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Courtesy of the Klein family
Sam Klein donates groceries to the Ronald McDonald House.
By Kevin Tibbles, NBC News correspondent
ST. LOUIS, Mo. -- Heidi Klein realized something was up when she got a call from the local waste management company.
“May I speak to Sam Klein please?” the caller asked.
“Well, actually he’s in kindergarten at the moment!” she replied, startled.
Her son Sam had not only been waiting on a lawn chair each week for the garbage truck to roll by; he’d also befriended the garbage men and started dialing the number of the company to compliment their work ethic. All this at the ripe old age of five.
Soon, with his parents’ permission of course, Sam was helping them load the truck, taking a ride in the truck … he even had his birthday party at the waste disposal facility. Shortly thereafter, Heidi said, Sam got an idea.
While some kids make a little spare change by opening a lemonade stand, Sam started visiting local businesses in St. Louis, Mo., and asking for their empty inkjet cartridges. He takes them home to his bedroom-cum-head office, and spends about 10 hours a week packaging them up in a shipping box and sending them off to the manufacturers.
He is now 12 years old and running his own recycling business.
“Did you know that each person [on the planet] throws out four and a half pounds of trash a day?” he asked. “Now multiply that by 3.8 billion people! How many pounds is that?”
(Math was never my strong suit; but I am willing to acknowledge it’s a lot.)
So this middle school impresario is now doing his bit to green the world from his second-floor room. Better still, the cartridge manufacturers are paying him for the recycled material -- anywhere between $20 to $200 depending on the type and number of cartridges he collects. He does admit, however, that his parents do get a tad upset with him from time to time over the ink stains on his bedroom carpet.
But Sam Klein wasn’t satisfied.
Sure he was helping out the environment, but what could he do to help his fellow man?
He says he’d feel selfish if he was pocketing all the money from his recycling business. So he’s been donating it to various organizations in and around St. Louis, such as the Ronald McDonald House, and asking grocery stores to donate, too. He is particularly interested in helping the homeless, which is something his mother finds very telling.
“It hurts him,” Heidi Klein said. “It hurts him to see someone tossed aside. Whether it’s a person or it is garbage it is not right.”
Sam, who has so far gathered about $1,000 in aid for those who are less fortunate, agreed. He looks at all the people and things that society has no further use for and sees something of value.
“When you throw something away … it hasn’t gone away,” he said. “It’s just gone to a different location.”
Leave a Comment:
OK, if this was legal, many of us would do this. This story is ridiculous.
WTF are you talking about?
Its completely legal but no. Many of you would not do this because it requires something called work. Its not a money for nothing scheme so most people wouldn't be interested.
I applaud this young man! He'll go far in this world.
it's easier to think it's illegal and sit down and complain about everything...
its illegal to dig out trash from others people trash can, also this kid isnt old enought to drive!, so it illegal! he is not doing this on HIS OWN!! what crock is that the parent are doing it with him.
Which is okay i used to to this 30 years ago, we woould walk the beach pick up cans and glass bottles from the beach for 2 years, my parents and I every morning before they put trashcans on the beach. we made enough to live off of til my dad got a job, then we stopped.
Mister Whoops - you have no idea whether this is illegal. You are only stating your opinions and should specify that. Who cares if his parents are helping him? At least they care enough about their son to nurture his altruistic endeavors. Everyone should have parents that are this involved. Maybe kids would grow up being more responsible citizens.
(BTW, I bet that this kid can spell and use correct punctuation and grammar. That's a leap ahead of you.)
Why is it ridiculous? Because he is not stepping on people like Rom-money?
Show me where it says he digs through other people's trash cans?
He goes to companies and asks for their old printer cartridges. Nothing illegal about that.
Stop being stupid.
Not only that, but once trash cans are put out on the curb for the trucks they are public property. Which is why people can legally dumpster-dive and sell the items they find. The people complaining about this story are just incredulous that someone could actually think of a clever way to make a buck while helping people at the same time.
Indie&Bella: That's not correct! Once someone puts trash containers and recycle containers in the city street the contents are property of the city! In most cities the green/blue/brown containers are already city property anyway, and you just rent them. If you steal bottles and aluminum cans from a recycle container in the city street you are stealing from the city and you "can" be prosecuted for it!! Look it up!!
Ok, so this kid starts his own business at a very early age, and just because he wants to help the homeless he is labeled a democrat liberal type? Wow. Now that's insane.
Mr. Whoops: It is NOT illegal to dig into someone else's trash can -- unless it's on their own property. If it's on a city curb or in a city alley, it's not illegal to go through it. The police do NOT have to get a warrant under those circumstances, and paparrizi have been known to go through celebrities trash to get a story. Want to know more about your neighbor? Digging through someone's trash can tell you a lot about a person/family. BTW, it is not illegal to get through dumpsters used by tenants in apt. buildings, either, and remove things. I've seen perfectly good furniture, etc. put along side dumpsters when people don't want to move them when they vacate their apt. They do this purposely to give others the opportunity to take them.
Can you imagine the impact that could be realized in our country if just a tiny % of all Americans put a little effort into meaningful projects like this child has done? Even if some of the money stuck to your fingers in the process, it wouldn't be a bad thing to recycle all kinds of materials.
Categories could be: Bricks, electronics, organics to compost, food to shelters or pantries, paper, plastics, metals, tires, furniture; hundreds of other things. If you could use the money, do it for that. If you don't need the money, do it to help others.
This article pleases me because I am an avid recycler and have made very good use of "found" materials during my whole lifetime.
Bravo!
If I were his parents, then I would be asking him to save all that money to help pay for his college tuition. You can never start too early on that. However, I don't really understand why these companies aren't recycling their own ink cartridges, and pocketing the money themselves. I worked for an inkjet remanufacturing company, and all clients were companies, not individuals.
I agree! Why on Earth would you encourage a twelve-year-old to help the less fortunate when he could use that money to line his own pockets? Where are their American values? Oy.
I never said I had a problem with him giving it away, but I just see a way for him to help himself as well. I see nothing wrong with that.
Ky - companies aren't recycling their own ink cartridges because they are lazy and no one cares about the environment. I entered grad school at a non-traditional age. I was old enough to be a parent of my classmates. You should have seen the waste created by these kids because no one has raised them to respect the environment and recycle. The university had placed a contain for collecting used printer paper in the hallway right outside the lab door. Would these kids walk the extra step to put their paper in the recycle bin? Heck, no! We went through a laser printer ink cartridge every couple of weeks. Would anyone return the cartridges to the local office supply stores for a free ream of paper for each cartridge? No. We probably had 20 used cartridges in boxes taking up space in the computer room. I finally organized a group of students in a carpool to carry the cartridges to two different office supply stores to return for paper (The policy was one exchange per person per day. Therefore, one person could not return all of the cartidges at the same time.)
Laziness and entitlement is the mindset of most of today's young people. That is why companies don't recycle their ink cartridges.
recycled ink cartridge are a hazard to printer you think it helps but in the long run they dont, when remanufactoring company dont used the same ink or the right ink in these cartridges, and clogges up the printer or damage the print heads, oh yeah its saves money, but in the long run, its damages the printer.
be warned, why you think they want you to use their product, i mean its okay to use remanufactor but you have to use original product from time to time. dont believe me?? then go ahead keep using them. some printer works great for a long time, but most dont if you use it all the time them you dont have worries. toner or laser cartridge are different, im talking about inkjets.
but kudos to the kid for trying.
I don't know where you guys live, or what type of companies you work for...but to say companies do not recycle their cartidges because they are lazy and don't care about the environment is ridiculous. I have worked for a few different companies in the past decade and ALL of them recycled their ink and toner cartridges.
Agreed Bobby. I have also worked for a couple of largish companies in the past 10 years, and they all recycled them as well. I applaud his assertiveness in finding a way to help the environment and others at the same time.
Mister Whoops,
I see your reading comprehension is as poor as your grammar. He does not send them to some fly-by-night re fillers, he send them to the original manufacturers. They, in turn, refurbish them and refill with the original inks. By the way, there are some reputable companies that make refillable ink cartridges for Epson printers that use inks that are even better than the original inks.
Considering this kid is motivated, and has the initiative to start his own charitable projects, I don't think he will have any problem getting merit-based scholarships to pay for most/all of his college tuition. While college is expensive, if you work part time, qualify for some scholarships, live on the cheap, and go to a state school, you can get through with minimal debt. I paid for all of my college with minimum wage jobs and by living at home while going to my local community and then state school. I'm not saying everyone has the family support structure to do this but this kid obviously does.
Why coudn't a jobless adult be doing this? They could -- if they really WANTED to work. Kudos to this thoughtful and ambitious young man. There'd be nothing wrong with his keeping 50% of what he's earning, putting it into a college fund IMHO.
EmilyInIowa: You are fortunate on many fronts -- having learned some good values i.e. work!, and how to "live on the cheap". I'm guessing you graduated with little or no college loans, too.
I'm of the opinion, based on my experience of taking a few college courses recently, that many of those graduating with loans are doing so ONLY because they don't "live on the cheap", i.e. still getting their nails and hair done, buying new clothes, living in an apt. above their means, owning a "nice" car when an "ok" car would do, going to concerts, on Spring Break, etc., ad nauseum. They expect to live as well as they did when they lived at home when Mom &/or Dad were paying the bills. The fact that they don't earn enough money to "live in the style to which they had become accustomed" doesn't stop them from getting the $$$ from somewhere, i.e. loans.
And, yeah, I know the cost of tuition has gone up but hey! if you're smart enough to go to college, you're smart enough to figure out how to do it without going into debt!
Give this kid an award of some kind, show him and others this is what we need more of. personally I commend this individual on his overall strategy of clean up and help others.
Way to go kid!
Seems like a good candidate for the "Medal of Freedom".
I've seen that medal go to quite a few who have done less than this young man......
Very cool. Would like to read stories like this more often.
Let's see... was it the BRILLIANT 12 year old or the even more BRILLIANT MSNBC editor who placed the world population at 3.8 billion when it's OVER SEVEN BILLION? Ah, why bother with facts, it's only news. :P
Termitinator - I noticed the same thing. Taking into account MSNBC's unblemished record for at least one major editing error with every article published, I figure that the fault lies with MSNBC, not the boy. Most kids have been taught how large the world population in school by the age of 12. Notice that the MSNBC writer acknowledges that he is too ignorant to be able to multiply 3.8 billion by 4.5, probably because he has no idea how many zeros follow 3.8 to make a billion.
No doubt the 4.5 pounds of trash per day figure primarily applies to adults. It still comes out to 8,550,000 tons of trash per day though.
His parents must be proud. I'm making my 12 year old read this article. Too much emphasis on sports and ego-centric activities for kids. I'm all for altruistic views of the world. I wonder if he is in scouting.
his parents are proud they are the one driving him around.
Sports teach kids many valuable life skills, such as teamwork, dedication, determination, EXERCISE, time management, spacial skills, etc. Of course, also being involved in sports looks good on college apps, whether or not the kids decide to play in college.
But I agree, being involved in something like this also adds character and teaches them to care for our planet. There are also recycling places that people can turn in cans, newspapers and other metals for cash too.
This is EXACTLY what I'm harping on all the time. This kid has a stronger moral compass the our ENTIRE legislative branch of our federal government. This is PRECISELY what we're supposed to do as Americans.
"Let him that stole steal no more, but rather let him work with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth" Eph 4:28
This is one of the founding tenets of the American nation, to work and share of your increase with those less fortunate. Maybe 'ol Mitt Romney should take note of this one, seeing as he has spent most of his life taking from those who have not, and enriching both those who HAVE and himself.
I'm off to church to share of my increase. So please remember that the quality of mercy is not strained. God bless.
You are very mistaken. Guys like Romney turn guys like this kid into millionaires.
Liar...he tries to crush them.
And 0bama wants to make them get a welfare account.
Just goes to show you the heart of some people in today's society. Some people would actually make cruel comments against someone that is actually doing some good. He is right you know, when you throw something away it just doesn't go away, it goes somewhere else. This child can teach some grown-ups, especially ones on this site, how to actually be humanistic and caring for others.
Recycling is a messy job. Therefore, kudos, not only to the young man, but to his parents as well.
Somebody suggested he should save all the money for collage. That's stupid. He should save the money for a small chunk of land. That way he can go big. Then Obama can say he needs to do his fair share and crush his goodness inside.
But I think it is a great idea to save money for an artistic composition of materials and objects pasted over a surface, often with unifying lines and color.
Moron, you cannot even spell C-O-L-L-E-G-E! Learn to spell before advising others. Rom-money historically is the job crusher, not President Obama. Here, try this...spell C-A-T....I will help you:
C__T Where does the "A" go?
You're so right. He should spend 150K on a degree in Liberal Arts. LMAO.
Say What?... See what I did there? You Libs can never resist the Grammar Nazi position. I was going to spell grammar with an E but it's just too easy. Substance is what matters in life.
Oh and if you want to talk about Romney's business record maybe you should see what your fav president said Friday night.
Social: "You're so right. He should spend 150K on a degree in Liberal Arts. LMAO."
You are correct about the LMAO....You lack the brain power to control where your laughter
comes out.
Social: Just wallow in your own mess..you totally lack in substance..go away, the adults are talking.
here. Is it true you have no birthplace? No ancestors?
Actually, I was born with the other apes in Kenya.
Say What, you are so emotional... Typical. Resort to personal attacks because you have no substance to reply with. Very, Very Typical.
Social Justice: You're the one who has demonstrated the character defect of resorting to personal attacks -- against our president no less.
And, you're wrong about only substance counting. I got a job managing a law office simply because my application was the ONLY one out of 56 without a typo! Spelling, grammar, sentence structure and otherwise properly using the English language is expected and desired in the professional world. Are you someone, though, who doesn't have to communicate with anyone else during your day? If that's the case, I guess you can continue to demonstrate your lack in the areas I cited above. And if you really don't care about that skill set, you won't climb the ladder. Hopefully you are self-employed!
hey sam run for office, never give up your passion for helping
EXCUSE ME PEOPLE, the supreme court has ruled on this already, no it is not illegal to rummage through someone's garbage, so long as it is on the curb for pick up. the case that provides this info involves person who was convicted of growing marijuana. he tossed the remnants in the garbage and the police went and rummaged through his garbage to get the conviction, he countered with what the police did was illegal, he lost his suit. also note that it is not illegal to go ask for a business' waste product. what this kid is dong is not illegal, however what you folks are doing is, it's called false accusation. BTW, how do we know this child is not Jesus come back to earth? you go sam, and wade I am with you on that notion all the way. the kid has my vote.
Does anyone know what Sam Klein's website is? Because I would like to contact him to create a partnership/joint-venture between his Inkcycle Group and my Recycling Works Co.
Here is my website and my facebook page for my company if any of you are interested in checking it out:
(Please Like!)
(We recycle cans, bottles, and give tips on how to recycle things)
Illegal?? Turning this into politics?? People--are you serious? Let's not contaminate the good heart of a child who struck out on his own to make a difference with all of this adult, petty BS. We would do well to remember the values that this child emulates--ingenuity--determination, autonomy, and action. If this country produced more like this young man I might believe that there was light at the end of this tunnel of economic and cultural decay. Our "leaders"should incentivize those with the virtue, moral compass, and sensibilities of this young person. Some of the comments on this board speak to what is wrong with where we are going in this country, and why we are going there. Get behind something good rather than attack it. Maybe we will have a fighting chance....Go Sam!!!
The whole scenario is stupid, if the kid donates it means he doesn't need the money, the parents were just waiting to post this and grandstand like he's so wonderful. He's doing something good --but for what cause? He needs to KEEP the money for his efforts and the inconveniences he's making for the normal lifestyle he would have. Gee how wonderful - I got my picture posted as a mister do-good. These parents are obviously are in control of the decisions of "outcome" and are trying to make their "image" look better than their neighbors and friends for bragging in the rich,
snobby world they live in.
So, what is all of that stuff in the back of the car that he is standing in front of? It looks like garbage. Are those the cartridges that he collects? If so, he also has a lot of plastic bags to recycle.
From the picture, I cant' tell what all of that stuff is. It does not look like cartridges, but, then I don't deal with ink cartridges so maybe I don't know what they look like.
There can be profit in others garbage--the cast offs and used ups that others don't want to take the time to deal with.
I remember a story not too long ago in the media about a young girl, about the same age, who had a mother in the real estate business. She discovered that there were many properties where people left and left behind household belongings. This girl found a way to sell these unclaimed items and earned enough money to buy her own house. This was in Florida and I think the house that she bought was some real cheap bargain. But, she saw an opportunity to profit off of something that others had cast aside.
If you really want to put the effort to it, there are possibilities. Americans are drowning in excess stuff. And, Americans throw away so much good stuff. Just take a ride around on garbage day, especially after a warm holiday weekend when folks have cleaned the garage or had a yard sale.
Please read the article-- or at least the pertinent photo's subtext-- before commenting on its content. The "garbage" in the back of the van is food he's taking to the Ronald McDonald House.
Wow. Sam, you are awesome and impressive. Mom and Dad, please be sure to save some of that money for his college education. It will serve all of us well to see to it that this clever young man goes to school.
Kudos to Sam!! Keep up the good work, and you will be head and shoulders above your classmates by the time you graduate.
As to the trolls here who find a way to grouse at everything and each other in your comments, if you spent as much time in positive thinking as Sam does, you'd be better off and happier all around. Think about it.
Good job Sam. However, since the story is out I am certain the EPA and OSHA will be shutting you down soon. Likewise, the city will question you about zoning and fines and the wonderful people at the IRS will be going through your books soon.
Wish ya the best. I'll bet if we follow this kid in life he will do more amazing things as well.
You go, Sam. There is no "away".
“Did you know that each person [on the planet] throws out four and a half pounds of trash a day?” he asked. “Now multiply that by 3.8 billion people! How many pounds is that?”
That's a lot of trash! And what happened, did India and China go poof! recently? This kid seems to have a good work ethic. It is unfortunate that more people do not do this or at least limit their consumption.
This kid is my hero! My company doesn't recycle and it kills me every time I throw away an ink cartridge/toner. Now I know that I can take matters into my own hands.
Again MSNBC glorifying what this little white boy is doing. Little do they know kids from third world contries do this alll the time. Please!