London Drugs Celebrates Earth Month with Recycling Promotion

Written for Call2Recycle web/newsletter, April 2014

April is a month of spring cleaning for many Canadians. Because April is also Earth Month, Canadian retail giant London Drugs thought it would also be the perfect time to encourage recycling.  So throughout April its local stores will accept old electronics, light bulbs, batteries, cellphones and other items for recycling. 

If that isn’t enough, the company also set a stretch goal--doubling the amount of recyclable materials it collects this April over last. This year’s goal is about 104,000 kilograms (230,000 pounds), up from the 52,000 kilograms (114,640 pounds) collected in 2013.

To encourage participation, London Drugs is offering customers who drop off items between April 11-30 a chance to register to win an Energy Efficient Electronics Bundle, which includes a big-screen TV and tablet. They are promoting the program on their website and Twitter feed (@WTGreenDeal).

London Drug has a strong history of recycling.  Since it launched its What’s the Green Deal? program in 2008, the company has collected more than 19 million kilograms (42 million pounds) of recyclable materials. This includes over 1 million kilograms (2.2 million pounds) of electronics and devices. Last year, the company collected 4.5 million kilograms (10 million pounds) of recyclable materials. Call2Recycle has been their long-term partner for both alkaline and rechargeable battery recycling since 2000, collecting over 150,000 kilograms of batteries since program inception.