A recycling wake-up call! What is UP, Virginia?

For 21 years I have been living under a rock - a green, mossy, environmentally conscious rock. In this lovely, green world of mine a Pepsi can in the trash is a sin, and the sound of cans being sucked into a Tomra recycling machine a pleasure.

Homeless people with perseverance can collect and redeem enough cans to feed their children. Feed them Ramen noodles maybe, but feed them nonetheless. You only have to pick 3 cans out of the trash to buy a packet of Ramen...that is if you live in New York or Maine (my two previous states of residence) or Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Delaware, Michigan, Iowa, Oregon, California, or Hawaii. That may sound like a lot of options, BUT IT'S NOT! Check out this map to see just how many states have no redemption for cans whatsoever.

I just cannot believe it! When I moved to Virginia I got a bin and started collecting my rinsed out soda cans. I had a nice little collection going when one day I looked at the top of the can and thought "well clearly that's not all 50 states" - a thought that had never entered my mind before - "I wonder which states are missing". Well it turns out Virginia is decidedly not on there! So my beautiful environmentally conscious bin is for nothing...unless I could get Kramer from Seinfeld to drive a mail truck full of them back to New York...