Cans for California.

Paul and I want to go on a trip to California. We have some friends that we would LOVE to visit and we would also LOVE to go to Yosemite National Park and I've always wanted to go to San Francisco {it's on my bucket list}. We have been talking about this for quite a while, but we can't seem to let ourselves just go on a trip when we need money for grad school and other important things. So we came up with a plan to save and earn some extra cash for our fun California adventure. 

One idea we came up with was to collect cans. Here in Oregon, you get a 5 cent deposit for every can you turn in. Paul and I don't really drink soda, so we knew we would have to go out and find cans in order to actually make our dream California trip a reality. And let me tell you...it's crazy how many cans you find just lying on the side of the road. Whenever we go on a walk around town we always find so many cans. We have learned to bring a bag or something to put the cans in. 

So today, I went on my normal walk. Paul wanted to come with me, but he was in the middle of something so I told him to meet me at my halfway mark. While I was walking by myself, I collected about 8 cans and a couple bottles. I was feeling pretty successful and happy that I had found a fair amount of cans. Paul joined me and we continued walking. We started talking about what our goal should be as to how many cans we collect each week. I figured we needed a goal so we could have something to work towards. My idea was that we should try to get 100 cans a week which would equal about five dollars. So in a month, we would have at least $20 saved up for our trip. Paul immediately thought that 100 cans was just TOO many for a goal. Then, I think I gave him a lecture about having a positive attitude because he needed one. HAHAHA. 

Anyway, not more than three minutes later we basically walked into a can goldmine. On the side of the road, in the blackberry bushes, we found about 40 cans. I was so amazed and slightly confused as to why some people would just leave that many cans there in plain sight. Well that might have to do with the fact that the cans we found were beer cans so the people might have been intoxicated and not thinking correctly. As I said earlier...all of the cans that we could see were in blackberry bushes. So the hard part was getting all the cans out of the bushes. If you are not familiar with blackberry bushes, I will just come out and tell you that they have lots and lots of thorns on them. Thorns that poke you and hurt you. Paul was such a trooper and he basically bushwhacked his way into the bushes and got all the hard-to-reach cans. He's the best!!! My job was to get the cans on the perimeter of the bushes. We each had a stick to help us with this process. Maybe now we'll have to bring a stick with us on our walks...in addition to our bag :)

It was truly AMAZING to find that many cans in one spot. I think this is a very good sign for how many cans we will collect in the upcoming weeks. I have been thinking a lot about what we are doing and I have come up with three good things about collecting cans. One, I think we will enjoy our trip to California so much more knowing that we spent time collecting cans to save up some extra money. Two, it is really fun spending time with Paul as we go on walks and find cans. It is such a great thing to have a common goal that we can work on together. And three, {for all you go green people out there} we feel like we are doing our part in keeping the earth clean. When we are out picking up cans, we always pick up trash too.

"One man's trash is another man's treasure"

And can I just mention that Paul and I are both wearing SHORTS in this picture. The past few weeks have definitely felt more like summer than winter. I wonder when the snow and cold temperatures are going to come and pay us a visit?