Recycle

I was cleaning up some old EMails and found this one from my wife, which she had received from her friend Ellen, down in Louisiana.

Beer is where the money is.

If you had purchased $1,000.00 of shares in Delta Airlines one year ago, you would have $49.00 today!

If you had purchased $1,000.00 of shares in AIG one year ago, you would have $33.00 today.

If you had purchased $1,000.00 of shares in Lehman Brothers one year ago, you would have $0.00 today.

But, if you had purchased $1,000.00 worth of beer one year ago, drank all the beer, then turned in the aluminum cans for the recycling refund, you would have received $214.00.

Based on the above, the best current investment plan is to drink heavily and recycle.  It is called the 401-Keg plan.

And, as a bonus... a recent study found that the average American walks about 900 miles a year.  Another study found that on average Americans drink 22 gallons of alcohol per year. That means that the average American gets about 41 miles to the gallon!

Makes you damned proud to be an American!

It does make you think, especially when today's edition of The [Lowell] Sun tells us that supporters of an expanded bottle-deposit law found their proposal sent to committee,♠ to languish until next January and a new legislative session.  But, the chances of much turnover of legislators is slim.  The General Court is a place where recycling has not benefitted us.

Ironically, a bill that might increase jobs was killed because it is the "Great Recession".

On the other hand, someone suggested to me today that if everyone in Lowell picked up one soda can or bottle each day and recycled it they would (1) recoup more than the anticipated property tax increase and (2) help make the city look better.  Funnily, taking ownership of our own City would be a good thing.  One of the things I noticed in my time in the Air Force was that more senior NCOs and Officers tended to be the ones who picked up scraps of paper on the sidewalk.  Like GLTHS former School Committee member David LaFerriere has told me, leave the work site better than you found it.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  Remember, articles in The Sun go away after a while, to a different place.  I will not be updating their links unless I am bedridden and have read every book in the house.  And, besides, the Editor tells me the links cost money after a few weeks.  It is the new business model.