A woman spent a year saving up to buy tickets to the final show of Taylor Swift’s Era’s Tour by recycling bottles and cans.
Katherine McKenzie, 31, became a fan of Taylor Swift after the popularity of her 2023 Era’s Tour made her want to dig deeper into the artist’s discography.
Katherine started recycling plastic bottles and metal cans for spare change last November.
In just 12 months, she saved $905, but the rising cost of reselling tickets left her a little short of the $1,045 minimum.
However, just when all seemed lost, Katherine heard from her sister-in-law’s friend that she could give her two limited-edition $11.15 tickets to the final show of the tour.
“It was really a wonderful stroke of luck,” said Katherine, a cat groomer in Victoria, Canada.
“I have been working so hard and looking forward to this experience for a year.”
Katherine came up with the idea after recalling her childhood, when she had carried out a similar plan.
“When I was in fifth grade, I was completely obsessed with Elvis and my mom said if I could save up for a plane ticket, we could go to Memphis,” Katherine said.
“When I was a kid, there were very few ways to save money so I thought about recycling bottles and cans at factories where they would pay you when you turned them in.
“I saved for months and finally saved enough money for us to go.”
Katherine started with the help of a few friends who gave her empty plastic bottles and cans.
Four months later, Katherine discovered she was pregnant but this did not discourage her and she continued with the pregnancy.
“It didn’t take me long to decide to go ahead with the plan,” Katherine said.
“I knew I would be quite pregnant by the time of the concert but that didn’t stop me.
“However, it has changed my collecting strategy because I know I won’t be as active as I was before I got pregnant.
“When I was able to move around more, I reached out to a local Swiftie Facebook group and asked if anyone had any trash they wanted to donate.
“The response was very positive and I was soon making weekly trips to collect people’s waste, organise recycling and take it to the factory.”
Over the course of 12 months, Katherine had saved a whopping $905, but the rising cost of reselling tickets left her short on cash.
But luckily, Katherine’s sister-in-law’s friend had spare tickets and she was able to buy two tickets for $11.15 for the final show of the tour.
“It was disappointing to think it wouldn’t go as expected so I was glad to be with my sister,” said Katherine.
A fair amount of the remaining money is used to purchase concert merchandise.
“We spent a total of about $208 on souvenirs that night,” Katherine said.
“The remaining money will be used to save for a deposit on a house in Vancouver and possibly for the new baby due on New Year’s Day!”
