How to make Money Fast - Method 3 of 5: Recycle

Method 3 of 5: Recycle

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   Recycle bottles and cans. Host a bring-your-own-beverage party and when the party’s over, gather all the bottles and cans and turn them in for cash; if you live in a state with a bottle or can deposit system, you may be able to get 5 or 10 US cents per container. You can also go looking for them in trash cans or along busy roads, especially rural ones.
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   Scrap a junk pile. Everyone knows you can turn bottles and cans into cash by bringing them in to be recycled, but other metals such as scrap steel (worth anywhere between 1 or 2 cents per pound) or as copper or aluminum (worth considerably more) can also fetch good prices.^[3] If you've got a big pile of scrap in your backyard, own a junked camper or other vehicle, or know of an illegal dump site, you can sort and sell it.
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   Scrap a worthless computer. Computers are full of valuable metals (ex. tower cases are usually made of steel and/or aluminum, plus the CPUs, RAM, motherboards, and PCIs all contain gold). If possible, amass a good pile of these parts (offer to take outdated computers off the hands of a building or school doing considerable upgrades or find junked computers in the fee ads, for example) and sell them in bulk, which will make you more money. Don’t scrap good computers; what you get for the scrap probably won’t be as much as you get for components in working order.^[4]
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   Hunt for pre-1982 pennies. These contain considerable amounts of copper (whereas newer ones are alloyed with zinc to cut costs) and are worth more than a cent apiece. Buy rolls of pennies at the bank, sort them to find older coins, then return the ones you don’t want. Read How to Hoard Copper Pennies for more information.
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   Hunt for pre-1964 silver half dollars. These are 90% silver and are worth more than fifty cents apiece. As with pennies, buy rolls of silver dollars at the bank and keep only the most valuable ones. Read How to Find Silver Half Dollars for more information.