> It was a common past time for poor people and undoubtedly contributed to the very high recycle rate for aluminum since it was a source of income for many peop

> It was a common past time for poor people and undoubtedly contributed to the very high recycle rate for aluminum since it was a source of income for many people. It was not just a past time amongst people of lower economic means. My dad was a computer science professor and when I was a little kid we would go on long walks around our rural town collecting cans and bottles littered along the road and in wooded areas. He seemed kind of into the money we would get back from the supermarket, but I doubt he really cared about it that much. Maybe he was trying to teach me the value of the dollar/work. Maybe he was into the peaceful adventure of it. Or maybe he cared a tiny bit about the environment. It was probably a bit of all of that. Whatever it was, I remember that there were other people who did it too of all social classes that you would see at the supermarket recycling center. I'm not sure why people stopped. Maybe as others have pointed out, municipal recycling trucks have made people less enthusiastic about it.