When CDS Vic launched in November 2023, Youtuber Beau Miles and his friend Jimma planned to be among the first in line to return their eligible drink containers. And they certainly had a lot of them: nearly 10,0000 which they’d collected from Victorian roadsides over a period of several months.
With the money that they raised from redeeming all their containers, Beau and Jimma purchased and planted 600 local seed stock plants. They also made a very entertaining video, cataloguing their experiences of collecting and returning a literal truckload of drink containers to CDS Vic.
Their video features a cameo by our own VicReturn CEO, Jim Round, who stopped by to congratulate Beau and Jimma and help out with the tree planting. “This feels good, doesn’t it – better than computer hands!” Beau commented encouragingly to Jim who, having just planted a number of trees, was regarding his dirt-covered hands somewhat dubiously.
Jim said, “Beau and Jimma have done a terrific job. They saved thousands of drink containers from going to landfill or ending up in our waterways and then used their container refunds to directly benefit the environment through planting trees. I’m delighted that CDS Vic gave Beau and Jimma a means to achieve such a positive outcome.
“Their video does a great job of showing Victoria’s Container Deposit Scheme in action, right from our very first day. It’s also an opportunity for people who may not have visited a depot yet to take a look inside one and see how quickly the machines can count and sort large numbers of containers.”
Reflecting back on the success of his drink container collection and tree planting project, Beau said, “it means less rubbish and more trees on the side of the road. You bloody ripper!”
Do you have a good news story you’d like to share about your fundraising or container collection efforts? Get in touch with us.
Handy tips
- Do you have some drink containers to return but aren’t sure if they’re eligible? Check what containers are eligible for the 10 cent refund.
- Want to use your drink container refunds to support your favourite charity or community group? Find out how (scroll to the Electronic Payment section of the page to download the app for your zone).
- Don’t forget to spread the word by also encouraging your friends and family to return their eligible drink containers to their nearest CDS Vic refund point! Locate your nearest refund point.
Check out Beau’s YouTube video about his journey!
Check out our YouTube channel for more great videos!
