The Campbell River Bottle Depot is a busy place, and it’s about to get even busier.
Soon it will be adding household appliances to its long list of acceptable items.
“Once we get everything online there won’t be very much stuff going to the dump anymore,” said manager Tex Davidson. “We should’ve been doing this years ago.”
Any counter top appliances like coffee makers and toasters will be accepted, but large appliances like fridges or stoves are excluded.
Davidson said the date has been bumped back a little bit, but he is hoping to have the system implemented for early September.
The depot already accepts much more than the usual refundable bottles, cardboard, tin cans, and milk containers. Other items include household paint, car batteries, household electronics like computers and televisions, flammable liquids, and pesticides, among other things.
Davidson moved to Campbell River 15 years ago to run the depot when it first opened here. Since then, he said it has grown dramatically – his guess is by about 75 per cent – and he said the streets of the community seem cleaner.
“They’re just not dumping the stuff the way they used to,” said Davidson. “It just helps the community; it keeps it cleaner.”
The Campbell River Bottle Depot also has a bag in the front of the depot where people can drop off their refundable beverage containers to donate money to the local food bank. The depot also accepts refundable beverage containers on behalf of 60-65 local charities. People can drop off their items and the funds then go into the charity account of their choice.
“It’s a good way to fundraise,” said Davidson.
“There’s sporting clubs, there’s school programs – they come in and they set up an account with us, and anybody who wants to donate to that specific group can bring it in and donate it.”
The Campbell River Bottle Depot is open seven days a week, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Sat. and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday. Davidson himself is there seven days a week making sure things go smoothly.
“No rest for this boy,” said Davidson with a chuckle.
