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How Much Can You Earn Picking Up Bottles and Cans?
By
Jen Carlson
Published Nov 2, 2010
Modified Nov 2, 2010
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Nov 2, 2010
Modified Nov 2, 2010
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Recently Brokelyn went on a wild goose chase for loose change in Brooklyn, determined to find out how much one can earn from trolling the city for bottles and cans. Recycling those items, after all, is like looking under the couch cushions of all of New York City—if you don't mind picking through trash, you can probably earn some sweet bucks, right? The site reports back after their well-documented journey, with this final tally):
So what can you earn? In a best-case scenario, you can make a bit more than $5 an hour from collection to redemption (untaxed, of course). We each walked away with $2.50 from our trips, but in truth the whole enterprise was a one-man job. On the first run in September, we collected $5.60 for an hour’s work; the second run last month netted a smooth $5.25.
Plus, all that walking around and digging through trash in the open air—it's like someone's paying you to go to the gym (don't use a car)! More tricks of the trade here, where they even have a chart letting you now how many cans you would need to collect to buy, say, an iPad (9,980!).
Tagged
bottles
can
collecting
money
recycling
Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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