We used to go to the redemption center, but the closest one is about 5 miles away. We would fill up the trunk or the truck every few months, stand in line at the recycler, then stand there feeding the bottles/cans one at a time into the automated redeemer thingy, take our voucher over to the next door Vons, stand in line again, and finally collect our ~$15 reward. Needless to say, we didn't do that too many times before saying F- it. We now throw our stuff into the weekly recycling bin and derive some small amusement from watching the can scavengers try to out-time each other for the prize. We leave what they want on top of everything else.
How long has it been since the last bump in redemption value? With the prices of metal rising so much over the past few years it seems they need to increase each can's value.