Habitat Refundable Program
Our History
From humble beginnings 15 years ago Habitat’s refundable program has grown into an award winning expert team who take great pride in funding affordable housing by recycling for deposit 20 different refundable products weekly, while adding community value by keeping tonnes of bottles and cans out of the landfill. A little known fact is that Habitat built its first affordable home out of pop cans! How, you ask? By winning the national Alcan award for the most aluminum cans recycled in Canada, Small Towns division, for 2 years running! This Alcan award of $125,000, in addition to the refund deposits collected during the contest period, more than covered the cost of materials for the first Habitat house built on the Sunshine Coast! Several years later the Habitat Refundable Program was presented with the Excellence Award for our system of community recycling of refundable containers, and in 2016, our Refundable Program team won the only Habitat award ever given for Canadian recycling, the Habitat Sustainable Funding Award.
How the Program Works
Every day of the week, 52 weeks a year, except statutory holidays, our team is on the job, rain or shine, pre-sorting the refundables donated by the public at the Habitat ReStore (5591 Wharf Avenue) in Sechelt, and at Gibsons Bottle Depot (on Venture Way) in Gibsons. We are very grateful to our community for their tremendous support, and for the forward vision of the SCRD to partner with Habitat, whereby the refundable program provides dependable funding for Habitat’s Build program, as we return the beverage containers to the Return It centers on a weekly basis. We couldn’t do this without the support of you Sunshine Coasters!
How You Can Help
If you have an hour a week, and want to truly make a difference, we’d love to show you what we do! And in addition to donating your own beverage containers, could you bring your neighbour’s, your neighbourhood association’s or your strata council’s refundables with you when you visit the Habitat ReStore or Gibsons Bottle Depot? Your continued support allows us to continue to give back! Thank you!
- Drive the Refundable Program truck
- Sort cans and bottles
- Pack cans and bottles and load the truck
- Take bottles and cans to Caps Off at 9:30am Friday mornings
Where Do I Drop Off My Refundables?
Our Sechelt Bottle/Can drop off area is at the Habitat ReStore. Head over to 5591 Wharf Ave, Sechelt, BC V0N 3A0 and make your contribution anytime!
What About In Gibsons?
We have another location in Gibsons too! If you have bottles and cans, take them over to 1035 Venture Way.