(Photo courtesy of BottleDrop)
The Oregon Beverage Recycling Cooperative, parent organization to BottleDrop, is thrilled to announce the 2024 Hidden Bottle Hunt, which will take place from July 3-7. The annual summer event, now in its fourth year, brings families and communities together to explore the outdoors and celebrate Oregon’s history of environmental stewardship all while supporting local charities. Clues for the statewide hunt will be posted daily on BottleDrop’s website, leading treasure hunters to the final hiding places.
“Fifty-three years later, Oregon’s first-in-the-nation Bottle Bill continues to deliver extraordinary results for our state, from the highest redemption rate in the country to the continued protection of our natural environment,” said Devon Morales, vice president of external affairs for OBRC. “We hope all Oregonians will join us in this annual celebration and enjoy exploring Oregon’s natural beauty as they hunt for this year’s commemorative bottles.”
The 2024 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. This year, the bottle design was crowd sourced from previous Hidden Bottle Hunt participants and is inspired by the sunsets seen off the Oregon Coast. 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. Thousands of nonprofits across Oregon raise funds for their organizations through the BottleDrop Give program each year.
July marks the 53rd 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 more than five decades. Oregon’s Bottle Bill is also among the most successful in the nation. In 2023, OBRC’s preliminary redemption rate was 90.5%, with Oregonians returning more than 2 billion containers for Grade-A domestic recycling.
Participants can learn more about the hunt and sign up for daily clue reminders by visiting bottledrop.com/hunt.
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 the Oregon Beverage Recycling Cooperative:
The Oregon Beverage Recycling Cooperative is the industry steward of Oregon’s nationally recognized beverage container redemption system and the operator of the BottleDrop network. On behalf of the beverage industry, OBRC helps Oregonians conveniently redeem and recycle more than two billion containers every year, dramatically reducing litter in Oregon’s special places and boosting the state’s recycling outcomes.
