Saving the Earth (and for College)--Oregonians Save $1M for Higher Education through Recycled Bottles and Cans

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Apr 05, 2023, 04:56 ET

The Oregon College Savings Plan and BottleDrop have helped more than 5,000 Oregonians save and build financial security for the future, while preserving our natural landscape

SALEM, Ore., April 5, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, partners BottleDrop and the Oregon College Savings Plan announced that the program has reached a milestone $1M saved for higher education through the convenient redemption of bottles and cans. This accomplishment comes three years after launching its collaboration in November 2019, and just in time to celebrate Earth Month.

The Branam family collects bottles and cans to save for college.

The program allows families from across the state to leverage their container redemptions to save for future education expenses. Participants can set up automatic fund transfers from their BottleDrop account to one or more Oregon College Savings Plan (OCSP) accounts. To date, 10M beverage containers have been recycled through the partnership, with the funds being transferred to OCSP accounts.

"We are excited to see bottle and can redemptions continuing to turn into big returns for Oregon College Savings Plan participants," said Oregon State Treasurer Tobias Read. "Saving a combined $1M toward education and training after high school is a significant accomplishment, and one that comes with an important bonus conservation benefit. It is gratifying to see Oregonians' early enthusiasm for this creative savings opportunity with our partner BottleDrop—Let's keep saving!"

"This is the only place in the world where people can so directly connect recycling and environmental stewardship with education savings," said Jules Bailey, President and Chief Executive Officer for the Oregon Beverage Recycling Cooperative, which operates the BottleDrop network. "The power of Oregon's Bottle Bill, coupled with the creativity of the State Treasurer's Office, made way for a truly unique partnership that is helping families across Oregon save for education."

BottleDrop account holders can save for themselves, their kids, grandkids, or as a gift to anyone with an OCSP account. Participants can link to the OCSP sign-up page through their BottleDrop account and then immediately begin saving.

Among the thousands saving for education is the Branam family in Portland. Ceci (11) and Eli (7) have saved more than $3,500 for college in just two years, by partnering with their neighbors, friends, and family members to collect containers.

"We saw this as an opportunity to help Ceci and Eli learn more about being good stewards of the environment, building community with our neighbors, and contributing to their college savings accounts," says their dad, John Branam. "Learning how to take a difficult challenge like paying for college, and addressing it through incremental progress is a powerful, and important, life lesson for kids."

Oregonians can return their empty beverage containers in Green Bags at any of BottleDrop's 97 convenient bag drop locations across the state.

Representatives are available for interviews. Photos, b-roll, and other assets can be found here.

The Oregon College Savings Plan is a state-sponsored higher education savings program that comes with special tax advantages and can be opened by just about anyone.

Contact: Kasey Krifka
[email protected]
503-431-7976

SOURCE Oregon College Savings Plan