Bottle Depots, why is this still a thing.....

[GP_Matt]

I use Empties to Winn in Edmonton and they are great. They text periodically to let me know when they are coming and provide a tax receipt.
We don't have bins in Edmonton so pickers make a mess if you put them in your blue bags.

[Reaper]

Originally Posted by Wormius

The only depots that are really bad are the ones that expect you to sort the bottles. We discovered this while in Kelowna. Was kind of unexpected and gross without knowing that going in.

I wonder if it is people who think that you'll have to sort them out if you take them to the depot that are just sticking them in the blue bins.

The Depot scenario you've described is what is used for British Columbia. Twice as much work for half as much money in deposit. At least for Alberta Bottle Depots I can semi-crush the cans and plastic bottles for space savings. For British Columbia the container must remain intact for some strange reason.

[Tailgator]

My kid used to be a scout and bottle drives were a big fundraiser for them. It was great for the kids to learn and earn for their troop. If you don’t want yours, save it for them - they’ll usually do a bottle drive 3 or 4 times a year.

[Jason14h]

Originally Posted by redforever

This is what I use. I believe special needs people do the sorting and benefit from the proceeds.

They also provide stands and bags to collect your recyclables and remind you of the pick up date.

I also use thanks to seeing them on this site.

They give you big strong bags and even a bag holder I keep in the pantry and just throw all bottles in

Email them when I want a pickup and leave outside. Get a donation receipt at end of year

[btimbit]

I dont mind. There's a bottle depot close to my house that's right next to a car wash so whenever I want to wash a vehicle and have 2 or more bags full I just take them the . Adds maybe 10 minutes to my day. Depot is fast and seems fairly accurate, about $10 average for a 110l bag of cans.

[habernac]

Originally Posted by Wormius

That's like 600 cans! How many weeks of camping was this??

Uh, two.

There were a few bottles of water, too.

[afc wimbledon]

Originally Posted by habernac

Uh, two.

There were a few bottles of water, too.

Has to be Merit, you don't drink that much at Shambhala

[Swarly]

Originally Posted by Cameron Swift

How is $75 for about an hour of your time not worth it? Man, we know who the rich people are around here.

$75 would be about 5 extra large garbage bags worth. or imagine 62 12-pack boxes stacked around your house, or in the garage. that is a lot of wasted space. If you have the room great (must be nice to be the rich ones with tons of extra space around here )
If you don't have that kind of space to wait for one large truckload run then you have to do smaller bottle runs, so wasting min 1 hour every other week to claim $15 or one bags worth. I also drink too much.

on a side note about deposit fees, my brother pointed out to me that coke on Amazon is 3.99 / 12 pack, which is nothing special it goes on sale at the grocery store all the time for less than that. But he pointed out that they don't charge the deposit so you are saving $1.20. I tested it out and its true, $4.19 was my total (still paying GST). Have to order it as an add-on item but I order enough from Amazon that this could change my life!

[BsFaninCGY]

We put the bottle depot money in a jar along with money from garage & Kijiji sales and once a year put it towards a trip. It's not a big percentage of the jar, but I would imagine it gets close to $200. Nice to have when the time comes.

[Cuz]

Originally Posted by Swarly

on a side note about deposit fees, my brother pointed out to me that coke on Amazon is 3.99 / 12 pack, which is nothing special it goes on sale at the grocery store all the time for less than that. But he pointed out that they don't charge the deposit so you are saving $1.20. I tested it out and its true, $4.19 was my total (still paying GST). Have to order it as an add-on item but I order enough from Amazon that this could change my life!

You have changed my life! Thank you!

[DownhillGoat]

So wait you can order off Amazon and do the old Seinfeld trick for raking in the dough?

[Wormius]

So when you buy empty bottles for wine or beer making, do you only have to pay the deposit?

[Scorch]

Originally Posted by Nyah

In fact, I'd pay the $1.20 to NOT have to load up empties in my car and take them to the bottle depot.

nobody is making a trip to the depot for twelve cans

[calf]

Originally Posted by Swarly

on a side note about deposit fees, my brother pointed out to me that coke on Amazon is 3.99 / 12 pack, which is nothing special it goes on sale at the grocery store all the time for less than that. But he pointed out that they don't charge the deposit so you are saving $1.20. I tested it out and its true, $4.19 was my total (still paying GST). Have to order it as an add-on item but I order enough from Amazon that this could change my life!

And you can return for refund and get another $1.20. That's $2.40 in cash and savings- almost enough for another 12 pack of Coke

[KTrain]

Another vote for Vecova. Once a month they come and collect your bottles. Provide you with bags and email you a tax receipt. The email also tells you your total donations for the year. They text you 2 days before pick up to remind you to leave them out front.

The last time I donated I was told I was filling the bags too much and the workers (people with disabilities) had trouble lifting them. They're good people, doing good work and employing people who might have difficulty finding work elsewhere. They're a solid organization to support.

They'll take bags or a couple cases. You don't need to have a lot.

http://vecova.ca/social-enterprise/b...ainer-pick-up/

[redforever]

Originally Posted by KTrain

Another vote for Vecova. Once a month they come and collect your bottles. Provide you with bags and email you a tax receipt. The email also tells you your total donations for the year. They text you 2 days before pick up to remind you to leave them out front.

The last time I donated I was told I was filling the bags too much and the workers (people with disabilities) had trouble lifting them. They're good people, doing good work and employing people who might have difficulty finding work elsewhere. They're a solid organization to support.

They'll take bags or a couple cases. You don't need to have a lot.

http://vecova.ca/social-enterprise/b...ainer-pick-up/

I always separate the glass bottles from the cans and plastic bottles. I put the glass bottles in the type of cardboard boxes you get from the liquor store.

That way there is no worry of breakage of glass in the plastic bag and the bag does not get too heavy with just the cans and plastic bottles.

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by calf

And you can return for refund and get another $1.20. That's $2.40 in cash and savings- almost enough for another 12 pack of Coke

You could return the empty coke cans you bought elsewhere for the same $1.20 refund, that part isn't different.

The savings here is only $1.20. Of course, that's still awesome and I'm definitely switching...

[PaperBagger'14]

I try to burn all of my aluminum cans and smash glass bottles along roadways to assert my domianance as the biggest redneck dbag.

[Dion]

I was at the depot this afternoon and noticed a pickup truck with it's backend full of empty milk jugs. One of the workers and myself were joking that this person had a lot of work a head of them getting them into the depot. Turns out the owner had tied all the jugs together with a string into a couple of massive balls. A couple of trips and she was done.

[N-E-B]

Jeez, taking bottles back is so easy and it feels like you're getting free money. It only takes like an hour too. I can't believe anyone is opposed to it.