Gerringong Lions millionth milestone

Gerringong Lions Club reached a momentous milestone this month by recycling their one millionth can/ bottle – raising $100,000 for charity in the process.

“The Return and Earn recycling project, which we started five years ago, was our main means of income during the difficult COVID period when we couldn’t carry out our usual fundraising activities,” says Peter Jeffreys, the Club’s publicity officer.

Many hard-working Lions volunteers were involved in the collection and recycling scheme, which was initially suggested by Bruce Ray. Bruce designed the almost Heath Robinson-like contraption that helped volunteers process so many cans and bottles.

Each Monday morning, at the back of Michael Cronin Oval on Blackwood Street, volunteers take their position alongside the plumber’s piping which extrudes from the Return and Earn facility and in unison process hundreds of thousands of 10c refundable drink containers.

Volunteers gather the items from local wedding venues, businesses and homes throughout the community.

Not only has the Club raised record amounts for charity, but every container returned makes an environmental impact.

According to the NSW Government’s Return and Earn website, recycling 950,000 bottles and cans means:

• saving 6 million litres of water or enough to fill two Olympic sized swimming pools

• saving 1,316 gigajoules of energy or one household’s