Sure We Can
Stories of Impact
Sure We Can fosters a supportive, compassionate alternative for canners — people who collect empty beverage containers to then redeem for five cents each — to access redemption services that create pathways for their financial, social, and environmental empowerment.
Fusing community building and economic development with culture and social justice, Sure We Can is a safe space and hub for canners to redeem their collections and make social connections through hosting workshops, educational programming, and community gardening.
The Brooklyn Org Spark Prize is an honor that inspires us to keep focusing on how we can make Brooklyn more sustainable, compassionate, and a leader in creating a dignified industry for canners, who are essential workers on the frontlines of the waste crisis, cleaning our communities.Ryan Castalia, Executive Director of Sure We Can
As a 2024 Brooklyn Org Spark Prize Winner, Power of Two benefits from a $100,000 ‘no strings attached’ grant for their work to advance racial justice and better the lives of our neighbors across Brooklyn.
“It’s a big deal for Sure We Can to be recognized by an organization that is so committed to our hometown,” said Ryan Castalia, Executive Director of Sure We Can. “Being awarded with the Brooklyn Org Spark Prize is an honor that inspires us to keep focusing on how we can make Brooklyn more sustainable, compassionate, and a leader in creating a dignified industry for canners, who are essential workers on the frontlines of the waste crisis, cleaning our communities.”
With the support of Brooklyn Org, Sure We Can will expand their impact and “be able to send staff resources, and put time into outreach, engagement, and developing our new site that’s going to support the reaching of potentially hundreds of new marginalized folks.”
Castalia also noted the potential of this work as a broader model for sustainability, sharing “it’s the work that is going to dig us out of this hole we’re in, in terms of the waste crisis, the climate crisis, and point the way to a more sustainable urban culture for all of us.”
Sure We Can’s model of environmental sustainability and economic empowerment is creating brighter futures for Brooklynites — and we are thrilled to partner with them on this visionary work.