So Saturday night was my first try at collecting. I went out around 9:30 and got back at around 11:00. I stopped at a liquor store in IV to get a cardboard box to aid in holding the cans. A side note, I paid 59 for a thing of sunflower seeds, which I'm still enjoying as of post-time. They are a great deal, whatever flavor you decide to go with. So anyway, my bike looked something like this:
I biked the length of Del Playa and it wasn't long until my basket was full. In fact, at the end of DP, where it turns into a park overlooking the ocean, I had to turn away a case of empty 40s (shown on the ground). At 10 cents a pop, that would have easily been another buck:
Overall, I was really impressed by the whole scene. Both school and summer-school aren't in session; the roughly 5,000 freshman won't be here for another two weeks, and yet it was still more partying than I've ever seen my life (outside of previous visits to IV).
In my whole time I only saw one "Gaucho" (UCSB students have given the schools namesake to the can collectors). He was on the outskirts of IV and I'm not even sure he was collecting. I'll bet that I was probably a little too early in the night.
When I got back at home I lined one drawer of my desk with a water-proof Ikea bag, and filled it up. The drawer keeps it sealed and the bag keep any swill from seeping out:
You might notice that all of the tabs are missing; I've been told that you can turn in the tabs en mass on their own as scrap aluminum, and that the can will still be valid for the CRV. I was at a party a few days ago, and I was told that a full one-gallon milk carton can be traded in for a free keg.
All in all, the venture was a greater success than I has anticipated. I won't have an accurate count until I turn the cans in, but I'm guessing I grossed somewhere around $2. At the very least it should cover the 59 cent sunflower seeds. Next time I'll be sure to crush the cans as I collect them, so I can hold more w/o going back. I might try to figure out a way to attach boxes so my basket can hold more.
More to come later this week!
-Charles
P.S.: If you have any questions, post a comment. I'll try to comment back if I can.
