MOORHEAD - The Dunham family learned Thursday just how much it can pay to recycle.
The family from Hawley dropped off 910 pounds of aluminum cans at the Minnkota Recycling Center here Thursday and cashed them in for nearly $550.
The money will go to help purchase a go-kart for 7-year-old Wyatt Dunham, who started collecting pop cans this year as a way to raise money to reach his goal, his parents said.
Wes Dunham, who works as a beet farmer, said the cans came from a variety of sources, including the Dunham household.
But the overwhelming majority came from Dunham's boss, who'd collected the cans in a shed over a 10-year span, he said.
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The man had collected so many they were starting to spill out from the shed, Dunham said.
The Dunhams used a 22-foot cattle trailer to transport their stash to Moorhead. The trailer was filled wall-to-wall, ceiling-to-floor with plastic garbage bags bursting with aluminum.
Aside from the cans, the garbage bags alone weighed 15 pounds, Becci Dunham said.
Minnkota Recycling paid the family 60 cents a pound for the collection due to the magnitude of the Dunhams' recyclables, she said.
Becci Dunham said she hopes her sons - Wyatt and Avery, 3 - learn the benefits of recycling and carry the value with them throughout their lives.
"We're definitely going to keep doing this every year," she said.
Readers can reach Forum reporter Kristen Daum at (701) 241-5541
