I’m not gonna lie, I’ve got
a bit of free time on my hands right now…and considering I’ve been off work for
about 2 months, I’m trying to keep my cash outlay low. That said, what I’m
about to reveal is not for financial gain, but more of trying to keep my
community clean and get a bit of exercise at the same time. Here in Maine we
have a bizarre littering problem. Every state has litter, but for some reason,
my state feels the need to throw all of their recyclable cans and bottles out
the car window. I can’t find the logic behind it (and even more disturbing is
the fact that 80% of those cans and bottles are alcohol related). This is
strange because we have a bottle deposit law here which means, you paid that
.05 cent deposit when you bought the beverage so throwing it out the window is
literally throwing away a nickel. (I know for a fact my fellow Mainers need
those nickels which makes this all even stranger). Even if all those cans were
bought down in New Hampshire (which has vehemently opposed a bottle bill for
almost 35 years), there are recycling centers that will take them here (as
opposed to places like Michigan and California where machines scan the bar code
to make sure you bought the beverage in state. So in an effort to clean up my ‘hood,
I’ve been taking 30-45 minute walks this week and bringing along a satchel (and
my trusty Deluxe Grabber) to see what I could get. And wow. In just 3 days, I
picked up the 2 bags in the photo here. I have a redemption center within a mile
of my house so I headed over to see just what I’d get…that’s $5 going right
into the #mainerscanbeidiots fund.PPS: I almost forgot that during yesterday's walk, I found a working iPhone on the ground before I could attempt to figure out how I could find out who it belonged to, someone came up and claimed it. A very Maine thing to happen...but still surreal.
