An Australian man spent seven years cleaning the streets and walking the festival aisles looking for cans and bottles. He got nearly 41,000 euros from recycling them and used the money to buy a property. Recycling is a good thing. Damian Gordon, an Australian, wanted to demonstrate this. For seven years, a guy from Australia’s Central Coast gathered cans and bottles for recycling. In total, he collected more than 450,000 cans and bottles. Since 2017, he has been fighting a grueling struggle alone, but with enormous motivation, according to Australian media outlet ABC News. He was able to buy a property with the more than 41,000 euros he earned via recycling.
Damian Gordon saved enough 450,000 cans to buy the house of his dreams
Damian Gordon works full-time to save money when he is not cleaning up the streets. But he’s discovered a better place to recycle than the sidewalks, and he’s made volunteering the centerpiece of his journey. In Australia, there are numerous music festivals. Over 500 per year. Damian Gordon, who is passionate about music, decided to volunteer at these events. What motivated me was a desire to become involved in the music festival scene. I’ve met so many renowned individuals just by cleaning the front of the stage, he told ‘The Project,’ an Australian audiovisual program.
During these lengthy workdays, he collects thousands of recycling containers. But this isn’t everything. Festivals are infamous for showcasing affluent musicians. As a result, people frequently overlook certain details. Damian Gordon’s collection of camping gear, string lights, and cowboy hats has grown over time. After seven years, the 36-year-old Australian has deposited over 450,000 cans and bottles in the NSW Return and Earn container deposit scheme. This type of equipment gives a 10-cent refund for each container. He ended up with $46,000, or more than 41,000 euros. Fascinated by the disclosure, some Internet users had fun calculating his hourly wage.
Humberto López Morales, secretary general of the Association of Academies of the Spanish Language, predicts that Spanish will surpass English as the most widely spoken language in the United States in the coming decades. It already has the second-largest number of Spanish speakers in the world. By November 2024, there will be 600 million Spanish speakers in the world. In some cities and places in the United States, Spanish is already more popular than English.
This is the reason why big cities are spending millions cleaning up trash cans
The four largest cities in the Netherlands are experiencing significant damage and littering. People are looking for cans and plastic bottles that can be returned for a fee. According to AD, a study commissioned by the four municipalities estimates that the combined annual expenditures of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, and Utrecht for trash can repairs and litter removal total 9.4 million euros. IPR Normag, a research agency, mostly based its estimate on particular studies conducted in the heart of Rotterdam. The municipality had to spend 2.3 million euros in a single year to clean up and fix the damage caused by the deposit search.
According to the experts, the deposit system is a stimulant for the emergence of a new micro-economy and new types of litter. Deposits provide primarily impoverished collectors with a steady stream of money. Originally inadvertent, this practice has now become a regular occurrence on the streets. 10 to 25 euros can be earned in a few hours, which is crucial for some people’s livelihoods, according to the researchers.
Although it is undoubtedly wonderful news for those concerned, crowded metropolitan centers may have issues as a result. According to the survey, 75–80% of garbage cans are surrounded by trash, and 20% of trash cans in populated areas of big cities are broken or open. On bin day, people also handle home waste, which may result in additional litter. The hunt for bottles and deposit cans can become a large-scale, structured event.
