Happy hour at Halcyon Lakeside has become much more than discounted drinks and a chance to socialise – it is also the retirement village’s contribution to one of the Sunshine Coast’s largest charities.
Recycling technology supplier Envirobank offers a 10-cent refund for every eligible container recycled, which is why Coast health foundation Wishlist is now asking for donations of eligible recyclable containers.
Although it is only new, Wishlist’s Cash for Containers initiative has already received strong support from local businesses and the wider community.
Halcyon Lakeside’s former bar manager Jan Van den Adel, who has been a volunteer at the Sunshine Coast University Hospital for two years, has already delivered several bags of bottles and cans collected from the over-50s resort.
Mr Van den Adel heard about the fundraising drive through the hospital and thought it was an easy way to support the organisation.“It only took one day to collect all the bottles and cans I donated to Wishlist,” he says.
Ten cents may seem inconsequential, but with more people like Mr Van den Adel, this recycling effort could amount to something substantial for Wishlist, assisting the organisation to fund the plethora of health initiatives it supports each year.
Wishlist philanthropic manager Hans de Koning says the foundation will start receiving regular recycling donations from Sunshine Toyota, Landmark Resort, Quick Corp, Best Western Plus Lake Kawana, Nationwide Mobility Vehicles and Just Better Care Sunshine Coast, and the call is out to any community group, school or business to get on board. “It’s a great way to support the local health service and minimise the amount of recyclable waste that would otherwise end up in landfill or in our waterways. It’s a win-win,” he says.
As one of Wishlist’s corporate partners since 2015, Best Western Plus Lake Kawana Hotel general manager John Örning says donating the cans and bottles from the hotel’s Wildflower restaurant and what guests leave in their hotel rooms to the Cash for Containers initiative is “a great way to give without giving”.
“We already produce a lot of cans and bottles and before it all went in the big recycling bin,” he says. “Now we could either collect ourselves and get the money or donate it. We did choose the latter – since we believe that Wishlist do important work for the region and we help the environment at the same time.
“It’s never a pleasant experience needing to visit a hospital. We see it first hand since many of our guests are patients or relatives to patients or [hospital] staff. [Wishlist] do great and very important work. They make sure that health-care staff on the Sunshine Coast get better equipment and can treat patients better. And they make life a bit easier for patients and their families.”
Most drink containers between 150 millilitres and three litres can be returned for a refund under Queensland’s container deposit scheme. Containers should be empty, uncrushed, lid-free and display the refund marking for Queensland.
Anyone wishing to get involved can contact Hans de Koning at dekoning@health.qld.gov.au or on 0418 274 318.
