A video featuring an unusual experiment by 15-year-old Paweł has gathered over 2.6 million views. The teenager decided to check if he could earn money by collecting cans, bottles, and returnable cups left by participants of the Mystic Festival. The result — several bags of containers, a few days of work, and over 1,500 zlotys.
The idea came to Paweł completely spontaneously.
— On my way home in the evening, I saw a girl cleaning the area. I asked her if there was a lot of trash. She replied — very much. Then I looked around and noticed bottles, cans, and returnable cups everywhere. I decided to try collecting them, — he recounts.
During the three days of the festival, the teenager walked around the event area and its surroundings, collecting cans. In the end, he gathered several large bags. According to him, he didn’t even enter the festival itself at first — he focused only on what participants left outside.
The next stage took about three hours: Paweł returned the collected containers at stores and machines. There were some difficulties — the machines jammed and overflowed several times, which prolonged the process. Nevertheless, he managed to return most of the deposit.
For the cans and bottles, he received 651.90 zlotys. Additionally, he still has some containers he hasn’t returned yet — potentially this could bring in another 300–400 zlotys.
A separate «catch» was the returnable cups left by festival visitors. Their total deposit was around 850 zlotys, but getting the money back turned out to be more complicated.
— I managed to get back about 600 zlotys because there were issues with the acceptance. To convince the staff member, I returned the cups in small batches and even changed my outfit — I wore a wig, a bolero, and a jacket. All with a smile, — says Paweł.
Later, he found a simpler way — he presented the receipts for the cups, and then the return went smoothly. He gave some cups to friends and kept a few as souvenirs.
In total, he earned about 600 zlotys just from the cups. Considering the cans and bottles, the overall result of the experiment exceeded 1,500 zlotys. Paweł plans to publish a final video with the total income calculation soon.
