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Man's Recycling Mistake Nearly Gave New Meaning To 'Going Green'

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Good morning. I'm Rachel Martin. If you work at a recycling facility, you're probably used to seeing valuable stuff thrown away. But what about an old shoe box filled with $23,000 in cash? Such a box was found at a facility in California. And it apparently belongs to a man who didn't need a shoe box anymore until he realized he'd put his life savings in there. Employees spotted the box and recovered all but $320 for a man for whom taking out the trash will likely never be a casual chore again. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

Rachel Martin is the host of Wild Card.