Handy hints for garbage pickin’

I do not make a frequent habit of garbage picking.  But desperate times call for desperate measures.  As a way to raise money for the Weekend to End Women’s Cancers, I am holding a bottle drive to raise the big bucks.  Assignment Bottles for Boobies is underway.

In Ontario, we take back beer/wine/spirit bottles to the Beer Store for a refund of the deposit.  You get a whole $0.05 to $0.15 for each bottle so a trunk full can net you a whopping $35.00!  Woo hoo!  Well worth the effort.

Now, where to get those bottles?  I’ve pestered my friends and neighbours.  Then I sent out flyers around the local streets.  Finally I brilliantly thought of recycling day.  So yesterday, I wandered the streets of my neighbourhood, pausing my car when I saw a burgeoning blue bin and then casually grabbed my grocery bag, looked around for onlookers and riffled.  Lovely.  However I did score a surprisingly large amount of bottles this way. 

The quest became easier as I went, developing a sixth sense for those houses that had big parties and were quickly trying to get rid of the evidence or those who had watched too many episodes of the “The Hoarders” and couldn’t wait to dump the stuff. 

So here are the handy hints I know you’ve been dying to know.

* Time it well. It is best to get out sometime after the kids are at school and most neighbours have gone to work but before the eager recycling truck.  You don’t want an audience, if you have any self respect.

* Do wear gloves.  One word – Ick! People are pigs and don’t polish their bottles before putting them out.  This is not a task for the smell sensitive or those who value cleanliness. 

* Line your trunk and open windows.  See previous point.  Ick.  My car smelled a bit like some bad all-you-can-drink parties from residence days in University.  Special.  But after the clean out, it is back to normal, with cookie crumbs and squished paper tucked into the seat where it belongs in my mom-mobile. 

* Have plenty of boxes and a garage for sorting.  The Beer Store is your friend and if you are organized, the exchange goes painlessly quickly.

I’ve made over a $100 this way and I would do it again…. maybe…. if truly necessary.  I’d better open a Corona to get over the trauma now.