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Who Knew Recycling Could Be So Romantic?
October 07, 2008 1:26 PM
BY PHILIP VICTOR, ABC News London
They say the couple that recycles together romances together. Or at least that’s what they’ll be saying when they hear the story of John and Ann Till.
The U.K. couple had just gotten married at the end of July and wanted their honeymoon to be really special, but they didn’t initially have the funds to meet their expectations.
John Till told ABC News that the couple wanted to “take a cruise on the Queen Mary 2,” but he added that they had neither the “time or money” to make the return journey on the cruise ship whose voyages include both trans-Atlantic and European destinations.
The Tills then decided that they would take the cruise to New York via the QM2 and raise the money needed to pay for their plane tickets home.
So how were they able to raise the funds to return home? Simply by collecting cans, bottles and containers that were just lying around on the streets of their hometown, Petersfield in Hampshire, England.
The couple learned that they could earn reward points from their local Tesco supermarket by depositing recyclables in special machines at the store. For every four items the couple recycled, they earned one Tesco Clubcard point, and for every 250 Clubcard points accumulated, they earned 600 British Airways’ Airmiles.
“We got the idea by accident,” Till told ABC News. “My wife found out about it from a money saving Web site.”
John, 31, and Ann, 24, rummaged their hometown to gather any and every recyclable they could get their hands on for nearly three months. Till said he and his wife would routinely “walk the streets looking behind hedges and behind walls” to gather their bounty.
When it was all said and done, the couple had racked up 36,000 BA Airmiles, which calculates to 60,000 recyclables.
Did the couple think that they would really be able to pay for return plane tickets by picking up empty cans and bottles?
Till, a railways communication manager, says he and his wife, a merchant navy navigation officer, thought there was “no way we could achieve this, but as the points kept coming, it became clear we could,” adding that the money didn’t pay for the business class tickets in their entirety but a very substantial portion of the amount.
Will the couple be planning another recyclable sponsored vacation anytime soon? “No,” Till said, chuckling, adding “unless we really want to go somewhere special.” The couple plans to enjoy their next vacation in the Middle East.
So the next time you and your significant other are planning that special vacation and find yourselves penny pinching, the answer to your worries could be right under your nose, or even in your recycling bin.
Read more blogs from Philip Victor
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October 7, 2008 in Philip Victor | Permalink | User Comments (20)
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How wonderfully romantic and environmentally-friendly!
Posted by: Fatalfool | Oct 7, 2008 2:22:46 PM
Actually they may not have been so eco friendly. Think of the carbon footprint that they created by flying from NYC to the UK. This is a way to be frugal, but not so much green.
Posted by: Jeff | Oct 7, 2008 2:55:16 PM
That plane was gonna fly with or without them, why not hitch a ride....... So I would say environmentally friendly because of the retrieval of sooo many recyclables.
Posted by: Dave | Oct 7, 2008 3:20:38 PM
Do the highways in UK have people standing near the on/off ramps displacing a sign looking for money/food?
Posted by: asw | Oct 7, 2008 3:26:19 PM
I think they would face serious competition in New York.
Posted by: XxHaimBondxX | Oct 7, 2008 3:48:48 PM
I'm from MI and this brought back childhood memories. My brothers and I would ride around on our bikes and collect soda and beer bottles in trash bags. We'd turn them in at the gas station and use the money to get tons of candy. To think, if we'd have been really smart...we could've taken a vacation!
Posted by: Courtney | Oct 7, 2008 3:58:38 PM
Why are you Americans so obsessed with calling the u.k ..england? Dont you realise it the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern ireland...its an insult to call the u.k England..an insult to Scotland..Northern Ireland ans wales...Maybe we should go there and call you guys mexican...embarrassing Americans
Posted by: Ronnie Ray | Oct 7, 2008 4:24:46 PM
Ronnie...not every American makes that mistake. Though we are, as a whole, a very stupid society indeed.
Posted by: Courtney | Oct 7, 2008 4:52:50 PM
Hey Ronnie, don't get your nasty panties in a bunch! LOL!
Posted by: jay | Oct 7, 2008 4:54:13 PM
Hey c'mon Ronnie, "every little helps!"
Posted by: Will | Oct 7, 2008 5:07:20 PM
Ronnie Ray, Where in this article did someone make a 'mistake' by referring to the UK as England? The author, who works for ABC News in London, does refer to Petersfield in Hampshire, England, but I find nothing wrong with that. Hampshire IS in England. It doesn't border Scotland or Ireland, and I'm pretty sure it isn't partly in Wales, so I don't think you have any legitimate complaint there, so just where do you find someone inapropriately referring to the UK as England?
I spent three years stationed at RAF Lakenheath, Norfolk, ENGLAND, and not once did anyone object to my referring to that part of the UK as England.
Perhaps what we have here is a case of you being an embarrassing Brit. I highly doubt that a Scot, Irishman, or Welshman would make a fuss like this. In fact, if you wrongly referred to a city, town, or village in Wales, Scotland, or Northern Ireland as being in England, you would NOT be reminded that said place was in the UK, but that it is in Ireland, Scotland, or Wales.
Posted by: Bob | Oct 7, 2008 5:09:56 PM
My friend collected pop cans at football games and out of garbages until he had enough money to buy his girlfriend an engagement ring...
Posted by: Montana | Oct 7, 2008 5:12:53 PM
Thanks for the reply Bob.
I too am confused by Ronnie's post. I read everything a few times thinking I missed something. I have no idea where he is coming from.
Did you mean it's an insult to call England the UK?
Posted by: Jason | Oct 7, 2008 5:44:11 PM
I wish we had something like this in the U.S.! I "give away" at least 100 recyclable items a week in my household by putting them in the trash company's recyclables bin. I'd much rather get airline miles for them!
Posted by: Susan in Chicago | Oct 7, 2008 6:00:15 PM
The amount of times U.S actors etc come on the bbc(british broadcasting organisation)and other networks broadcasting to the u.k and say oh its great to be here in England Oh and will I am Scottish...bad manners to refer to the U.K as England...does the speaker in the senate call it England..no...U.K will do just fine...
Posted by: Ronnie Ray | Oct 7, 2008 6:30:35 PM
This Ronnie Ray does not make sense. Read your comments.....nonsense
Posted by: WENDY | Oct 7, 2008 7:25:37 PM
So, Ronnie, you base the intelligence of all Americans on comments made by our actors?! Most of those idiots didn't even finish high school. So please don't base our aptitude on the ramblings of a ditzy blonde that looks good on tv, but couldn't point out her own hometown on a map...much less the United Kingdom.
Posted by: Thomas | Oct 7, 2008 8:17:40 PM
Ronnie, cheer up chap. Here in Wales we also get refered to as being part of England rather than the U.K. all the time. But I'm sure people don't mean any harm by it so we shouldn't get annoyed. I'm sure people are happy to learn of the difference between the names, but they shouldn't be criticised for getting it wrong, they're just using the name their most used to.
A great story by the way, I wish the couple all the best. They must be very nice people.
Posted by: Gwen | Oct 8, 2008 6:15:54 AM
Where there is a will, there is a way!
Sarah Palin you disgust me. Read about Aerial Wolf Hunting:
Posted by: Nancy Mehegan | Oct 8, 2008 6:48:38 PM
I used to go to school in the town where they picked up all their litter and can honestly say that if it wasn't for the prolific binge drinking at Bedales school, they wouldn't have had enough tin cans/glass bottles to jet to America.
Posted by: Flo | Oct 13, 2008 4:23:58 AM
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