Before the public even knew what recycling was, John Marcus started doing it. In a recent interview, he stated that he still remembers his days as a child in New Jersey. He and his group of friends would devote several of their afternoons to collecting soda cans off the road. They then sold these cans at the local stores in their neighborhoods and got money for it. The small cans provided them with 2 cents or for the larger coke cans, they received a nickel. Thus, they all tried to collect as many cans as they could and valued the money they earned this way.
Marcus used to live in an area that was in close proximity of a waste company. He remembered his grandfather telling him of the olden days when all the trash was collected on horses and buggies. The collected waste matter was then thrown off into a nearby farm where pigs lived who then ate it all up. The only items which the pigs never used to consume were aluminum cans and other things made up of similar materials. This was perhaps the prime reason that everyone showed an interest in collecting cans because there was no point in dumping them with the rest of the garbage. The stores which did buy these cans usually used to clean them up and recycle them for the same purpose.
Later on, when Marcus turned 12 years of age, he got employed at a recycling company in his area. Until his mid 20s, he worked for the same company.
In the time when recycling was not common, garbage workers played the most prominent roles in the so called recycling that was done at that time. These workers did not let quality material burn down into ashes, and also did not waste time at the landfill. As such, for workers like Marcus, it was very easy to collect things from the junkyard, and later on sell the same for some money.
True recycling has existed for quite some time, but it is only recently that awareness has been created and it has received full attention. The first time this happened was in the 1970’s. Since then, the government has given considerable thought to the situation. Several companies have sprung up aimed at the same thing, and all of them strive to achieve a waste free environment.
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