(Photo courtesy of OBRC)
The Oregon Beverage Recycling Cooperative (OBRC) is hosting the 2023 Hidden Bottle Hunt from July 5-9 by hiding six commemorative bottles in parks and on trails throughout the state. The annual summer event is intended to celebrate Oregon’s history of environmental stewardship and inspire community support for local charities. Clues for the statewide hunt will be posted daily on the Oregon BottleDrop website, leading treasure hunters to the final hiding places.
“Oregon’s Bottle Bill leads the nation in recycling quality and outcomes, and helps protect our state’s rivers, beaches, roadsides and special places,” said Eric Chambers, vice president of strategy and outreach for OBRC. “We’re thrilled to invite Oregonians to celebrate our iconic first-in-the-nation Bottle Bill by getting outside and hunting for the commemorative bottles in some of those special places across the state.”
The 2023 Hidden Bottle Hunt will be comprised of six separate, simultaneous hunts, geographically dispersed in parks and trails across Oregon. OBRC will release one clue per bottle per day, leading treasure hunters to the hidden bottles. The lucky winners will get to keep the commemorative bottle and select a BottleDrop Give nonprofit partner to receive a $1,000 donation through BottleDrop’s Containers for Change program. Over 5,000 nonprofits across Oregon raise funds for their organizations through the BottleDrop Give program each year.
July marks the 52nd anniversary of the Oregon Bottle Bill, which Governor Tom McCall signed into law on July 2, 1971. It established the nation’s first beverage container redemption system, and it has helped keep Oregon clean and litter free for over five decades. Oregon’s Bottle Bill is also among the most successful in the nation. In 2022, OBRC’s redemption rate was 88.5%, with Oregonians returning over two billion containers for Grade-A domestic recycling.
Participants can learn more about the hunt and sign up for daily clue reminders by visiting a dedicated page on BottleDrop’s website.
What is the Bottle Bill?
On July 2, 1971, Oregon became the first state in the nation to pass a Bottle Bill – a system that provides a redemption value for containers purchased in Oregon, incentivizing recycling and keeping bottles and cans out of our natural areas. It remains a groundbreaking approach to addressing the issue of litter in our forests, rivers, beaches, scenic byways and other natural areas. Over time, Oregon’s system has grown and innovated to become a national model of beverage container redemption and recycling, inspiring national and international delegations to visit Oregon to learn about its unique and effective system. Learn more about what makes the Oregon model special here.
About BottleDrop and the Oregon Beverage Recycling Cooperative:
The Oregon Beverage Recycling Cooperative (OBRC) is the industry steward of Oregon’s nationally recognized beverage container redemption system and the operator of the BottleDrop network. Headquartered in Clackamas, Ore., OBRC is a statewide, not-for-profit cooperative, formed by beverage distributors to operate Oregon’s renowned Bottle Bill program. OBRC helps keep Oregon beautiful by providing outstanding services to partners, distributors, retailers and the public for the recovery, reuse and recycling of beverage containers. Through OBRC’s BottleDrop Redemption Centers and container pickup service for more than 2,000 retail partners, the co-op recycles around two billion beverage containers annually, protecting the Oregon we love, supporting the causes we cherish, and inspiring innovation beyond our borders, to create a world where no resource is wasted — all without a penny of state funding.
