This Awesome 7-Year-Old Has Saved $10,000 by Recycling Bottles in His Community

Meet Ryan Hickman, a 7-year-old boy who already has $10,000 in savings.

When Hickman was just 3 years old, he began recycling and saving money. Hickman’s obsession with keeping the planet green and recycling started when his parents took him to a recycling center.

“He likes to sort pretty much anything, and he liked putting the bottles in the machine,” Damion, Hickman’s father, told The Capistrano Dispatch. “He probably got two or three bucks, and he was so excited about it. And of course then he got to sort his change, so that meant more sorting.”

After that trip, Hickman was hooked on collecting bottles and shortly after “Ryan’s Recycling Company” was born.

Since starting his recycling business, Hickman has managed to save about $10,000. Hickman’s neighbors and friends leave out their bottles for him to collect. He then brings the bottles to the recycling center where he is able to trade them in, while helping the planet out at the same time.

The 7-year-old plans to put the money towards his education in the future, even though he wants to spend it on a “full sized trash truck.”

Hickman has also been able to give back to the community with his business. So far, he has been able to donate about $1,000 to the Pacific Marine Mammal Center from the T-shirts he sells. The shirts sell for $13 and all of the proceeds go to charity.

“Ryan’s one of those really unique kids who has a passion,” his first grade teacher, Suzanne Devaney, told The Capistrano Dispatch. “He just sees things that need to be done and he does them.”

While Ryan Hickman originally thought he could save the world on his own, he now wants others to start recycling “because it helps the world, too.”

According to One Green Planet, in the past 30 years alone, “global plastic production has jumped over 320 percent, which equates to about 300 million tons of plastic pieces coming into circulation every year.”

Hopefully, Ryan Hickman’s little business will inspire others to start recycling.

“He’s very passionate about it, and he likes to get everybody else passionate about it as well,” his mother, Andrea, said to The Capistrano Dispatch. “I think he’s rubbed off on all of us now. You find yourself walking past a can on the ground and needing to pick it up instead of walking away and leaving it there.”

“The public reaction has been great and it’s exciting to see a young person inspire so many people,” Damion Hickman told Your Daily Dish via email. “He gets emails from all over the world from people excited to congratulate him or to let him know that he has inspired them. To him, it’s business as usual and my wife and I are just along for the ride to see where he takes it.”

So, what is Hickman’s favorite part of his business?

“Ryan’s favorite part of the business is sorting the cans and bottles into different bins and of course getting to go donate money to the Pacific Marine Mammal center where he gets to see the animals,” Damion Hickman told Your Daily Dish.

Check out more about Ryan’s Recycling Company on his website.

(H/T Distractify)