, you simply won't do it. Weird side-effect: homeless people might ask for your empty bottle and do the collection. Not sure how I feel about that though…
Re: My parents collect cans for a living
#275Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Same in Germany Too many stores refuse to take bottle types that they don't sell though. I am often left with one or two bottles that technically should be eligible, but I have to take them back with me. The Norwegian way seems more convenient for consumers.
I think from a certain size on, they have to take them back. I understand smaller stores not wanting/having to bother. But maybe I'm wrong, after all I almost exclusively buy from REWE, so it's never something I encounter personally.
Re: My parents collect cans for a living
#276Earlier quoted context omitted.
The only issue is that glass bottles are too cheap and heavy. They should at least have a 25 cent deposit as well. Right now no homeless person picks those up, because it's just not worth it. Even with 25 cents there would still be a disincentive due to the weight, but I also don't want to incentivize bottle makers to produce more plastic, for them to lower the price at the counter.
I don't understand the point of recycling glass. Most glass is mostly sand, an abundant raw material.
Re: My parents collect cans for a living
#277Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Jessia is the American dream. She's the one who made it, unlike thousands of others, who worked equally hard, and didn't. No family should have both parents working 12 hours a day just to survive, period.
Who gets to define "made it"? Did the electrician or garbage truck driver who's parents came from just as much not also make it? Why is it implied in so many comments around here that anyone who didn't go to college and get a white collar job pushing papers/code/spreadsheets didn't make it?
Re: My parents collect cans for a living
#278My family used to do this all the time when we were kids. We'd go along the ditches on the side of the road and make a family outing of it on weekends. At the beach my brother and I would drag big plastic garbage bags around and collect as much as we could from people who were happy to help some kids out and also happy to be rid of the bottles and cans. You could make some decent coin at it, but that was also in the…
Everyone was a winner!
Re: My parents collect cans for a living
#279Earlier quoted context omitted.
Saw that at your neighboor's in Copenhagen, and after the first outrage of paying +50cts per drink, I understood that I was seeing a glimpse the future… If littering is equivalent to throwing money, you simply won't do it. Weird side-effect: homeless people might ask for your empty bottle and do the collection. Not sure how I feel about that though…
> Weird side-effect: homeless people might ask for your empty bottle and do the collection. Not sure how I feel about that though… It becomes a respectful cooperation. When you party in a park, you place your containers next to a trash so a homeless can pick it up without searching the trash. They basically help you partying hard (and not caring/carrying about the bottles) and earn (by hard work) a bit of money.
Re: My parents collect cans for a living
#280Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Same in Germany Too many stores refuse to take bottle types that they don't sell though. I am often left with one or two bottles that technically should be eligible, but I have to take them back with me. The Norwegian way seems more convenient for consumers.
I think from a certain size on, they have to take them back. I understand smaller stores not wanting/having to bother. But maybe I'm wrong, after all I almost exclusively buy from REWE, so it's never something I encounter personally.