Popsicle sales through the roof after Gen Z finds innovative new way to recycle

A Liberty Village start-up is making waves amongst first-time home buyers and new renters in Toronto. StickItToTheMan is an environmentally-conscious home construction company, combining the need for affordable housing with the desire to spend $5 on misshapen Spongebob Popsicles.

“The answer was obvious, if you think about it,” said Evan Chong, founder of StickItToTheMan. “There’s a million ice cream trucks all over the GTA, raking in thousands of dollars a week, and people just throw out their sticks when they’re done.” 

“We take those sticks and use them to build affordable housing,” said Chong. “The recycling of those little sticks offsets billions of tonnes of carbon from entering the atmosphere. Two more years of this and the Earth might have more oxygen than we need.

The popsicle stick homes rent for rates between $200 and $500 per month, hundreds less than Toronto’s median rent prices. Each house is a minimum of 37 sq ft, and unfurnished. The base model features a single floor and a gabled roof, while more expensive models come with features like patios, balconies, and second storeys. 

StickItToTheMan is also trying to capture childlike wonder and nostalgia with their line of Scented Popsicle Houses.

“I haven’t felt whimsy like this since I was 8,” said Natalie Oswalt, who lives in a popsicle home. “When it rains, my house smells like watermelon. Concrete can’t do that.”

Thanks to social media buzz, houses have been popping up all over the city. StickItToTheMan is currently expanding into the Hamilton region and negotiating a contract with McMaster University to construct a new dormitory building. 

There have been claims by various economic watchdogs that StickItToTheMan is also in the business of ice cream truck manufacturing, causing many online to question if StickItToTheMan has created a popsicle monopoly, or a popopoly, as some are calling it.

“I’m changing the world,” Chong posted on X, with his personal account. “Elon Musk could never do what I do”. 

Chong’s X account has since been deleted.