By Sarah Wegelin
The Golden Bottle Depot is making a big difference in the community through recycling items while raising money for important causes and cleaning up the litter left on our streets.
“Being busy in business is the way to be,” says Phil Dockerty, owner and operator of the Golden Bottle Depot.
With 3.5 million items comprised of glass, plastic bottles, electronics, and cans being shipped to recycling plants every year, Dockerty says Golden’s return rate is 78 per cent.
Having so much coming through the Golden depot is a “nice problem to have,” he explains.
It means the community is doing its part at an above-average rate, reducing the volume being sent to the landfill.
Located at 820 11th Avenue S., the Golden Bottle Depot accepts electronics, plastic, aluminum cans, glass bottles, and paper products.
They return the deposit charged to residents when purchasing glass items at grocery and liquor stores, an incentive to encourage everyone to recycle. Dockerty says some people require “pick up” services in the community. He explains the return fee doesn’t always outweigh the inconvenience of making the trip to the depot.
“It’s a good thing a lot of groups do bottle drives,” Dockerty says, explaining local bottle drives hosted through organizations such as Little Mittens Animal Rescue and the Golden Dolphins Swim Club help those who can’t bring items in due to lack of time, interest, or disabilities by picking up bottles from residents, in addition to those who want to donate. Bottle drives in the community have high success rates with Little Mittens and the swim club raising thousands of dollars annually.
Caring community members reap some rewards when cleaning up the ditches on the highways. The return fees add up for those who want to take the time to do it and it helps clean up the environment.
The Golden Bottle Depot operates under the license of Encorp Pacific and is open from Tuesday to Monday from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Saturdays 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
