A Sacramento Recycling Story

I was crushing the cans in my backyard before taking them out to the Sacramento recycle center I go to on a regular basis. Though I am environmentally aware, the money was the bigger motivator in my turning in my cans and I knew that crushing my aluminum cans got me a few more cents than if I didn’t. It was eight in the morning when I started. My wife and my 15 month old little girl were both sleeping as I made my way to the side of the house to start my routine.

I loaded up the cans, drove to the Sacramento recycling center, after waiting in line I finally had my cans weighed and made my way back home. When I arrived, both my wife and my daughter were awake, dressed, and had just finished their breakfast. I looked at the clock and it was nearly ten. I couldn’t believe it had been that much time so I broke it down myself. By the time I factored in the crushing, loading, cleaning up, drive both ways, and the wait, it all added up. I looked at my check for a bit over $12.00 took away a gallon of gas and realized I had just been working for $4.50 an hour, missed quality time with my family, and I was sad. Yes I was helping to save the environment, but as hard and as much as I work throughout the week, every minute extra I spend with my family becomes that much more important.