A legislation proposal here is a kick in the butt for those who voluntarily take measures for conservation.
Deposits on bottled water?
Group pushes to spread law to other nonrefundable containers littering state
BY TINA LAM - FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER - June 18, 2008
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All quotes from this article.
Quote:The Michigan United Conservation Clubs threw its considerable political weight Tuesday behind a plan to extend Michigan's first-in-the-nation bottle deposit law to containers for water, juice and tea bottles.
MI was apparently an initiator of the bottle deposit law and have had the ten cent return. I find it a hassle so drink bottled water.
Quote:The containers, especially pervasive plastic water bottles, have become a national hot-button issue as people have switched from sodas and coffee to bottled water. The bottles are controversial because they often end up in roadside litter and require petroleum for their production and delivery.
I remember the first Earth Day in high school and resolved to voluntarily stop littering at the time, and haven't since. Voluntary efforts weren't enough, a ten cent bottle law was enacted in '76.
Quote:Michiganders return 97% of their beer and soda cans and bottles, which are subject to a 10-cent deposit, but they throw away 80% of other beverage bottles, which have no deposit.
Since 1990, when our city started a recycling program, I've always recycled glass, metal, paper, and plastic.
Quote:Only 10 other states have bottle deposits; no states surrounding Michigan have them.
Returning bottles from other states for a dime seems a problem, I see added costs coming.
Quote:MUCC's own polling shows 75% of Michigan voters support the change, he said.
I buy bottled water cases when it's on sale. Returning them all would really suck. Who in the heck would want to lug them all back to the store as opposed to gathering in a receptacle and putting them in a recycling bin out by the curb??????
Quote:Each machine that scans returnables costs $20,000
Inserting each plastic bottle separately into a machine sucks, too.
Quote:Although there currently is a backlash against bottled water, with cities such as Ann Arbor banning it at meetings and in offices,...
If the legislative plan doesn't fly, a future statewide ballot initiative is possible, said James Clift, policy director of the Michigan Environmental Council.
"I think it would pass easily," he said.
I cannot believe bottled water is banned from the workplace!
Those who DO recycle are being penalized. Pisses me off.
This also hints to me that perhaps voluntary efforts of energy conservation will not be sufficient and the possibility of legislation will result in further inconveniences to all and the many who are making the effort.