The sight of people pushing grocery carts loaded with bottles and cans has become the norm on Kelowna’s Kirshner Road.
People give them bottles and they take them to the nearby depot. It’s been going on for years, but it’s wearing thin on some local businesses.
Angie Clowry works at the nearby Focus College where bottle collectors regularly hang around. She’s going public after witnessing a violent beating last week between two bottle collectors. She said safety is a growing concern.
“Some of our students and staff are not comfortable talking to the bottle collectors outside,” she said.
The local bottle depot doesn’t want people to give their bottles to the bottle people because it cuts into their business.
But the bottle collectors say they’re just trying to survive.
“Of course it looks bad. You get 15 grocery carts and 20 people standing here, it’s going to look horrible,” admits bottle collector Mike Sonier.
But despite how it looks, Sonier said they’re providing a service.
Bottle collector John, who didn’t want to give his last name, is a regular on Kirshner Road. He said it’s only a few bad apples who are causing problems.
“There’s several that all they want to do is shoot drugs in their arms but we’re getting rid of them,” he said.
Even with the undesirables gone, Clowry’s not sure if that’s going to make a difference.
“I don’t have a solution, unfortunately,” Clowry said.