It’s a hot day on Black Head Beach and hundreds of people will quench their thirst with bottles of water and soft drink while they relax on the sand. Each empty bottle could earn the surf club eight cents if it’s placed in a collection cage on site and it’s money the club is banking on to boost its bank balance.
That’s the scenario that will play out “in the next few months” as Surf Life Saving NSW works to get its Lower North Coast branch of clubs set-up as ‘donation sites’ so they can cash-in on the controversial NSW government ‘Return and Earn’ scheme.
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Black Head, Crowdy Head and Pacific Palms surf clubs are in line to get an Envirobank Recycling collection cage, says Surf Life Saving NSW chief operating officer Dan Gaffney and the three local club committee members will look to the experience of the Forster and Cape Hawke clubs once their cages are set-up and operational from January 22. As of January 16 the Taree Old Bar Surf Lifesaving Club had not registered to take part in the scheme.
Dan is excited about the potential for our clubs to generate a sustainable source of revenue from the scheme and says throughout NSW 80 of the 129 clubs had registered to take part in the scheme.
He is working to navigate the “numerous challenges presented by the rollout of NSW government scheme” and says he wants “to make sure it’s right for each club so there is limited additional demands on the volunteers who work at each club.”
Our volunteers already do so much at a club level and we are really happy that we have been able to ensure that money earned by the return of cans and bottles at each site goes directly to that club.
- Surf Life Saving NSW chief operating officer, Dan Gaffney.
Under the scheme for every drink container donated by a member of the public, eight cents will go directly to the surf club where the container is deposited. The remaining two cents will be used by Surf Life Saving NSW to fund community education programs, help train lifesavers and provide vital lifesaving and rescue equipment.
The scheme roll-out will see Envirobank Recycling provide club and community members with bags to collect containers and then at designated times the cage will be open for bottles and cans to be donated. When the cage is full Envirobank Recycling will send a truck to empty the cage and the donation proceeds will be recorded with SLSNSW and it will dispense the funds to the participating club.
