Dive Brief:
- A family brought an old VCR to a local e-waste event in Renton, WA, but soon learned that the VCR contained something more valuable than an old videocassette featuring MacGuyver episodes.
- When the mother was upset to learn the VCR was gone, the family learned she had been stashing cash in the player, amassing a tidy sum totaling $6,000.
- The family showed up at the Green Planet recycling center early in the morning and the staff began rummaging through 12 tons of electronics for hours. The search finally paid off when someone emerged from the piles with the missing VCR and its contents.
Dive Insight:
The family now plans to store the rainy day savings in a safe. Back in December 2013, a British man lost $9 million worth of bitcoin when he tossed his outdated computed into the trash. By the time he realized the mistake, months had passed, making a search-and-rescue effort impossible.