More cans off city streets, more money in pockets

Empty beer cans on the street may be litter, but to some they provide income to afford basic necessities.

“It pays for stuff that we need, something to eat, something to drink and other stuff like personal hygiene,” said Darius Campbell, who picks up the empty cans and returns them to the Northern Hotel on Main Street each day.

As of July 1, Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries changed guidelines on its container deposit program. Deposits are paid for cans of coolers, cocktails, ciders, sodas and seltzers containing alcohol that are returned to vendors. It’s worth 10 cents for a regular bottle, up to $40 for a keg over 19 litres.

“That’s more money in our pocket than it being littered on the ground all over the city,” said Campbell, who lives in the West End.

He said if he searches in certain parts of Winnipeg where there’s a lot of extra cans, he can make up to $100 a week.

Campbell stood behind the Northern Hotel with longtime friends Dillano Orchid and Turner Beck, who are both currently homeless.

Beck said the cans are a good way for himself and others on the street to make enough money to get by.

He normally spends 36 hours scouring streets for cans, but now that more cans qualify for the program, it’ll take less time.

He said there’s often nothing else for him to do other than walk around and collect empty containers.

Orchid said finding a 10-cent can can be a ray of hope when times are tough.

“Sometimes they let you out of the drunk tank and you got nothing on you. You don’t have no shoes, no socks, but you go out there and you find all the cans, you know, it’s just really good,” he said.

Orchid said the move will more more trash will be taken off the streets.

Provincial legislation was amended to include ready-to-drink beverages.

The change has been needed for years, since those beverages now make up around 50 per cent of the alcohol sold in Manitoba, said Keith Horn, owner of the Northern Hotel.

“I think it’s a good thing, what’s the difference between a cooler and a beer can? They’re both aluminum,” said Horn.

He said those are a lot of cans that have ended up as trash on the street and including them in the container deposit program will lead to less litter around the city.

Two weeks ago, people would bring in a total amount of $300 in empty cans per day. On July 2, they handed out $526 for 5,260 empty containers.

Horn has been telling people about the change and expects the number of empties dropped off to double.

“It’s picking up more now that more people realize these cans can be refunded,” he said.

Not all containers are subject to a refund. Wines and spirits, non-alcoholic drinks, containers less than 200 ml and glass containers are not eligible.

Cans that can’t be identified or contain too much liquid or other material will also not be accepted.

tiago.resko@freepress.mb.ca