Ignoring transportation costs, my recycling program is almost flawless. It’s a multistep process, but in the end it should make everything disappear.
For months I carefully crushed soda and beer cans and tossed them into an old 32-gallon trash can in the garage. By last weekend it was filled to overflowing, so I hauled the cans to Navy City Metals in Gorst. Magically, hundreds of cans—18 pounds in all—instantly turned green. At 40 cents a pound for aluminum, I received $7.20 for my drinking and crushing.
The one dollar bills were easy to recycle with the help of Mega Millions. The 20 cents will be a down payment on my next soda, resulting in a recyclable aluminum can.
On March 30th, unable to resist due to the nonstop media coverage about the estimated $640 million jackpot, my sister and I bought several chances in the Mega Millions lottery. Like everyone else who chases this unlikely dream, we figured “why not us?” That was the first time for me. Since then I have been hooked.
Until yesterday I had a perfect record. A bunch of tickets, no winners. Clearly I’m one of the 99 percent (or whatever percent never wins one of the big prizes). But last night’s drawing was different. I had seven tickets, purchased at R&H Market on Kitsap Way, working for me. These weren’t ordinary tickets mind you. They were paid for with recycled aluminum. Did these tickets deserve to win because of my environmentally friendly deed?
Well, yes and no, mostly NO. Most of the “green” I recycled via Mega Millions went toward prizes for other people, lottery expenses, and government’s cut. However, one of the tickets matched on two numbers and is worth a $3 payoff. Looks like I’m due for a bit more green. That’s OK as I have a Plan B to make it disappear.
The three Mega Millions tickets I’ll buy for the drawing on Friday, April 20th will be paid for with money won with tickets that were paid for with recycled aluminum. Do those tickets deserve to win because they are only one step removed from an environmentally friendly deed? Probably not, but you never know. If I hit a winner, there’s always Plan C to recycle the green.
Mud Bay Blog 
Yes. They deserve to win. Why not you?
Thanks for the reminder on Friday’s drawing. I’ll buy a ticket or two. For the short time, before you check if you won, you dream and scheme about maybe winning. What would you do with the money? That’s worth the couple of dollars spent.