  Benjo Member Username: Benjo Post Number: 23 Registered: 02-2007 |
I was curious to see what everyone's thoughts were on a liquor bottle deposit. I almost never see a pop or beer bottle or can on the ground, but liquor bottles are everywhere. When I lived near Michigan and Junction, I'd have to pick my dog up and carry her when I was walking under the tracks so she wouldn't get glass in her paws. I know it would be an extra burden for retailers, but I think they could adjust to it. A 25 cent deposit on all bottles 1/2 pint and up would work wonders for keeping Michigan cleaner. | ||
Jams Member Username: Jams Post Number: 5248 Registered: 10-2003 |
Even 10 cents would clean up the area. | ||
Sitlet Member Username: Sitlet Post Number: 10 Registered: 03-2007 |
i agree. im living in toldo right now going to school, and i live behind a bar. every morning they take out about 20 cases of empty beer bottles and just throw them in the dumpster. that got me thinking, if every bar in the state of ohio throws away their bottles (which im sure most do), that adds up to an enormous amount of trash from just bars, not including restaurants and peoples homes. to me thats just a waste. im glad michigan has a deposit on bottles and cans. i think adding a deposit to glass liqour bottles would be a great idea. plus, your cities will be cleaner, because all the homeless people go around picking up bottles and cans. so its better for the environment, and it gives homeless people a job! | ||
Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge Post Number: 752 Registered: 10-2003 |
I see no reason for the arbitrary deposit on carbonated beverages but not on anything else. Everything should have a deposit. Everybody who whined and moaned when the original deposit was enacted was proven wrong and will be again. I recently heard a story about Michiganders who go to non-deposit states and are amazed by all the cans and bottles all over the ground. Michiganders get a little chill when they see someone toss a can on the ground, or even in the garbage! | ||
Focusonthed Member Username: Focusonthed Post Number: 1081 Registered: 02-2006 |
We used to do that after we had parties outside at WMU in Kalamazoo. If it wasn't going to rain or anything, we'd just leave the bottles and cans outside. They were always gone the next morning, let me tell you. If you were up real late (like 5-6am), you could see some hippy-looking folk in minivans along with homeless people on bikes scouring the student neighborhoods for cans and bottles. | ||
Focusonthed Member Username: Focusonthed Post Number: 1082 Registered: 02-2006 |
When they enacted the bottle deposit law, we didn't really have the proliferation of packaged soft drinks, juices, and water that we do today. ESPECIALLY bottled water. But of course, the lawmakers never got around to updating the law. | ||
Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge Post Number: 753 Registered: 10-2003 |
Isn't this coming up for a vote soon or something? Thought I heard that. BTW Michigan has a 97% return rate on it's cans and bottles with deposit. | ||
Ravine Member Username: Ravine Post Number: 1036 Registered: 01-2006 |
I completely agree with, and would support with my vote, any move to put a deposit on liquor bottles. Such a deposit should already be in place. If the idea, behind the deposit on other containers, is to lessen/eliminate litter, aluminum & glass waste, and broken glass all over the place, why were liquor bottles ever exempt? No, don't tell me; I wasn't really asking. I don't really care why. Put a deposit on 'em. | ||
Jams Member Username: Jams Post Number: 5249 Registered: 10-2003 |
I was in Florida last weekend, a state without a deposit law, I was amazed at the number of cans and bottles strewn everywhere. I live fairly close to a liquor store, empty liquor bottles are littered everywhere, but rarely is a deposit bottle or can to be seen. I appreciate the burden placed on the stores in storing empties, but we have been living with a deposit law for many years now and it seems to work in reducing litter. Besides, you would think the distributers would love that money for unreturned bottles, I know my laziness let me accumulate several hundreds of dollars in unreturned bottles in an unused room in my basement. | ||
Thnk2mch Member Username: Thnk2mch Post Number: 952 Registered: 02-2006 |
applause....for Ravine (Message edited by thnk2mch on June 25, 2007) | ||
Lukabottle Member Username: Lukabottle Post Number: 81 Registered: 12-2004 |
Grocery/liquor stores oppose the idea. They feel that they should not be responsible for the added costs of maintaining machines and accepting returns. | ||
Ravine Member Username: Ravine Post Number: 1037 Registered: 01-2006 |
Thank you, Thnk2mch, but hold your applause... Just throw money *errrhh* I mean, bottles. I have the same problem described by Jams. I have an enormous burden; a collection of Blatz 40-ouncers left over from my guzzling days. Not only are 40-ouncers unwieldy to begin with (one cannot fit many into a plastic garbage bag,) but Blatz is no longer distributed around here, so I don't even have a place to take them. It's a problem. | ||
Ravine Member Username: Ravine Post Number: 1038 Registered: 01-2006 |
And since the state "profits" (through boasting a cleaner, neater environment,) the state should help with the costs of maintaining the return system. As for the extra trouble of physically accepting, and processing, the returns, I tend to believe that there are many down-on-their-luck citizens who would gladly accept a very small wage for helping out with that part of the task. Probably, I am over-simplifying the issue, but you gotta have people like me doing that, in order to balance out the over-complicators. | ||
Jerome81 Member Username: Jerome81 Post Number: 1513 Registered: 11-2003 |
Why hasn't the Michigan bottle law rate been increased? I swear when I was a little kid back in the mid-late 80's that the deposit was still $0.10. Add 20 years of inflation and we should be looking at about $0.20 per unit. Heck, why not just make it $0.25/unit. 12 packs get a nice round $3, 24 packs get a nice round $6. Guess I'm just thinking that $0.10 isn't what it used to be. I know that when I come to visit today that if it isn't easy to store the bottle, I pretty much won't hesitate to just toss it. If that changed to $0.25 I would probably think about it harder. And let me add that Michigan's system really works. In california we technically have a $0.05 deposit but I don't know of any place where you can take them to get your money back. I don't even know if that is the intent. All I know is that I pay the measly little 5 cents, and the bottle either ends up in my recycle bin (no money back) or it goes in the trash (no money back). It ends up being a tax more than a deposit. Anyway, the Michigan system is great. It should be made national. Only gripes is that it should include any liquid bottle (liquor, water, juice, etc) and they should up the deposit another $0.10 to $0.15. And I can see the self-cleaning aspect of it too. A cousin used to go to Ottawa Beach in Holland after his old-man's volleyball tourneys and make a few hundred bucks going through the garbage cans and returing the bottles. I'm sure bums would be even more motivated. | ||
Fishtoes2000 Member Username: Fishtoes2000 Post Number: 238 Registered: 06-2005 |
There has been some discussions about revising the bottle bill to include non-carbonated beverages. I'm not sure if that included liquor bottles. One problem is the political scene has changed since the bottle bill was originally put on the ballot primarily through grassroots efforts. The costs associated with passing ballot initiatives has skyrocketed while ballot success rates have dropped. | ||
Jerome81 Member Username: Jerome81 Post Number: 1514 Registered: 11-2003 |
Please clarify Michigan's law? Is it that any place that sells items subject to the bottle law must also have a return area? I imagine there is more to it because I don't think most liquor stores have return area, yet they sell Coke and other items subject to the deposit. Could the state not operate the bottle return centers? Instead of going to Meijer or Farmer Jack to return them, could the state run return facilities so we can include liquor without making the stores responsible for the return? Or, what about the state splitting the cost of the return? Say for each bottle returned at Meijer, the state gives them $0.005 of the $0.10 deposit to help pay for operating the machines and (likely) getting more returns (and thus more wear and tear)? That way the liquor guys don't have to pay, and Meijer gets some money to maintain their equipment to cover the liquor bottle influx? Seems there are some simple solutions to get around these rather minor problems. Getting the liquor bottles included should be #1 and the rest should be minor details. | ||
Jams Member Username: Jams Post Number: 5251 Registered: 10-2003 |
Anyone know where I can get rid of a bunch of Lowenbrau 40's | ||
Jerome81 Member Username: Jerome81 Post Number: 1515 Registered: 11-2003 |
Germany? | ||
Fishtoes2000 Member Username: Fishtoes2000 Post Number: 239 Registered: 06-2005 |
There's more information on the bottle bill at http://www.deq.state.mi.us/doc uments/deq-wmd-swp-mibottledep ositlawFAQ1.pdf | ||
Jams Member Username: Jams Post Number: 5252 Registered: 10-2003 |
quote: Any airlines that will take my bottles in exchange for a ticket? | ||
Ravine Member Username: Ravine Post Number: 1039 Registered: 01-2006 |
Jerome makes good sense, here; for one thing, I forgot about the other "non-deposit" containers. Quite right. What's the point of putting a deposit on the vodka bottle, if the orange juice bottle just winds up sitting there, all lonely? And, now that Jerome mentions it, it's true; the 10-cent deposit isn't necessarily enough to encourage proper, environmentally sound processing of the empties. (I try to keep bottles of my eldest son's favorite pop in the fridge, so when he comes by for a visit-- read as "eat and/or wash clothes"-- it will be there for him. Sometimes, I find the empty on the floor, sometimes in the trash. What the hell; the deposit on the pop was paid by, uh, pop.) | ||
Shark Member Username: Shark Post Number: 270 Registered: 12-2003 |
There are bills in the legislature nearly every year that would expand the deposit law. They always die in committee. You can thank the lobbyists for the grocers and beverage companies for that. | ||
Ravine Member Username: Ravine Post Number: 1040 Registered: 01-2006 |
Geez, Jams, you're haggling for a bottles-for-airline ticket swap. If it worked like that, I and my Blatz bottles could land a free trip to Milwaukee. *pause... cricket sounds* Oh, I'm sorry; what was the point I was trying to make? | ||
Sitlet Member Username: Sitlet Post Number: 12 Registered: 03-2007 |
[quote]Please clarify Michigan's law? Is it that any place that sells items subject to the bottle law must also have a return area? I imagine there is more to it because I don't think most liquor stores have return area, yet they sell Coke and other items subject to the deposit. [/quote] as far as i know, you are correct. you have to accept returns for anything you sell that has a deposit. so if you sell coke products, you must accept coke returns. if you sell beer, you must accept beer returns. there used to be a small store by my house that only sold faygo and pepsi, and when i tried to take cans back, they wouldnt accept any coke products i had | ||
_sj_ Member Username: _sj_ Post Number: 1922 Registered: 12-2003 |
Only up $25 at a time. Some places allow you to go over. Liquor bottles are exempt because they are not considered beverages. | ||
56packman Member Username: 56packman Post Number: 1464 Registered: 12-2005 |
Start with pint bottles--that's what you see laying around.  | ||
Civilprotectionunit4346 Member Username: Civilprotectionunit4346 Post Number: 124 Registered: 06-2007 |
That is a good idea to offer a deposit return on liquor bottles. They should do something for water, juice, tea & etc. |
