Garbage Sorting

Growing up on a golf course means you are often roped into helping out your parents.  Even though you’re too young to work elsewhere.  I don’t remember the exact age I started picking up garbage on the golf course, but my memory puts me at about eleven or so.  I would drive around with multiple garbage cans in the back of the truckster (a golf cart with a small dump bed in the back) and sort through the garbage with my hands.  In Iowa, we have a 5 cent refund on our cans.  Although I was often mocked by golfers, I always picked through the trash and pulled out all of the cans.

This is really hard to imagine now, (keep in mind, this was in the late 80’s early 90’s) but I had to literally count every single can, then I bagged them up and drug them through the store at Hy-Vee leaving a nasty trail of liquid behind me.  I’m pretty sure I’m the main reason for the invention of those machines they now have out in the front of their building.  When I think about this now, they had to have absolutely hated me.

Once I could drive, I would load them all up and drive my grandpa’s old rusted out green truck.  So rusted, that I could see the pavement under my feet while I drove.  Anyway, I took all of the cans to a redemption center in Monroe.  I loved them because I no longer had to count every can.  They simply paid me in weight.  So much easier!!

My parents let me keep all of that money which amounted to a pretty decent sum over the ten years that I spent picking up garbage.  I wasted it on stupid stuff that teenagers buy.  As I think about it, I think most of the money went to my hobby of building and furnishing dollhouses.  Obviously, I was strange child.

It was a good job and taught me humility.  There’s nothing like smelling like nasty garbage.  Enter the modern era.  Teenagers no longer like to get dirty.  I can’t even talk my own children into picking up garbage on the golf course.  They are spoiled by the cans that we now have at our tee boxes which have a spot for garbage and a spot for cans.  The only garbage that we sort now are the cans that are around the clubhouse.  We’ve had the same cans for probably twenty years.  They look nice (still do), so there wasn’t a need to replace them.

Our main need was that we needed more garbage cans, but they no longer make our style.  I’m a symmetrical OCD gal, so I can’t have garbage cans that don’t match.  My eyes would twitch.

Luckily, I’ve been blessed with several amazing carpenters on my staff.  We brainstormed a design for new garbage cans and came up with a good design.  Complete with sorting holes.  One for garbage and one for cans.

You guessed it.  Menards was having another 11% off sale, so off we went to purchase some supplies to make nearly 11 garbage and can sorters.

They called me up to show me their prototype.  Here she is!  A completely enclosed garbage container that matches our starter hut they built for me last year!

On the front side, they created two openings.  One for garbage and one for cans.  Oh how my teenage self was envious of this design!

The base of it opens to reveal the trash cans inside.

Now, they only have ten more to make!  The power of optimism!