Bottle Drive Tips

Form a committee (it might be a committee already in place for fundraising or community activities).
Choose a team leader & assign responsibilities for the following steps.

We’ll help you plan a date that doesn’t conflict with other drives in your area.
We’ll provide a fundraising kit to help with your drive.
If you collect over $500 worth of containers we’ll come and pick up your collection for FREE.
Collections under $500 will incur a $50 pick up fee.

You can collect door-to-door or have people bring containers to a central site. Collecting door-to-door requires more volunteers and more vehicles, but is more convenient for residents.
Central site collection works well with a school, church, parking lot or sports arena where people can bring their beverage containers. This system needs fewer volunteers and vehicles, but must be well advertised to be effective.

Consult a map of your community to decide how large an area you’ll canvass.
Concentrate on residential areas.
If there are apartment buildings, check with the manager to see if your team can get in to leave flyers to pick up empty beverage containers. Some managers may agree to collect beverage containers for you.

Once date, area and collection method has been decided, spread the word. Coordination of publicity is essential to the success of the drive.
Have a reason for the drive – a goal the community can support.
Print flyers and include the following info
- Name of the organization
- Reason for the drive
- Time of collection
- Collection method
- List of what you’re collecting
- A phone number people can call for information
Deliver a flyer to every home in the collection area.
Make sure every member of your group has flyers to give out.
Write a short announcement of the drive, including the information contained on the flyer and send it to the community page of your local newspaper, public service announcement departments of your local television and radio stations, post on Facebook and Twitter.
The most effective method of distributing information is delivery door-to-door. If you have enough volunteers, deliver notices twice – one month before and the week of the drive.

If you’ve chosen a door-to-door collection, divide the area into sections and assign collectors, drivers and vehicles to each area.
If you’ve chosen a central site, have a team onsite to greet people bringing in donations, and facilities for handling empty containers until you are ready to delivery them to the Bottle Depot.
Make sure packers follow the guide for size, type and number of containers per bag. Ensure that alcohol containers are kept separate from all other containers.

For more information, call (250) 727-7480 and ask for our Operations Manager.