Canucks' run a boon to binners

Sports bars and pubs aren't the only ones seeing an increase in business during the Canucks' playoff run —bottle and can collectors are seeing a spike in their cash flow too.

Thousands of extra cans and bottles left in Vancouver streets and garbage bins are putting extra dollars in some needy hands after collectors cash in at the United We Can depot on East Hastings Street.

"The day after, there's lots," said can collector Leonard Josephson. "I've seen guys with thirty bucks and that's rare. There is so many desperate people out there so it's nice the Canucks are doing so well."

Business for the binners started really booming midway through the San Jose series. That's when fans starting converging on downtown in the tens of thousands.

Collectors have been collecting roughly 85,000 bottles and cans compared to about 70,000 on a regular summer night.

"The Olympics are basically the greatest example similar to what's happening now in that the spirit is so high that everybody just wants to give and enjoy the whole season and enjoy the whole atmosphere," said depot manager Howard Henry. "It's been very good."

Widespread consumption

Vancouver's fan zones are supposed to be alcohol-free, but binners are finding that's just not the case.

"As long as there's a Canucks game, there is lots of alcohol everywhere," said binner Christopher Taylor. "I pretty much say that they're drinking where they're not supposed to."

That might not be good news for Vancouver police, who spend game nights downtown dealing with over-indulgent revellers and dumping out hundreds of cans and bottles of confiscated alcoholic drinks.

But whether the container are poured out into the gutter or down fans' throats, the empties are likely still going end up in appreciative hands.

"I wake up every day rain or shine … at 5:30 in the morning and I do this just like a job," said Taylor.