While influencers are known to wield significant power on social media, they often make headlines for viral controversies — which makes news about an Australian "binfluencer" all the more refreshing.
Yahoo! News recently profiled 39-year-old Sayo Leahy, an Australian influencer who eschews fast-fashion hauls and other consumption-focused content in favor of an eco-friendly hook.
Leahy dubbed herself a "binfluencer," and uses her platform to encourage recycling by detailing how lucrative an "OnlyCans" approach has been for her. The Melbourne-based woman touts her local "Return and Earn" program, where residents visit a reverse vending machine or collection point to exchange empty containers for cash.
Australia's state-level recycling initiatives have been in the news recently for similar reasons — Damian Gordon of New South Wales saved up for a down payment on a house in large part due to a similar program in his state.
Gordon and Leahy were both stunned at how quickly collecting and recycling containers paid off, and by how much money they were able to save with what both described as minimal effort. Gordon, who began collecting cans when his local program kicked off in 2017, earned $20,000 in its first three years.
Leahy's nearby "Return and Earn" scheme didn't start until November 2023, but that has not stopped the "binfluencer" from making an objectively significant chunk of change since it launched.
"I calculated I've made about $15,000 [$9,669 USD], but obviously there's some costs involved, like fuel and wear and tear of the [vehicle]," Leahy explained, stipulating that empty containers were consistently plentiful. "There's always cans on the side of the road, wherever you go, there's always trash."
Leahy has "committed evenings," during which she cruises around the suburbs on trash night to raid curbside bins. But much of her take is passive, coming from discarded cans and bottles she encounters in her day-to-day activities.
Yahoo! News said Leahy wants people to know they "don't need to go out of their way to make the scheme work for them," emphasizing that the practice amounts to easy money even when it's a passive habit.
Collecting containers for recycling enabled Leahy to "earn extra cash to alleviate her own financial pressures," the outlet reported. The novel source of income further allowed her to donate to causes and charities she supports.
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Giving me money back 💰 Like Gordon, Leahy acknowledged that a 10 cent per container reward doesn't sound like a lot, but said that the sum was almost deceptive in that regard — particularly given the low level of effort involved.
"People don't realize 10 cents can really add up and help, especially since you can just put your can next to your bin and then donate them," she said to Yahoo.
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