I
am new to BC; I have lived here for about a month and a half now and some
things are pretty different than my east coast home. In Nova Scotia my family
is all about recycling, especially when it comes to refundables. Living with my
boyfriend’s parents in Alberta it was pretty simple, everything went curbside
and was sorted there. We never took the time to take them back ourselves. This
kind of bothered me, every time I saw the wine bottles and drink cans go into
the blue bin I thought of the small increment of change we could be saving for
something… anything.
Now
that we (my boyfriend and I) are out on our own, spreading our wings in the
Kootenays I have once again become an avid recycling Queen. Why? Well, because
every penny saved adds up (just ask Gail Vaz-Oxlade, her book coming up in Week
6 of my reading challenge is pushing me to be as financially responsible as
possible). Also, the staff at Castlegar’s Return-It depot are avid Mountain FM
listeners and I love going out and seeing the people who make it possible for
me to pay my bills doing what I love.
I
visited the Return-It depot on Columbia Ave. today on my lunch hour, right
after my show at around 2:15pm. In heals and a dress, I was totally ignorant to
the fact that here in BC you sort your own refundables. I stood looking at the
sign for the longest time, dodging wasps and figuring it out for myself. I will
admit, it would have been a pretty funny YouTube video; I looked totally
clueless. After a while I figured it out, my sorting started to speed up and I
moved the trays over to the counting counter (not sure how to describe that any
better).
The
best part came next, after the lovely lady working at the Depot counted my five
trays of refundables she handed me a crisp $5.00 bill and two quarters. Not bad
for something that takes just a minute of my time daily and a few minutes on my
lunch break once a month. Straight into my Disney World fund it goes! Working my first real-world job I live on a pretty tight budget so I am constantly trying to find ways to get more out of my money.
I
know you are thinking, lamest blog post ever Kate, everyone knows about
returning bottles for cash. I know you know that I know that. Some people
totally take this for granted, not only did I make a little bonus cash I helped
out the environment. I learned a quick, easy and a little dirty lesson in
plastics and materials and got to see support the people who make it possible
to work at a job I love. Plus, plus, (a little dirty minus), plus and plus.
Seriously,
if you don’t want your refundables you know where to find me between 10am-2pm
everyday… but you would have to be pretty lazy to give that easy money!
This weekend
I made one of the best dishes I have ever personally prepared myself. I am not
a great cook, but because I have nixed gluten and sugar from my diet I have had
to start cooking a lot more. I started a blog a while ago with the things I wascoming up with and today I just had to share the dish I am most proud of, it
was not my idea but it is glorious; the bacon weave. 
