A Perfect Ten (Cents)

By Christopher Forestieri

Moving from Michigan to Virginia was a big adjustment for me. It meant a new town with new friends, a different job, and a much different climate. But possibly the biggest adjustment I faced was learning to live without my beloved ten cent bottle deposit.

Sure, at first it felt liberating. Buying a twelve pack of already pricy Heineken without that extra $1.20 tacked on seemed nice—but the buzz was quick to wear off.

My habits were hard to change. I still have my Rubbermaid tub full of beer bottles and soda cans. But these days, I no longer get to look forward to that glorious payday. During college, in my more serious beer drinking days, I called this “an investment in future drinking.”

I never minded paying a bit extra upfront for beer since I tended to buy it when I was flush. For example, I would get paid on Friday and would go out and buy a 30-pack of Old Style. Inevitably, a few guests would stop by the house throughout the weekend; by Sunday, I may have 50 or more beer cans stuffed in various boxes and containers.

Like many college students, I would find myself close to broke on Monday, but still craving an ice cold beverage! That was when my can stash came in handy. A trip to the store with nothing but a cart full of terrible smelling cans allowed me to walk out with . . . you guessed it, more beer! And so the cycle began again.

Last weekend, as I walked down the narrow country roads that traverse the foothills of rural Maryland, I noticed that bottles and cans overwhelmingly dominated the roadside landscape. This is a sight seldom seen in Michigan. While my “investment in future drinking theory” was fun, the real value of the deposit is the great incentive it provides to keep the landscape clear of plastic, aluminum and glass. More people than you think will take a few seconds to bend over and pick up what is in effect a dime.

A great example of this incentive in action is seen annually during a popular summertime festival in my hometown. For three days, and unbelievable number of Coca-cola and Mountain Dew bottles are consumed and disposed of, but you wouldn’t know it. The young, the thrifty and the homeless alike scavenge the grounds with large garbage bags and walk away with a relatively handsome profit.

Of course, if you don’t have bottle deposit where you live, you have no idea what I’m talking about. But ask anyone who lives in a state which has bottle deposit and I’m sure they share enthusiasm (if they don’t please encourage them to leave comments as to why). It may be worth it to you to complain to your state and local government and lobby for bottle deposit. Convincing your neighbors to encourage enacting a bottle deposit law may take some work but it’s simply a matter of weighing the benefits against the cost.

The great advantage of the deposit, as I see it, is that it considers reality as well as feasibility. It’s a nice thought to assume citizens will recycle and avoid trashing their communities, but sadly, it is not usually the case. Instead, the bottle deposit gives them an almost universally accepted incentive to do the right thing—cash money. It does require some cost on the part of the consumer, but not in the form of a true tax. Rather, it just asks you to put a little aside for your next drink.

To learn more about bottle deposit, check out the Bottle Bill Resource Guide at http://www.bottlebill.org/