Green Dreams, Costly Realities

In 2018, I went down a rabbit hole to find out where prescription pill bottles could be reused. This collection became the backbone of Earthub when we launched on January 1, 2019. That first year, we shipped a total of 104 pill bottles at a shipping cost of $17.81. Before I knew it, with the help of social media, the collection grew to an average of 36,000 pill bottles per year from 2020 to today.  

Our viral FB post about the pill bottle collection - December 26, 2019

It became crystal clear that I wasn’t the only one who wanted to examine a material, appreciate its pristine condition, and see it reused. After that viral Facebook post, by the first week of 2020, I began receiving emails from all over North America—and eventually from other continents, with New Zealand being the furthest location. Along with the influx of inquiries came many individuals eager to help. That’s how the collection system really took off.

Volunteers spanned from British Columbia to Nova Scotia, and even Ohio and Maryland. At one point, Earthub had 149 drop-off locations across Canada and 2 in the United States. Dedicated volunteers set up tote bins with the Earthub logo outside their homes, where donors could drop off applicable items (depending on the city). They followed a detailed instruction sheet (note: this is the template copy, which is why some information is blurred out). For privacy reasons, drop-off locations are never posted publicly. Instead, donors had to contact us via email to receive the specific instructions and location for their city.

We used the honour system for the $0.10-$0.30 per pill bottle donation to cover shipping costs. This calculation was based on city location and previous shipment data. For example, shipping costs from Sault Ste. Marie and Thunder Bay were higher than Ottawa, so the donation per bottle in those cities ranged from $0.25 to $0.30.

So, how did we go from 151 drop-off locations down to 50?

If you're a loyal Earthubber, you know that the two ongoing challenges with this collection have always been the same: bottle cleanliness and shipping costs.

We've Got Standards (And They're High!)

Our end user for the pill bottles is the humanitarian relief organization Matthew 25: Ministries. They have specific guidelines for accepting pill bottles for reuse (as shown in Earthub's pill bottle instruction sheet). If the bottles don't meet these guidelines, they will be sent for recycling. If that happens, all of our time, effort, and shipping costs would be wasted—especially since in some local cities and municipalities, we could simply place the bottles in the recycling bin.

This might seem like a no-brainer, but if you lost everything in a natural disaster and needed medicine, would you want to take it from pill bottles like the ones shown below?

I am assuming your answer would be no but over the past five years, we have repeatedly received dirty bottles in this condition or even worse—some with pills still inside. Despite our repeated pleas on social media and clear, detailed instructions in our email responses, people continue to drop off bottles in unacceptable condition. This is incredibly unfair to our volunteers, especially since, at times, we struggle with the thought of these bottles being discarded and make the effort to clean as many as we can. In some collection cities, where waste disposal comes with a fee, volunteers are forced to PAY to dispose of these improperly dropped-off bottles (where I try to reimburse them with extra donation funds or money from my own pocket). This places a significant and unnecessary burden on them, and it is simply not sustainable.

Now you can understand why volunteers started dropping out—and honestly, I don’t blame them.

If you have items to donate that don’t meet the guidelines, please do not donate them. Similar to recycling, when items that don't belong are tossed in the bin, they create a burden at the other end, especially if contaminated. This is a major reason why recycling struggles to be effective: it's largely about human behavior and the need for better education on recycling by local municipalities or cities.

Make Every Dollar Count

When I started Earthub, I personally covered all the costs associated with the program—shipping, administrative fees, supplies, event materials, and more. As shipping costs became the highest expense, it became financially unsustainable for me. At the time, as a 28-year-old university student, I simply couldn’t prioritize shipping over groceries. But if I had unlimited resources, redirecting our planet toward sustainability would be my top priority.

In September 2020, 21 months into the program, I opened a separate bank account to receive non-cash donations to help cover shipping and other associated costs. Donors could contribute as they wished or cover the specific shipping costs for their pill bottle donations. I’ve also tried fundraising on social media during events like my birthday and Christmas, using those opportunities to encourage people to keep more out of the landfill.

Monetary donations combined into pill bottles so we have less to wash and sanitize (as opposed to one coin per bottle) - May 11, 2024

The priority for any monetary donations received through Earthub has always been to cover shipping costs. Over the years, I've received individual donations ranging from $20 to $500, which have helped cover various program expenses like Ziploc bags, packing tape, scissors, signage, bins, event material, and some administrative fees. I am incredibly grateful for every donation. Any costs that couldn’t be covered by donations has been covered by yours truly.

One of the most disappointing aspects of the program, aside from receiving dirty pill bottles, has been donors dropping off pill bottles in a volunteer bin without any monetary donation to cover the shipping costs. Sometimes, these drop-offs included hundreds of bottles and because the Earthub Bins are accessible at any time, we don't know who dropped off and when - it would be impossible for our volunteers to track this. This factor has been disheartening for me because I've poured my heart and soul into this initiative for the planet.

It's also important to note that Earthub is not a registered non-profit or charitable organization, so the only way we cover costs is through donations, the honour system with pill bottle donations, and my pocket.

Reaching the Limit of Our Options

You might have suggestions for how we could keep this program running—and trust us, we’ve considered many ideas over the years. In the past six months alone, we've invested countless hours brainstorming, reaching out to major companies and pharmacies for funding, participating in Zoom calls, applying for grants, and much more. We’ve exhausted every possible option to avoid making this decision.

At this point, we're also exhausted. We hope you understand that we’ve truly explored every avenue to keep this program going. But sadly, we’ve made the difficult decision to discontinue the pill bottle collection.

I found I was spending too many hours on the pill bottle program—an obvious gain to divert over 180,000 pill bottles from landfills—it has become unsustainable in terms of time, effort, and finances. Our volunteers have also devoted hundreds of hours to processing these pill bottles, and we are incredibly grateful for their dedication.

Quantities as of Dec. 10, 2024

Running Out of Hours, Not Ideas

I can't even count how many ideas I've had in the background for Earthub since 2018. There is still so much that needs to be done to move our planet toward environmental sustainability. Unfortunately, these ideas constantly flood my mind, and I feel like I run out of time every single day. The hours spent on the pill bottle collection program aren't lost, but rather redirected. It’s definitely sad to see a program I started with so many generous volunteers come to an end, but I also see the exciting potential that lies ahead with my new ideas.

Earthub Empowering Our Ottawa Community

This isn't entirely the end for those of you in Ottawa. We’ve just launched our local trial of the Earthub Bin Collection Service, where we've introduced a subscription package that covers the pickup of various items, including pill bottles. This model helps offset shipping costs. With such a successful start, I’m excited about the possibility of a more permanent solution being available in Spring 2025. Stay tuned, and you can join our waitlist here.

Residential Earthub Bin - trial period started November 11, 2024

The End of an Era: Forever Thankful for Your Support

I've said this many times, but I must reiterate: none of this would have been possible without our volunteers. While I would love to name each one of you, I must specifically address Laurie G, who has single-handedly processed at least 100,000 of these diverted pill bottles for reuse.

I want to extend my deepest thanks to every volunteer who has contributed to this initiative, whether you joined us five years ago or just started in 2024. Each and every one of you has made a lasting impact on the success of this program.

We are also incredibly grateful to the Earthubbers who dropped off their clean pill bottles and contributed monetary donations to cover shipping costs. You cheered us on, sent words of encouragement, and helped keep me motivated during this uphill battle for the planet.

Lastly, a special thanks to my family and partner, Benjamin, who listened to me vent, never said a word when pill bottles were scattered across every surface in the house (or even the dining room table during family holidays), and helped with shipping. Thank you for giving me my first monetary donation when I opened the Earthub bank account and for supporting everything I do, no matter how crazy it may seem—including collecting people’s "garbage."

Everyone's support has meant the world to me, and I could never thank you enough. But look at what we've accomplished—over 180,000 pill bottles diverted for reuse! These weren’t just my efforts; this was all of you. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.

If you would like to donate to our cause, you can e-transfer to accounting@earthub.ca

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Despite the end of the pill bottle collection, there are continuous costs with our regular programming collections in Ottawa.