Mac's "single-stream" recycling doesn't include bottles.
Returning bottles at Winco or Safeway is incredibly tedious, involving shoving each bottle into a machine where it's crushed and $.05 is added to a receipt you take to the cashier.
The last time I did that, my five year old and I decided it wasn't worth it. Even with the faulty machine crediting me for bottles it gave back again and again, and finding a Tom Waits CD on top of the cardboard trash, it still wasn't worth it.
But... I got the scoop on recycling glass in Oregon from my friend who works at Whole Foods: Every place that sells redeemable bottles (we'll call them beer bottles), is required by law to take them back, but only the ones they sell.
Littlr places like Plaid Pantry will take back 50 per day per person, and bigger ones like Rite Aid, and Roth's will take back 150 per day. The cool thing about the smaller places, compared to Safeway and Winco, is that they don't have the recycling machines. You walk in with your empties, and say, "I brought back 48 bottles." They take the total off you new beer, or give you cash. If they don't know you, they check your bottles to make sure they're all there, all brands they sell, and not foul with stale beer and cigarette butts.
Please - put your empties back into the same cartons they came in! Dump out any remainders, and rinse the bottles if you want to go the whole way. And be pleasant to the cashiers - you'll see them again. Plus, Mac's a small town; they're most likely related to someone you know.
This here is two loads for Rite Aid (Saturday and Sunday), a full case for Golden Valley, and a basket of non-redeemables for the Western Oregon Waste recycling center. I may take the leftover 3 or 4 12 packs to Plaid Pantry just to clear out the car.
You get 5 cents back on every bottle. To figure your total, multiply by ten, and divide by two.
Twelve bottles is 60 cents. :: 12 x .10 = $1.20. Half that is $.60.
144 bottles is $7.20 :: 144 x 10 = $14.40. Dived by two... $7.20!
