More than bottle redemption happening on Florence Avenue

By Elna Seabrooks
Staff Writer
    HOULTON — The Florence Avenue Redemption Center has some very redeeming qualities in its own right.  It not only has a stake in recycling bottles and cans to support the environmental movement, it offers customers a way to support local organizations.
Houlton Pioneer Times photo/Elna Seabrooks
REDEMPTION CENTRAL  — Dan McLaughlin of Houlton, right, says he always turns in his bottles and cans to the Florence Avenue Redemption Center and prefers doing business there. Owner Kent Good is seen taking the bags of recyclables. 
    Kent Good, the owner of the redemption center, says he is actively cooperating with several local organizations by running bottle drives. “It’s such a painless way to raise money. It’s not a lot of money, but it is money. And it’s fairly painless for everybody .… the supporters drop off the bottles and I take care of the rest,” said Good of five ongoing fund-raising drives. Customers can donate money from their bottle redemptions to Project Graduation for Houlton High School, the Houlton Music Boosters trip to New York City, the Southern Aroostook Minor Hockey Association, the Aroostook Football League, or the Military Street Baptist Church’s mission trip to Los Angeles.
    “My business is taking bottles. And, if I can  benefit a local organization at the same time it’s a win, win for everyone. It also gives the community some type of ownership. So, they feel its their redemption center. I want to be approachable,” says Good of the operation. He says he keeps a spreadsheet on each organization which periodically cashes out. Those pennies nickels and dimes add up. A couple of the groups have raised more than $200 each. Parents are especially supportive if their child is involved in an organization with a fund-raising bottle drive.
    And, if you have so many bottles and cans you don’t want to count them, Good says he will do it for you or help you if you want to get in on the action. Good’s assistance may be the way to go if you are toting hundreds of bottles. Some people bring in fairly hefty loads of recyclables. Last week, Good said one man brought in about 2,000 bottles and cans and stayed with his sons to help count everything. But that wasn’t the largest load. Good said the single largest drop off so far was over 5,000; the smallest — one soda can.
TUG OF WAR — When not picking up stray bottles, Ryder, the chocolate Labrador retriever is always seen at Kent Good’s side.
    As for what can be recycled, he says “if it’s a beverage that can readily be consumed, that container is probably redeemable.” The emphasis is on readily consumable beverage. So, he says, you should always check because you may have been throwing away money in these rough times. Juice, liquor, wine, water and soda are all readily consumable. However, milk is considered a food item so milk bottles are not redeemable. Concentrates are not readily consumable since they have to be diluted and those containers are not redeemable.
    He says business, since opening last September, has been steady and he’s adding new customers every week. He attributes growth to the clean smoke-free environment, convenient hours and proximity to the Pine Tree Waste transfer station.  Since he is open 7 a.m. — 5 p.m., Monday through Friday and 7 a.m. — 3 p.m. Saturday, he says some customers drop off in the morning, and pick up their money later in the day, or even, the next day.
    Among the amenities he noted were free fresh coffee and a seating area where he says he always has a copy of the Pioneer Times for customers to read and enjoy. That may come in handy if someone brings in a large number of recyclables and you have to wait. But, he does give customers the option to let him count up the total and have the money ready on a return visit. And then, there’s Ryder. Good’s friendly chocolate Labrador retriever is ever ready to pick up a pesky plastic soda bottle the manages to break away from the pack and seek refuge on the floor. Of course, sometimes Ryder thinks it’s a chew toy and doesn’t give it back right away.
    Good, the incoming president of the Greater Houlton Chamber of Commerce will take office in March and says the fund-raising drives really please him. “I want to stay involved in the community and this gives me a  vehicle to do that.”