How come my beer can says you can only recycle in the following states: Col, CT, DE, IA, ME, MA, NY, OR, VT? And in Michigan 10 cents? Why not all the states, it doesn’t make sense?
–Beaner–
Those states are probably the only ones with the evil “deposit” system of recycling. Most other states have more reasonable recycling programs, such as curbside recycling along with regular trash pickup. (That’s assuming, for the moment, that you think that consumer recycling is a good thing). In the deposit states, you pay a deposit on bottles, cans, etc. when you buy them, and then you have to return the empties to get your deposit back. The logic is, presumably, that five or ten cents is a big inducement to do that. Personally, I think that five cents is not worth the effort, and since there is basically no other way to get rid of my empties, I toss them in the regular trash. Counterproductive, if you ask me.
Actually, the purpose of the deposit law is not to encourage recycling, but rather to reduce littering. The assumption is that if a bottle is worth a nickel, people are less likely to throw them on the side of the road. If they do, there’s a good chance someone might pick it up. It certainly worked in that respect.
New York also has a recycling requirement.
It’s up to each individual state to pass a deposit law and to set the amount required.
“East is east and west is west and if you take cranberries and stew them like applesauce they taste much more like prunes than rhubarb does.” – Marx
Read “Sundials” in the new issue of Aboriginal Science Fiction. www.sff.net/people/rothman
When I was growing up, my big money-maker was picking up aluminum can litter on the way home from school. I squished the cans and kept them in a large bag. When it got full, I’d take it to the Coors Recycling center and get 24 cents/pound.
Also, the local Boys Club/Girls Clubs had newpaper recycling dumpsters for fund raising.
Nowadays, they want you to freely give them all your recyclables. I say “Screw 'em”! Give me $$$, or I’ll make our descendants mine this stuff out of the landfills.
Wrong thinking is punished, right thinking is just as swiftly rewarded. You’ll find it an effective combination.
FYI, here in the DC area, cans either have just the West Virginia outline with a number “1”, or the same symbol along with “IA-VT-NY-ME-CT-MA 5 cents” and “MI 10 cents”.
For these multistate ones: I know it’s illegal to cash them in for deposit money in a state that you didn’t buy the cans in. But what’s to stop you from doing it? If I’m driving to Maine from Virginia, finish a soda I bought in Maryland in Worcester, MA, can I stop at the next convenience store and get a dime? Or will they see my Virginia plates and call the recycling police?
Wrong thinking is punished, right thinking is just as swiftly rewarded. You’ll find it an effective combination.
I was about 10 when the deposit on cans came along in Michigan. I now live in a state without the deposit. I MUCH prefer the deposit. It was designed to stop littering, and it really worked. My family has a cabin in the woods outside of town, and at least once a summer my father used to organize a trash pickup on the 2+ miles of dirt road from the highway to our cabin. 90% of what we picked up was empty soda and beer cans. After the deposit became law, there was no longer a need to pick up the trash since noone dumped it anymore.
It was also very handy in my college days to purchase beer on the buy-4-get-1-free plan. (ie, a 6 pack of the cheapest beer imaginable cost about $2.50. Add in .60 deposit. After 4 sixpacks, you have $2.40 in returnables, making it possible to buy another six pack.)
I think there was a Seinfield about this. Either way, it is possible. I’ve often made the drive from CO to MI, buying beer and sodas along the way. Get to MI, return 'em for a dime. Even the ones not sold anywhere in MI, as long as they are printed with the “10 cent deposit” label on 'em.