HONESDALE, Pa. — Most days, you can find Skip Seitz in this shed behind Protection Engine Company # 3 in Honesdale crushing cans.
The fire company has collected aluminum cans in a bin outside the building for years. Back in 2000, Skip thought there was a better way to store the cans before they could be taken to the recycling center.
"Instead of throwing them in a pile, do they want them crushed? Can we crush them? So, I started crushing them."
For more than 20 years, Skip has been the guy crushing cans one by one.
Not long after Skip started, a friend suggested he keep track of how many cans he's crushed.
"Over almost a million and a half. I'd have a lot more, but some people have asked me about it. They crushed them and just drop them off."
Skip is the president of the engine company, and he's not just doing this as a hobby. The money made from recycling cans goes right back to the fire company.
"Our daily expenses, maintenance, equipment — whatever we need money for."
Skip says he's used all kinds of methods over the years to crush the cans. He's found wall-mounted crushers to be the quickest, and with each can he crushes, he gets closer to a total of two million.
"I'll keep doing it as long as I'm healthy."
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