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Returns for Leukemia bottle drive coming to The Beer Store near you - Environmental Communication Options/Huff Strategy

Returns for Leukemia bottle drive coming to The Beer Store near you

May 25th, 2011 6:16 AM

Media Release (Toronto, May 25, 2011) Ontario Minister of the Environment, John Wilkinson and The Beer Store (TBS) President, Ted Moroz made the first donation of the 2011 Returns for Leukemia campaign at the Dupont and Bathurst store, today. Ted Moroz explained that, "Returns for Leukemia is a partnership fundraising effort between the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 12R24 (the union representing TBS employees) and The Beer Store. Moroz went on to say, "On May 28th and 29th TBS employees, friends, family members and other supporters volunteer outside TBS stores across Ontario and encourage customers returning their empty beer, wine and spirit containers to donate all or a portion of their container deposits to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Canada." Robert Edwards, President of Local 12R24 said, "In 2010, the bottle drive raised an impressive $1,065,000 and more than $3.2 million has been raised over the past five years. Our goal for this year is to raise another $1 Million and recycle even more containers." Lorna Warwick, Senior National Director for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Canada observed, "100% of the funds raised are used to fund promising blood cancer research at medical institutions across the country and provide support to patients and caregivers." Minister Wilkinson noted that Ontario MPPs, volunteers and TBS employees in communities across Ontario will be volunteering for an hour or two at a Beer Store location in their ridings. "This bottle drive not only helps find a cure for a disease that afflicts over 90,000 Canadians, but it also draws attention to the environmental benefits of the Ontario Deposit Return Program (ODRP). Its success proves that Ontarians want to do the right thing. It's just one thing Ontarians can do everyday to reduce waste. Together we are building a cleaner, healthier environment for our children and grandchildren. I wish both programs every success next weekend." Minister Wilkinson and TBS President also "cashed in" a collection of ODRP packaging (beer bottles, spirit containers and plastic packaging). The money they received back was the first donation made in 2011 to Returns for Leukemia bottle drive. For more information about Returns for Leukemia, visit www.bottledrive.ca For more detail or media inquires contact: Don Huff, Environmental Communication Options (ECO), 416-805-7720 or huffd@ecostrategy.ca The Ontario Deposit Return Program (ODRP), also known as Bag it Back, was established in February 2007 to increase the collection rate for wine, spirit and beer containers sold through LCBO and Ontario winery retail stores and to direct collected containers to higher order recycling uses. The program operates by charging a refundable deposit on each alcoholic beverage container sold in the province. This deposit is returned to the consumer when they return the empty container to any one of The Beer Store's 775 container redemption facilities. Upon collection containers are sorted and delivered to contracted processors who prepare them for sale to end-market recycling uses