MORE opportunity for involvement of charities in the government's Containers for Change may be on the horizon as the program gains traction.
Local demand combined with new opportunities for funding will make the program more feasible for charities, according to Keep Queensland Beautiful CEO David Curtin.
Redland Bay resident Rhonda Sprack was among locals suggesting that charities collect bottles and cans to raise additional funds.
Ms Sprack said she did not currently take her bottles and cans to a Containers for Change collection point, but would be open to collecting them and donating them to a charity.
She said she would not be willing to take her cans to a collection point, preferring to have them picked up from her home.
“If (charities) want them, they can come and get them,” she said.
Keep Queensland Beautiful CEO David Curtin said the organisation had been trialing a service in which cans and bottles were collected from households and taken to donation points, with the money raised funding their clean-up projects.
“Keep Queensland Beautiful will provide a bag or bin to interested residents and we will arrange collection on a weekly or fortnightly basis,” Mr Curtin said.
“We will also offer a receipt at the end of the financial year, calculating your tax deductible donation.”
Mr Curtin said that while he did not believe the container refund scheme could provide a profitable fundraising option for charities in the short term, it might have long-term potential.
“It will definitely be a challenge for the hundreds and thousands of charities competing against each other, and the wave of residents and young families collecting and cashing in for extra pocket money,” Mr Curtin said.
“However in the long run, I believe people will see donating their cans and bottles to charity is a new way of contributing to or fundraising for their chosen charity without having to do much at all.”
He said that while taking containers to a collection point was still a novelty for some people, he believed the fun would wear off over time.
“Fundraising is difficult on any day for charities (and) with funding drying up we are thankful now the container refund program has given us a new funding opportunity,” Mr Curtin said.
Mr Curtin said the Queensland government had offered grants of up to $10,000 to enable community and not-for-profit groups to take part in the Containers for Change scheme.
Some charities, including Keep Queensland Beautiful, have their own scheme IDs allowing people taking their cans and bottles to collection points to donate their refund.
