This is a summary of all the posts in my CRV Diaries series. Below you find scavenging details, cat drama, summarized post links for 1-10, and crusty numbers crunched.
"This is not financial or scavenger advice."
It all started as a DBuzz post. CRV Diary 1 didn't have a cool cat image and it was extremely short compared to the inevitable TMI of a post series. My plan was to have a short and easy topic to share. I wanted trendy and easy content for a DBuzz post series. I quickly over complicated this goal. Now, again, I have a post series that requires more time from me and the audience. I also wanted to have a different topic for LeoFinance.
I hope everyone likes it.
š§ Conditioning š
I've learned a lot about collecting and scavenging. My eyes are well trained now and I have some good instinct. I look under and inside bushes that outline parking lots and various types of roadways. I notice how the sun reflects off recyclable objects near the curb, in the gutter or on the side of the road.
šÆļø š
I really don't want to get anymore serious then I already have. I hope to keep it "casual." I don't wear gloves, but I've seen other collector with gloves. It's smart.
š š¤¢
My short work on construction sites taught me to always avoid water bottles with yellow liquid. Don't even try to poor it out. You don't want it. Leave it there, move on and trust that there will always be another.
š ā»ļø
I never rummage through a full trash can. I don't dig deep. I'll take form the top, and maybe pull a top bag/box layer away, but that's it. I would rather leave some for the next guy.
Most neighborhoods have trash bins and a separate bin for recyclables. I never go though private bins. People are lazy and there are plenty of litter bugs to make it lucrative enough for me to collect what I want.
š š
Lots of my collecting comes from walking in areas where people regularly litter. That's easy to say because that's all of SoCal, but I exercise is a few places that are popular "make-out" spots. Motorists will drink a 12 pack or 24 pack of beer (cans) and then toss it all out. People down a tall can of beer and leave it on the gutter where they park. They don't want to get caught driving with it. Maybe they know someone will pick it up. This is especially common near scenic streets and lover's lanes where I exercise.
š§² š¬
Sometimes, I try to ignore everything and focus on exercise, but then I'll find a small "jack pot". I'll tell myself to let it go, and then I stubble across and empty grocery bag.
"Ahh hell..." I say.
"I guess I'll go pick it up now that I have an empty bag."
House Cat Drama ā¤ļøāš„ š š¦
I've never believed in house cats and I would never dare try to afford one. Yet, I live with a house cat. Not by choice. The tyrant I once shared living space with (bad therapist) allowed another tyrant (coworker/therapist/animal hoarder) to talk her into bringing a shelter cat home without my consent. "!drama"
I said "no" many times before this act of feline tyranny occurred. Alas, my clear and consistent communication was ignored. Returning him (cat) seemed like more cruelty because of his condition and personality. So we keep him. Eventually, the tyrant abandoned us. Now I am the sole caretaker for this cat. His name is Tilly. Look for his analytical eyes in the post series' main thumbnail image. Tilly is a loving and patient cat that has come a long way. He is a very well behaved. Never lashes-out or marks or scratches me or furniture. Almost never barfs and always uses the little box. He is extremely perceptive and easy to communicate with.
He is about 10 or 11 now. I think Tilly spent most of his life as a stray cat that never encountered humans until he got hit by a car. That got him doctored-up, locked-up, and held in a shelter for 9 months. He was extremely frightened of everything and has come a long way thanks to me. People can talk about their cats endlessly, right?
ANYWAY... HTF is this relates to collecting?!
All that cat info to say, my biggest fear in collecting comes form traversing though vegetation that might have fleas waiting. I'm afraid of attracting fleas and bring them home to my little cat friend. This might have happen once, but I'm not really sure. So, beware of fleas in the bushes.
I'll stop there and refocus on the recycling details.
ā¤ļøāš„
I have a secret.
The majority of my collecting occurs when I have down time at work. Working outside is great and having downtime after all my tasks are done enables my collection time. I've been seen once by visiting co-workers. They asked why I was walking far away from my post. I reminded them of the simple communication our mobile phone provides for me and customers. I reminded them of the shitty wages. I remind them low customer presence caused by neglected facilities. I mentioned the health benefits of walking around and balancing on rocks too. They already know I consistently out perform other employees and make lots of customers happy. It's almost free money. They know I'm right and change their mind.
All CRV Diaries 1-10!
Below is a list of links to all the CRV Diary post I created in 2022 and January of 2023. I added the redemption amount under the link. The image shows my receipt. Skip to the bottom if you are only interested in the grand total.
š CRV Diary 10 New Year Recycling Like Rabbits
$15.27
LOOK!!! The price of glass went down from .11 to .05.
Six cents less!
Maybe that's a minimum price when my load doesn't meet the minimum tare?
I think I hate glass more now.
9ļøā£ CRV Diary 9 Last Of The Year 12/07/2022
$22.17
8ļøā£ CRV Diary 8 and Entry for the Shadow Contest/SMASh.
$21.58
7ļøā£ CRV Diary 7 Easily The Most Prolific Recycling Day
$20.81
6ļøā£ CRV Diary 6: Mucho Plastico and Anchor Weight 07142022
$22.94
5ļøā£ CVR Diary 5 Predicting the Most EPIC Haul EVER for me.
$18.96
4ļøā£ CRV Diary 4 From Tetrahedroseph 05182022
$6.96
3ļøā£ Show Me Your Receipt 3 CRV Day With Hiveseph 05032022
$7.01
2ļøā£ CRV Day With Hiveseph 04152022 Show me Your Recipe 2!
$12.25
1ļøā£ My Biggest CRV Recipe Show me Your Recipe
$22.18
āļøš° Totals For CRV Diary 1 though 10: āļøš°
Aluminum cans and small plastic are the best items to collect. Glass is a nuisance, but I still redeem it. Creating this list below has helped me realize that I'm given some liberties by the recycling attendants. Some of the items I brought for redemption don't weigh enough to be over tare and they've given me the minimum amount for those items. Now that I know this it feels like I'm taking advantage of their generosity. I probably won't bring those items in for redemption anymore.
1ļøā£ Glass
Weight: 35 + 24.5 + 29 + 27 + 38 + 15 + 50 + 22 + 27 + 11
= 278.5lbs
Munnies: 0.55 + 2.08 + 1.99 + 4.68 + 1.35 + 3.21 + 1.9 + 2.37 + 2.04 + 2.78
= $22.95
2ļøā£ Aluminum Cans
Weight: 17 + 9.5 + 7 + 9.7 + 12.1 + 11.1 + 13.4 + 10.5 + 14.2 + 9.8
= 114.3lbs
Munnies: 12.78 + 7 + 1.92 + 3.85 + 8.05 + 11.2 + 10.32 + 11.9 + 11.72 + 6.83
= $85.57
3ļøā£ Plastic
Weight: 10.5 + 12.5 + 11.7 + 10 + 33.6 + 12.1 + 3.6 + 9.1 + 8 + 10.8
= 121.9lbs
Muh-knee: 6.62 + 3.11 + 2.57 + 1.21 + 7.7 + 10.39 + 5.81 + 7.69 + 8.37 + 7.69
= $61.16
4ļøā£ Iron Steel
Weight: 2.9 + 2
= 4.9lbs
Muhneez: 0.1 + 0.15
= $0.25
5ļøā£ HDPE Large
Weight: 2lbs
Muhnay: $0.20
(I just realized this is the large water jugs that I thought were disqualified in CRV Diary 10's post.)
Grand total for the period is $157.88 from March 2022 to January 2023 (includes CRV Diary 10).
Almost a years worth of CRV redemption. Overall it's gotten easier to collect and manage the recyclables. Avoiding glass is not regrettable. It's still not worth the extra effort to scavenge for and walk around with it. I said before, it's heavy and I hate the sound of it clanking against itself.
My redemption take average seem to have gone up as CRV Diaries have progressed. Mo money, mo money, mo money... that's nice to see. Especially since i've slowed down and care less about scavenging.
I'm a trash collector snob now. š
Thanks for reading and supporting this blog series.
"This is not financial advice."
"Immediately always never do anything I say."
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