CT 'Nickel Per Nip' Program: How Much Did Darien Get?

DARIEN, CT — More than 40,000 nip bottles were sold at liquor establishments in Darien over the past six months, rendering over $2,000 to the municipality as part of Connecticut's Nickel-Per-Nip program.

Under the program, each city and town in the state receives 5 cents for each nip sold within its borders every six months.

The funding is intended for locally driven environmental stewardship programs, including community clean-ups by nonprofit organizations, street sweeper purchases, food composting programs, and hiring recycling personnel.

Here are the numbers for Darien from Oct. 1, 2025, through March 31, 2026, according to the Wine and Spirit Wholesalers of Connecticut:

Darien

• Nips sold: 40,086
• Payment to town: $2,004.30

Larry Cafero, the executive director and general counsel of the Wine and Spirit Wholesalers, announced Thursday in a news release the Nickel Per Nip Environmental Fee — a program that first went into effect in 2021 — has now disbursed more than $22 million to Connecticut’s towns and cities since its inception.

Cafero also said that the revenue for the latest reporting period was $2.4 million.

The program was designed to help cities and towns provide for the collection and proper disposal of nips to combat littering.

"Since this program began more than four years ago, every six-month reporting period has demonstrated that it works. Cities and towns are getting much-needed revenue for environmental protection purposes, and they’re putting the money to good use," Cafero said in a news release.

"The collection and distribution of the money is a success, but the true measure of success is how each municipality chooses to spend the money received. We remain grateful to our partners in the legislature and municipal government for creating this program and putting the funds to good use," Cafero added. "We look forward to continued success with the Nickel per Nip program."