there are still people today who roam neighborhoods collecting bottles and cans

My neighborhood recycling occurs on Thursday night, so I take all my empty cans and put them in a clear plastic back and put them next to my trash. I do not think that the garbage people have ever gotten the cans; there is always a homeless person that will walk around and pick up the bag of empties, presumably to redeem them somewhere.

I don’t have an issue with it, if they want to do what I am too lazy to do, more power to them.

Nowadays the homeless or other less-than-living-wage earners do that for us. You can see them everywhere in cities all over north america and europe if you pay attention.

As European that is not spread everywhere, while you can get some money back in Germany and Greece, there is none to be had in Portugal.

In Germany, it is such a big issue with people not having other source of income, that there is a culture where and how to leave the bottles around so that they are easier to collect.

I kinda prefer cultures where benefits and pensions are enough so that people don't have to dig into trashcans for Pfand.

It is getting hard across many countries.