Collecting Cans

In Michigan, we deposit ten cents for each recyclable can purchased, which you get back when it is returned to the recycling center. This was quite the experience when I moved here six years ago (I broke the machine on my first try). Now I have learned that aside from keeping litter out of the state, the culture of Michigan’s fundraising, savings, and earning extra cash is found in collecting cans.

The culture of collecting cans is also found in meeting planning, but in a much different sense. Our whole team was working before RCMA to get things together - moving hundreds of boxes into trucks, cleaning the skywalk, and preparing gift bags. With the long days before and during RCMA, Tim, our Convention Services Manager, taught me the cans for meeting planners:

“Eat when you Can, sit when you Can, and sleep when you Can”.

These “Cans” seem harder to collect than the aluminum kind, but as a host or committee member of an event, you need to be on a lookout for them any chance you get. It is sometimes a challenge to enjoy an event while hosting it, but a very important goal to have. Make sure you don’t just work the event but find some time to enjoy it too. Just try to enjoy it while sitting – and eating too. Your feet will thank you!

And if you are achieving the first “Can” on the list, make sure you recycle your beverage when you are done.