Bottle Drives: A Great Way to Raise Money While Learning About Recycling. At Island Return It, we host dozens of bottle drives every year, with Duncan being the busiest branch averaging 2-3 per week during the peak summer season. Schools and sports teams raise money for gear and trips; charities get out into the community to raise funds and boost awareness; and individuals band together to help someone in need. Running a bottle drive is easy, and the staff at Island Return It are here to support you, especially if it's your first time. Start by picking up our Bottle Drive Guide (at the Duncan branch) and reading it over. Then schedule your fundraiser well in advance, to make sure you get the day you want. There are 3 ways you can hold a bottle drive: 1. Go out into the community and collect (the most effective) 2. Post a collection site and people bring...

 School’s back in full swing (after a bumpy start), which also means it’s fundraising season again. Chocolates, anyone? Cookies? Magazines? Entertainment Books?!!  But what if you’re looking to make some money for your organization and save the planet at the same time? For this, nothing beats a good old fashioned bottle drive. Except, in order to make yours successful it might be time to do away with the “old fashioned” and bring your bottle drive into the 21st century!  Here are four steps to help make your bottle drive efficient, profitable, and fun: STEP ONE: ORGANIZE Form a small group of people willing to take initiative and delegate tasks to each person in the group. For example, have one person in charge of advertising, one person in charge of volunteer recruitment, and someone else in charge of sorting the collected containers. Choose a leader, having one point of contact will make the whole process...

This past Christmas when we threw our annual holiday party (which was awesome!) and we presented everyone on the Island Return It team with a special gift. A gift that meant more to us than a bottle of wine or a book or anything else we could have dreamed up. This year we wanted to give the gift of nourishment not just to our employees but their families too. So everyone got a chicken. Promoting Health and Hope We choose to purchase the chickens from the Hope Farm in the Cowichan Valley for a few reasons: 1) We wanted to support our neighbors Hope Farm is located close to the Island Return It head office in Duncan and we love the "Buy Local" movement and want to participate. Promoting the products and services available in our communities is important to us, as we live and work in them too. 2) We wanted to support a worthwhile...

At Island Return It Recycling Centres we believe in community and giving back. We know that the folks that we serve in our communities (Victoria, Duncan, Saltspring & Campbell River) also feel strongly about specific organizations, whether they want to help raise funds for schools, sports teams, shelters, food banks, hospitals or private citizens in need, we want to help them do it! Afterall, recycling isn’t just a business for us, it’s a lifestyle and we love being active members of our communities. That’s why we offer a unique fundraising opportunity that takes a long term approach to collecting donations. Setting up an account for your favourite charity or organization has never been easier and can be done in a matter of minutes. Step 1 Call or visit your local Island Return It location and tell us you would like to set up a charitable account. Step 2 Decide on one or two people who...