When she was in her early 30s, Cheryl Davidson made a pact with her best friend that they would both visit Italy before their 50th birthdays.
One day, three-and-a-half years before her 50th birthday, Cheryl made a final determined step towards realizing her dream Italian vacation. As her children poked fun at her lifelong recycling habit, claiming that picking a can off the ground for five cents was hardly worth it, Cheryl decided to prove them wrong.
To teach her children the value of a nickel, and the importance of recycling, Cheryl challenged herself to fund the Tuscan getaway entirely with earnings from discarded cans and bottles.
Cheryl Davidson is not your average recycler. To fill her "Tuscany Fund" Cheryl picked up tin, plastic and glass whenever she came across it in her day-to-day living. After dinner with friends over a bottle of red wine, Cheryl would make sure to take the glass bottle with her. As her children practiced sports, she would collect the plastic water bottles discarded by other young players.
When the three-and-a-half year challenge was up, the Tuscany Fund held over $7000, all from recycling.
Cheryl and her husband used airplane miles to reach Florence, spending their recycling earnings on four-star hotels and a Tuscan villa during their two week trip.
