Recycling: Get the Most for Your Effort:

In today’s tough times, scrounging up a few extra bucks can often mean having a yard sale or cutting back on some of your spending. Looking for a less painful way to help keep your wallet plump? Here is a simple solution that can put extra cash in your pocket while helping keep Santa Monica clean and green. Recycle! Recycling centers all over Los Angeles have been doing their part to create a cleaner, more-eco friendly environment. We all know recycling is an easy way to make a few extra bucks every couple of months, but why not maximize your efforts by knowing what you’re up against.Though the compensation often seems like less than the trouble, there are a few important tips to remember when hauling in your endless bounty of recyclables to make sure you get paid the most possible for your effort. Always make sure to separate your recyclables correctly. Though recyclables must be separated by material prior to reimbursement, (glass, plastic, and aluminum all separated) they must also be separated into those containers that have a “CA CRV” or “CA Cash Value” symbol and those containers that don’t. Certain white plastics or other containers such as milk containers, bulk purchased water bottles, and shampoo bottles may have some value at centers that accept bulk plastics, but many centers will not accept containers that aren’t specially marked for cash value.These are the rates for CA CRV denoted aluminum, glass, and plastic at the Santa Monica Recycling Center, located at 2411 Delaware Street in Santa Monica. (310)453-9677Aluminum $1.60 per poundGlass 10.5 cents per poundPlastic 97 cents per poundEven if other plastics are accepted (which they aren’t at this location), they are significantly less valued than plastics with a “CA CRV” denotation. Often times, the value of your hoard is heavily reduced by being intermixed with non-state sanctioned recyclables. They are then paid out at the “mixed plastic rate”. The unknowing recycler may turn in twenty dollars worth of “CA CRV” recyclables, intermixed with a few white plastics that aren’t accepted, and subsequently get paid at a much lower per-pound rate, rather than the ten cents per bottle they would have gotten had they separated correctly. It is in this way that so much of our recycling revenue is lost by simply not separating the items correctly. So put some extra cash in your pocket, keep the city a little cleaner, and help yourself and others by making this years green week one full of recycling.