Returning a six-pack of empties to the Beer Store can mean lining up behind bottle pickers who’ve scavenged the entirety of North York and packed it into a wagon train of shopping carts.
It’s no picnic being on the receiving end of this parade of disused containers. Along with having to sort out non-refundable bottles, Beer Store workers have to deal with, according to a stoic store hand, such delights as dead animals, needles and barf.
If you really want to light up their life, consider the following: group beer bottles by colour separate wine and spirit bottles by clear and coloured glass plastic bottles and Tetra Paks are a single group, as are cans. Bring them back like that and experience the fullness of empties.
Or just stick your bottles out in front of your abode – separate from your other blue box items – and leave them to the recycling professionals. The bottle-picking ladies and gentlemen who adopt the orphaned empties of our town know the drill.
