Recycling cans and bottles in exchange for cash might be the most widely known example of a circular economy in action, and one that motivated Australian Damian Gordon to use recycling to accumulate the downpayment on a house. The 36-year-old said he was “casually aware” of a regional “Return and Earn” program in New South Wales, which offered 10¢ for every can collected and returned to a designated exchange point. “Reverse vending machines” accept empty cans, glass bottles and plastic containers, and they’re one of the ways residents can turn trash into cash. Gordon’s introduction to recycling began when he decided to blow off steam in a healthy way by taking long walks on the beach. He found it nearly impossible to ignore all the trash scattered across the shoreline, and that’s when he decided to start picking up cans to recycle. Then, when he visited various music festivals, he discovered that crowds left mountains of empty cans behind. The first time he picked up cans after a festival, he managed to walk away with an amazing $4,000. After generating that much return on his recycling after one single-day event, he decided to recycle his way to a house. Within three years, he had saved $20,000, and by the time he marked his seventh year, he had netted $45,000, which he combined with other savings for a deposit on a 2-bedroom house. After spending years face-to-face with mountains of trash during his recycling efforts, he furnished his new place with "treasures" he found at the curb, including a refrigerator, microwave, juicer, and a bed frame. "With mortgage repayments coming hard and fast, I don't plan to stop collecting any time soon," Gordon said. "Now I'm paying off my dream home, one bottle at a time.
