New Richmond man makes $60,000 selling aluminum cans

Bob Johnson started collecting cans more than 30 years ago.

What started as a way to help ease the burden of his grandsons' college tuition, turned into a hobby and even earned him the nickname "The Can Man" at the Deerfield Gables, where he lives.

The long-time New Richmond, Wis. resident said he now has about $60,000 for his grandsons, one is enrolled at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and the other will be attending UW-Stout in Menomonie.

"That took a lot of cans," he said with a laugh. "They'll get about two and a half years each, I've been told. College is so expensive."

Johnson said most companies pay more for the aluminum cans around Earth Day, so he saves them until then. Currently the price is about 70 cents per pound of cans - it used to be less than that. That means it took about 85,714 pounds of cans for Johnson to reach $60,000. With 31 cans to the pound, it's safe to say that Johnson has collected more than 2.6 million cans.

The former race car driver and gas station owner said he has a lot of people in the area helping him collect cans.

"They save them for me at the race track and they'll save them for me here (at The Gables). We've got a lot of heavy drinkers here," he joked.

Since he only sells the cans once a year, Johnson said he needs a lot of space to store the cans he collects - that's where his friends come in.

One friend let him use her garage to store the cans.

"Once I had two and a half tons stored there," he said.

Johnson's dedication and success has even inspired others to do the same.

Bryan Hop, a former neighbor of Johnson's, started collecting cans to help fund his three kids' college tuition.

"He's got a lot of cans to pick up," Johnson said with a smile.

"We call it the 'Cans for College Fund,'" Hop said. "I'm not nearly as committed as Bob - he can hear an empty being set down a mile away - but if I can get a couple hundred bucks a year..."

"He's what we'll call the 'Half Can Man,'" Johnson said with a laugh.

"He's always teasing me," Hop said.

Up until a few years ago Johnson used to crush the cans with his hands, he said. Now he has an electronic can crusher.

"Now I just feed them into it and it crushes them for me," he said.

Hop and Johnson said they'd welcome donations.

"Absolutely. Just make sure to drop them off for Bob after midnight," Hop joked.

Jackie Grumish is a reporter for the New Richmond News.