Get Involved

SCOUTS CAN

A Connecticut Yankee Council /
Habitat for Humanity Partnership

Get Involved!!!

We know -- "Yuck, who wants to deal with disgusting beer bottles and soda cans, they're hardly worth anything!" But they add up: last year, Scouts in Illinois helped build a home for Hurricane Katrina victims...with $50,000 raised through deposit-item redemptions. It's not a question of whether you can "make a difference," but how.

Where to start? At the beginning -- by collecting glass, plastic, and aluminum deposit items. (See the "Tips to Collect, Redeem" page for details.) That's easy: redemption isn't hard, but can be, um, sticky. Participants are encouraged to redeem deposit items on their own -- mainly through the "reverse-vending" machines in grocery stores -- but the most efficient way is starting central collection areas, where cans can be dropped off, sorted, and then redeemed in bulk.

So go ahead, put together a quarterly or semi- annual can-and- bottle drive -- details at Tips link.

Girl Recycling at Newtown

Or set up a collection center at your local transfer station, as Housatonic Habitat and the Scatacook District have at the Newtown Transfer Station.

Either way, after aluminum cans, plastic bottles, and glass are sorted into special, transparent bags, they can be taken to MLI Redemption in Stratford...or MLI, by pre-arrangement, can pick bags up.

Contact Chris Goodrich for details on either program -- and check out Tips for other ways to raise money for a good cause.