I’m a basketball fan like anyone else (though hopefully most of you are doing better with your bracket than I am), but the more pressing definition of “March Madness” is the action taken on March 20 by the Telecom, Utilities and Energy Committee, chaired by Rep. John Keenan of Salem and Sen. Ben Downing of Pittsfield. Rather, I should say the ‘inaction’ taken, as they postponed moving the bill out of Committee (technically called an ‘extension’)—as if they haven’t had enough time or gotten enough data to move this bill. Maybe not as scintillating as the stats or percentages for the NCAA, but let’s take a look at these numbers:
- In a statewide poll conducted by MassINC Polling Group last year, 77% of the public said they supported the update.
- Over 300 supporters turned out to the TUE’s public hearing on this bill, on a hot Wednesday morning last July, to encourage the Committee to quickly report out the bill. (Yup, that was last July, just think of what normally gets accomplished in 9 months’ time.)
- To date, 207 of the Commonwealth’s 351 cities and towns have passed resolutions in support of the bill.
- On Valentine’s Day last month, several business representatives hosted a press conference at the State House to launch “Businesses for the Updated Bottle Bill”, with over 370 small business endorsers.
- Over the course of the past year, more than 15,000 postcards have been delivered to legislators from their constituents, voicing their support.
- There are 80 cosponsors of the bill; including both Democrats and Republicans.
- (this one requires a drumroll) This bill has been pending in the Legislature for 12 years, and has never come to the floor for a vote.
The bill needs to get reported out of committee to get to the floor of the House, and for over a decade now it’s been bottled up (that’s a weak attempt at bottle bill humor but if I didn’t laugh I’d….).
We’re in this to win this, but boy do I feel like calling foul.
Janet Domenitz is the Executive Director of MASSPIRG, the Massachusetts Public Interest Research Group.
stomv says
If your community isn’t on the list, get it on the list. If your community is on the list and your state rep and/or senator is on a committee holding it up, lean on them to get it through.
This is easy stuff. It reduces waste, saves municipality DPW budget money, helps clean up vistas, and even helps the homeless eek out money for food.
Help get it passed.
Christopher says
…but even better to universalize curbside recycling. The first time I heard this suggested my reaction was the bottle bill had outlived its usefulness since everything could just be recycled. That’s when I had curbside recycling. Now I live in a complex (and a city?) that doesn’t do it so I throw everything in the dumpster. I feel badly about it, but not enought admittedly to overcome my laziness to take recyclables someplace else. I don’t consume enough soda to make redemption trips worth it and to be honest I’m not sure the updated bill would change my personal habits in this regard.
stomv says
Curbside recycling has a cost to it — the more you recycle, the more the city or town pays. As recycling rates curbside goes up, so does a local cost.
Deposit, on the other hand, requires the manufacturer to own the recycling cost. That encourages them to drive down the cost of recycling by manufacturing with different materials.
Besides, deposit also helps with litter, particularly in more dense areas. Folks gather up the littered deposit bottles for the nickle, and remove them from public trash cans too. This also saves local budgets, both for litter removal and for trash/recycling public container collection.
Curbside recycling helps drive recycling rates up. However, deposit laws help bottles not impacted by curbside recycling, and drive local costs down instead of up.
Both are good. Demand both. They work in concert, each helping to reduce the solid waste stream.
kirth says
Unless you buy all your returnables and groceries out of state, you’re already making trips to a place you can redeem them.
I agree that the 5 cents per bottle doesn’t really seem like much of a return on the effort. In the Old Days, when returnables were glass, only small bottles got you a nickle. Quart bottles gave you a dime. I would like to see a return to that model. Note that the Old Days dime is worth about a buck in today’s money. The current bottle bill is weak, because of the exemptions and because the deposits are too small.