It’s a day that can set the average Aussie back tens of thousands of dollars.

But for Sunshine Coast couple Leonie Starr and Matthew Porter, their wedding was absolutely free.

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WATCH IN THE VIDEO ABOVE: Leonie reveals how she makes money out of recycling

Queensland’s recycling scheme - which meant Leonie spent three years turning people’s trash into cash.

The program - which operates automated depots tying in with the NSW’s container refund Scheme called Return and Earn - gives customers a 10c instant refund on every can, plastic or glass bottle they return.

Leonie laughs at the idea she spent more time at the recycling depot than planning her actual wedding - but the 32-year-old doesn’t know exactly how many cans she has cashed in.

“For the wedding alone... well it cost us around $15,000,” she tells 7Life - which means 150,000 pieces of recycling at least.

At first Leonie started out small, collecting the couple’s own recycling and receiving around $15 a visit.

Then something clicked in Leonie’s mind.

“What if we started saving this money for the wedding?”

So she took to Facebook and asked her friends and family to start keeping their trash for her to cash in too.

But what Leonie didn’t expect was help from complete strangers too.

Quickly her one trip a week turned into 15 as the young woman traded in hundreds of bottles and cans for money.

The only other place she’d spend her time was local parks where the Queenslander would pick up recyclables others had cast aside.

And as her wedding day crept up so did the cash in her bank account.

From flowers, catering, the venue and even a celebrant, every single 10c went towards Leonie and Matthew’s big day

With around 150,000 cans collected, Leonie and Matt had their dream wedding in November 2020.

“It was completely free! Everything was paid for by cans,” Leonie declares.

Not only that, as the cans continued to roll in, the couple also managed to pay for their honeymoon too.

While Leonie and Matt both dreamed of an overseas getaway, with COVID restrictions the couple opted for a road trip up north.

While they were in “vacation mode”, Leonie admits she couldn’t get rid of her addiction to recycling.

“Anything we were drinking in the campervan we saved them,” she says.

“Matt kept asking me ‘are you sure you want to keep all of these, we are running out of room’.”

But Leonie always managed to find space.

Filling every cupboard and gap she could find with bags of recyclables, Leonie admits she’s very grateful for the patience of her new husband.

“One time he [Matt] opened a cupboard in the van and all these cans fell out,” she laughs.

With their wedding day done and dusted the couple soon turned their “can money” into a different sort of savings account.

“A baby fund,” Leonie smiles.

During their honeymoon, Leonie discovered she was pregnant.

And when she got home she was still trading in her recyclables and collecting bottles from local parks and beaches.

But the days of accepting trash from strangers was over.

“It just became a lot,” Leonie confesses.

However she still strongly promotes a reduce, reuse and recycle lifestyle.

So when it came to her baby registry her first stop was Facebook Marketplace, Gumtree, Op Shops or environmentally friendly options.

With the cans flowing, the nursey began filling up quickly as the mum-to-be got some great bargains.

As thousands more cans got deposited, Leonie managed to buy a whole load of baby items.

Items that would normally set new parents back thousands of dollars cost Leonie and Matthew nothing but their time to collect and deposit the cans.

“My favourite thing we were able to buy is a set of cutlery with bowls and cups made out of rice husk which will completely biodegrade when you bury it in your garden,” Leonie explains.

“It’s hard like plastic! I was very impressed!” she adds.

Now, a mum to five-month-old Rocky, Leonie guesses she has recycled well over 200,000 bottles and cans equating to at least $20,000.

Leonie’s daily walks may be a little different - she clips a bag onto little Rocky’s pram to collect littered cans.

But on New Year’s Day, the mum still woke at 5am for a trip along the beach to collect waste from the night before.

“I was there before sunrise and there were seven other people out collecting cans too,” she laughs.

Although she managed to leave with a bag half full, she realises now how “competitive” litter collecting has become.

From now on Leonie’s hard-earned “can cash” will be split into two ways - items for growing baby Rocky and a house deposit.

Cindy Tran / Health & Wellbeing

Cindy Tran / Health & Wellbeing