Recycling puts money in the pocket and fills the gas tank

Avine Ael, 18, of Thousand Oaks recycles enough beverage containers each month to pay for his gasoline to and from Moorpark College. The freshman will spend as much time as it takes to feed six bags of plastic bottles and cans into the recycling machine one by one.

By DENISE VASTOLA

A young man stands in front of a RePlanet recycling machine, reaches down into a bag full of plastic bottles, and feeds them one at a time into the mouth of the contraption that clinks, clanks and beeps to a rhythm established by his pace. He will stand in the hot sun, repeating the motion and listening to the strange beat for as long as it takes to empty all six large trash bags that are bulging with empty beverage containers.

Avine Ael, 18, of Thousand Oaks recycles enough beverage containers to pay for his transportation to and from Moorpark College.

“I live at home and don’t work,” said Ael, as he feeds plastic beverage bottles into the recycling machine in Thousand Oaks. “It takes me about a month to collect six or eight bags (of bottles and cans). I also get some from my friends.”

With fewer options for work, or getting fewer hours at work, some college students are collecting empty beverage bottles and cans and redeeming them at recycling centers for money.

By age group, the unemployment rate of 24.3 percent was highest for Californians aged 16 to 19 years in 2008, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Additionally, the number of people who want a job, but are not currently in the labor force has increased nearly 37 percent since September of last year, according to California’s Employment Development Department. Ael is one of the 232,000 individuals included in this statistic.

Thousand Oaks resident Jose Molina, 19, works 20 hours a week at Gelson’s. Molina, who would work more hours if he could get them, attends Oxnard College and, just like Ael, lives at home.

“We’ve been recycling for a couple of years,” said Molina as he and his mother wait patiently in the hot sun for their turn to redeem their eight large bags stuffed with beverage containers. “The money we get is for our whole family. It’s not just for me.”

The financial challenges of the two community college students are typical for many lower and middle-income families in California. As college tuitions and unemployment rates rise, it is more difficult to pay for higher education.

“We have a steady stream of job postings for our students, but it seems lighter than in the past, and there are fewer fulltime job postings,” said Judy Gould, career transfer center coordinator at Moorpark College. She also said fewer employers attended the school’s last career expo.

Although some may say a part time job is better than no job, a 2008 report from the California Postsecondary Education indicated that it has become increasingly difficult for students to pay for college with part time work and summer jobs.

While economic advisors have reported that the country’s economy is beginning to pick up, job creation is expected to lag.

“We are just going to have to wait and see what the data shows in a couple of months,” said Olga Hernandez, labor market consultant for California’s Employment Development Department.