Sure We Can
219 McKibbin Street, Brooklyn, New York, United States

Sure We Can is a non-profit recycling center, community space and sustainability hub in Brooklyn where canners, who are people that collect cans and bottles from to streets to make a living, come together with students and neighbors through recycling, composting, gardening and arts. Our mission is to support the local community, particularly the most vulnerable residents, and promote social inclusion, environmental awareness and economic empowerment. For over 9 years, Sure We Can has served the community of canners, and today it has evolved into a community center that promotes a sustainable urban culture and facilitates a circular economy.

IN 1983, THE NEW YORK STATE PASSED THE RETURNABLE CONTAINER ACT REQUIRING A FIVE-CENT DEPOSIT ON CERTAIN BEVERAGE CONTAINERS. REDEMPTION RATES AND CONTAINER LITTER REDUCTION AVERAGE 75 PERCENT ANNUALLY. MUCH OF THE RECOVERY OF THESE CONTAINERS IS DONE BY CANNERS, WHO ARE PEOPLE THAT COLLECT EMPTY CONTAINERS FROM BUILDINGS, RESTAURANTS AND FROM THE STREETS.Better known as the Bottle Bill, the Act requires at least a 5-cent deposit on most beverage containers. Consumers pay the dealers the deposit for each beverage container purchased. Empty beverage containers may be returned to a dealer or redemption center to get the deposit back. Retailers and redemption centers are reimbursed the deposit plus a 3.5-cent handling fee by the distributor for each empty beverage container returned. Since the Act went into effect, redemption rates and container litter reduction average 75 percent annually.

However, many consumers don’t recover the refundable deposit. There are people who walk through streets every day to collect cans and bottles that were thrown away. In New York City, there are more than 5,000 “canners” who contribute significantly to recycling. The real challenge is ensuring canners decent work, fair exchange, job growth opportunities, and above all, a welcoming place to where they can redeem cans and bottles, feel supported, and be active participants in a vital community.

History

SWC WAS FOUNDED IN 2007 TO PROVIDE CANNERS -PEOPLE WHO COLLECT CANS AND BOTTLES FROM THE STREETS- A WELCOMING PLACE TO REDEEM AND CONNECT WITH OTHERS ENGAGED IN THE SAME ENDEAVOR. SWC IS THE ONLY NON-PROFIT HOMELESS-FRIENDLY REDEMPTION CENTER IN NYC.Many canners face economic, emotional, educational and language barriers that limit their possibilities for full participation in society. SWC was founded by canners for canners. A group led by Ana de Luco and Eugene Gadsden, started SWC to improve their working and living conditions, and address the hardships of those who make a living by collecting and redeeming discarded cans and bottles.

SWC has grown each year, and in 2015 processed approximately 10 million cans and bottles for redemption. Today, SWC’s more than 400 canners have a place to store, organize, and exchange what they have collected. In addition, through educational activities and programs for schools and universities, SWC is promoting sustainability, recycling and composting.

• More than 400 canners are part of our community
• Recovered 10 million cans and bottles in 2015
• Distributed more than $500,000 among the community of canners in 2015
• Settled in an ideal location in Brooklyn with 12,000 sq ft
• Expanded and diversified activities: compost, community garden, educational visits, talks
• Diversion of 50 tons of organic waste from the landfill every year

Mission  & Vision

SWC started as a redemption center working to foster social inclusion of canners. Our goals include creating an atmosphere of trust, respect and participation in the community; recycling valuable materials while educating about the importance of recycling; and dignifying the work while creating opportunities for those in the community. At SWC, people from all walks of life are welcome under the principle that everyone has something valuable to contribute.Our vision is to continue being a Recycling Center, supporting and promoting a Circular Economy, where discards are transformed into valuable resources and returned to the productive cycle, and opposing a Linear Economy with a 'take, make, dispose' model of production. We aim to grow as a Community Space where canners, youth, students and neighbors come together, understanding the value of discarded materials through recycling, composting, arts & crafts and other initiatives. We envision our center as a Sustainability Hub, where social, environmental and economic sustainability is practiced and implemented every day.

Recycling

IN NEW YORK STATE, THE 1983 BOTTLE BILL ENCOURAGES RECYCLING BY CHARGING A REFUNDABLE DEPOSIT $0.05 ON MOST DRINK CONTAINERS PURCHASED.Thus, the 1983 Bottle Bill allows disadvantaged people in New York City to scrape together a living by collecting and redeeming cans and bottles discarded by others. This work has come to be known as “canning.”The activity of canning is physically demanding, emotionally demeaning and logistically complex. Yet, for many non-English speaking immigrants and people living on the streets this is the only available source of income.

Sure We Can (SWC) helps canners make a living by redeeming returnable bottles and cans and pays these New Yorkers the full $0.05 refund per container– as required by law- and up to 20-25% added value for sorted containers, which is not required by law. More importantly, though, SWC treats them with respect and care.After cans are sorted and redeemed, SWC schedules pickups with distributors that represent the manufacturers of the original products.Distributors only pick up the redeemed containers in pre-sorted bulk units and reimburse SWC the $0.05 refund paid to its clients. An additional payment of $0.035 per container -handling fee- goes towards the sorting fees and overhead.This per-item handling fee is SWC’s only source of income, other than donations and grants.