A bottle drive is one of the lowest-effort fundraisers a school, team, or community group can run. Here is how to run one that actually raises money — without spending a weekend in a depot parking lot.
May 22, 2026 · 4 min read
Almost every household in Edmonton has empties sitting in a garage. A bottle drive gives people an easy reason to clear them out and a good one to hand the refund to your cause.
There is no product to sell, no cost to take part, and no awkward ask. Supporters are giving away money they were never going to walk into a depot to collect anyway.
The traditional bottle drive means volunteers collecting bags door to door, a borrowed truck, and a long afternoon sorting at a depot. It works, but it burns a weekend and a lot of goodwill.
The modern version skips all of that. Supporters book their own pickups through a shared link, or you collect bags at one location and have a trailer haul them. The counting and the payout are handled for you.
Five steps, most of them hands-off:
Bottle-drive refunds are not instant. Large volumes take a week or two to count, so plan your drive to end well before you actually need the money.
Otherwise, promote it like any fundraiser: a clear deadline, a goal number, and a couple of reminders. The link does the rest of the work.
If your group has a cause and a community behind it, you have everything you need. Tell us about your drive and we will set up your fundraiser link, usually within a couple of days.
Where to return bottles and cans in Edmonton — an honest comparison of bottle depots versus door-to-door pickup, and which one is worth your time.
What you can return for a deposit in Alberta — cans, bottles, Tetra Paks, milk jugs and more — plus what does not count, and why you never have to sort.
Alberta bottle and can deposit rates explained — 10¢ and 25¢ per container, what a typical bag is worth, and how to get every cent back.
Five minutes to book. Forty-eight hours to e-transfer.
