The Sierra Club is again pressing state legislators to pass a new Bottle Bill.
If it's passed, the Bigger Better Bottle Bill, as it's commonly known, would expand the nickel deposits from pop and beer containers to include water, juice, and sports drink bottles, too. Despite the environmental organization's urging, only the State Assembly passed the bill.
Locally, there may be some extra benefit to an expanded bottle bill. Any uncollected deposits - the nickels that go unclaimed because somebody threw a container away instead of turning it back in - go into the state's Environmental Protection Fund, said Hugh Mitchell, the state Sierra Club's conservation chair. More money in that fund, he said, means the state can move sooner to protect Canadice and Hemlock lakes from development.
The bill will help increase recycling and reduce litter, Mitchell said. During a press conference today, he was joined by state and local officials, who called on the State Senate to pass the bill. The bill has yet to be voted on in that chamber and about one month is left in this year's session.
"It's simply time to update the law," said State Agriculture and Markets Commissioner Pat Hooker.
Comments for "ENVIRONMENT: A Bigger Better Bottle Bill " (4)
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John Jongen said on May. 28, 2008 at 4:49pm
Deposit or not we must stop the selling and consuming of bottled water! It is packaged tap water (mostly) in bottles produced from oil. And a gallon of this water is priced at several times the price of a gallon of gasoline. As Hugh Mitchell, the state Sierra Club's conservation chair said: let's focus instead on preserving our pristine and wholesome public drinking water from Canadice and Hemlock lakes by banning real estate development along their shores forever.This bottle bill will help us do that.
john said on May. 31, 2008 at 10:34am
Dear John Jongen,
Not all of us live in the city of rochester.
We live in farm country where slurry is dumped in close proximity to our wells and must rely on bottled water for drinking. Get real and save us a few cents for wholesome water to be comsumed in lieu of your pristime waters.
Christler said on Jun. 03, 2008 at 12:40am
john, if you're buying your drinking water in pint sized bottles, there's a more economical alternative: buy it in 5 gallon jugs. If you're already doing this, the bill won't hurt; it'll only help.
Cindy said on Jun. 10, 2008 at 12:28pm
The deposit amount on a bottle or can should be raised substantially to encourage less littering and more returns for recycling. A quarter or even a dollar deposit per bottle or can would not be costing anyone any more, as long as the consumer does the responsible thing by returning the bottles and cans. The type of consumer this would hurt is one who throws their empty beer cans and water bottles in my yard!
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