Most couples drive off from their nuptials trailing a string of cans from the back bumper, but Andrea Parrish and Peter Geyer flipped the script. The Spokane, Washington couple is paying for their July 31 handfasting/wedding with $3,800 they received for recycling 280,806 aluminum cans and receiving cash donations worth the equivalent of 119,194 cans (400,000 cans worth total). Doing the math ($3,800/400,000 cans), they received not quite $0.01 per can or can equivalent.

Andrea and Peter came up with the plan to collect 400,000 aluminum cans and sell them to a local recycling company (paid by the pound) after getting engaged and realizing they didn't have the money in their budget to pay for a wedding in a reasonable time frame. They set up a website and things took off.

Aluminum giant Alcoa Inc. donated 150,000 cans to the cause and United Recycling Service pitched in 73,000, according to green.yahoo.com.  It took Andrea and Peter 6.5 months to collect all the cans (and cash donations) they needed. They've continued collections with 40% of further proceeds going to help pay for their honeymoon and 60% going to Doctors Without Borders and Rim Country Land Institute. 

To keep costs down and conserve resources, the wedding is do-it-yourself style featuring a homemade dress, potluck feast, and music from iPods.

--Jens

PS: Sorry about the terrible headline pun.

Photo taken from this photostream and used with permission of a Creative Commons license.

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