Michigan's 10 cent Bottle Return is Working!

[Greg Mann]

And how do I know this? I live along a 2 lane secondary route between two suburban communities. As I am on the downslope side of the road, with the watershed funneling onto my lower lot, I get the flotsom and jetsum from about 1/4 mile stretch. We are also just about at that transition point where folks think they are moving into the countryside, or at least what countryside is considered in this part of SE Michigan. The good news? We hardly ever get a returnable bottle tossed out to collect in this magnet we have. The bad news? Every sort of water, Gatorade, Powerade, Iced Tea, etc. bottle shows up. :rolleyes: :mad:

This is what I now call turn-of-the-century consumer litter. I sure wouldn't mind an expansion of the bottle law to cover these drinks. Any of you notice this phenomenon?

Greg

[Matt Meiser]

This is what I now call turn-of-the-century consumer litter. I sure wouldn't mind an expansion of the bottle law to cover these drinks.

Only if such a law required grocery stores to a) install enough bottle machines to meet peak demand with less than a 5 minute wait and b) imposed heavy fines on grocery stores for not keeping the bottle return areas clean. I can't stand waiting 20 minutes for a machine with my shoes stuck to the floor while scent of a mixture of year old beer wafts by.

[Greg Mann]

I can't stand waiting 20 minutes for a machine with my shoes stuck to the floor while scent of a mixture of year old beer wafts by.

Oh yes, I know that smell too. The processing is the downside, no doubt. As far as my ditch is concerned, it would be somebody else standing in that line returning their bottles. The work I would save in not having to clean up my property would be a decent tradeoff to standing in that line. BTW, we diligently rinse our bottles. A couple ounces of water goes a long way to solve the problem to which you refer. I just wish everyone would do that.

[Bill Lewis]

You don't mean glass bottles do you. I can't remember th last time I saw a glass (soda pop) bottle. You know the kind we used to collect as kids for $.02 each.

When I was in college, there was still a bottle deposit (raised to $.25 each), but even then the bottles were getting scarce in the area I lived. Well before heading back after a break, I took some stuff to the local paper recycling bins for my mother only to find about $20 worth of bottles that someone dropped off there. I had a heck of a time finding a store that would do the exchange, but I found one. Oh what poor college students wouldn't fo for money back then. :)

[Darren Ford]

Greg, I can imagine alot of people would not make the effort to clean their bottles. Remember, these are some of the same people who pitch them out of their vehicle window.

Bill, you certainly bring back memories. That was a common event when I was a kid. Extremely fond memories of piling into the back of an old beat up car and driving through the country with my grandparents, picking up bottles. I'm not sure if we ever found enough to pay for the gas, but it was a good way to get out and spend an afternoon. That was probably our second favorite pasttime, second only to our trips to the dump -- That was like a candy store for us poor kids.

[Matt Meiser]

You don't mean glass bottles do you. I can't remember th last time I saw a glass (soda pop) bottle. You know the kind we used to collect as kids for $.02 each.

Michigan has a 10 cent deposit on all soft drinks and beer--cans, plastic, or glass.

[Greg Mann]

Michigan has a 10 cent deposit on all soft drinks and beer--cans, plastic, or glass.

Matt is correct. I believe the determining factor is that the soft drinks must be carbonated to require a bottle return. Thus I see water bottles and miscellaneous sports drink containers dumped as they have 'no value'.

Darren, you are certainly correct IMO. Anyone willing to litter is probably not going to value the concept of clean recycling. I must admit that I was not always so diligent about rinsing. I started doing it initially so that my garage didn't stink. It then was not a big stretch to project forward to the issues of cleanliness at collection points and understand that it was the right thing to do. Isn't it ironic that the biggest source of bottle litter today, in my experience anyway, is water bottles? They don't even need to be rinsed! :rolleyes:
Greg

[Carl Eyman]

My fellow Louisiana citizens have many fine traits, but neatness is not among them. We probably have the most littered highways in the USA. As a former avid bicycle rider I know that. But one thing you don't see is aluminum cans. Even at a value of one cent, or so, it is enough to induce someone that needs the money to go out and pick them up. If aluminum were exempt from deposit laws I think it would solve the problem of having to fight return lines and not add to littering.

[Greg Mann]

My fellow Louisiana citizens have many fine traits, but neatness is not among them. We probably have the most littered highways in the USA. As a former avid bicycle rider I know that. But one thing you don't see is aluminum cans. Even at a value of one cent, or so, it is enough to induce someone that needs the money to go out and pick them up. If aluminum were exempt from deposit laws I think it would solve the problem of having to fight return lines and not add to littering.

Carl, I had heard that observation about Louisiana from truck drivers but you don't have a monopoly on littering by any measure. Returning the bottles is, for me, an acceptable part of the equation to keep the consequences of litter under control. It sure represents less effort than digging other people's bottles out of my ditch! :(

[Jim Young]

Michigan has a 10 cent deposit on all soft drinks and beer--cans, plastic, or glass.

To expand on that a little - all beer and carbonated drinks.

When we go to Meijer I never take the returnables because of the lines and stink. My local grocery store, Hillers, never has a line and the machines are in the entrance lobby so the place stays imaculate(sp?).

My biggest problem is that I usually forget to give the cashier the little receipts from the machine. Then I have to store them at home somewhere safe so they don't get thrown away.

[Matt Meiser]

When we go to Meijer I never take the returnables because of the lines and stink. My local grocery store, Hillers, never has a line and the machines are in the entrance lobby so the place stays imaculate(sp?).

I thought that would help but the closest Kroger to us could care less. We've stopped shopping there because of that and the out-of-date dairy products they consistently had.

[John Shuk]

There are people here in NY who will come to your house and buy your returns from you for the $.05 deposit we have here in NY. They then drive to Michigan and return them in bulk for $.10. Heck of a return on the money for a little driving.

[Matt Meiser]

There was a Seinfeld episode about that. We have articles in the paper occasionally about the people that try that. The fines and jail time are pretty hefty. Also, most stores have a daily limit on returns now. Usually about $25 at most places.

We save our returnables until we get a black trash bag full which is about $15-18 when it is mostly cans with some 20oz bottles.