Commentary

Will lawmakers fold to pressure on bottle bill?

Despite the same tired arguments used against it three decades ago, the so-called "bottle bill" is wending its way through the legislature, having come out of committee unscathed.

The bill would extend the five cent deposit, now collected on all carbonated beverage containers, to all soft drinks including bottled water. Just as they did when such a "radical" proposal was advanced years ago, the beverage industry is protesting that it places a burden on the outlets that sell the products and redeem the containers. Somehow today there is little problem. Most consumers take their recyclables to the supermarket, where machines do the work, or bring an empty six-pack to their local store and exchange it for a full one. It is not hard to see the benefit of such an enlarged law — just walk through any park and you'll see any number of soft drink and water containers discarded.

The alternative is to place them in the trashcan, where they present another problem. They increase the amount of material that will ultimately wind up in a landfill, increasing the cost to taxpayers.

Keep in mind, also, that when these products are recycled, they return to you in many forms — as plastic furniture, bowls and bags and so on. That reduces the demand for new containers, which, in turn. reduces the dependency on petroleum used in their manufacture — including cutting the emissions created during production. The greatest source of these no-deposit containers is the bottle water industry, which has boomed for a number of reasons. Perhaps homeowners aren't sure of the quality of their well water or are distrustful about the quality of city water. We can't speak to their well water, but for most of us, the water that comes out of the tap is just fine, thank you. As the sale of bottled water zooms — doubling in the past six years — the problem increases for the environment. If you don't care to take your recyclable containers to the local supermarket or store, take them to those organizations that collect them and use the proceeds to support their activities. Here in Norwalk we have two fine groups that benefit from bottle collections — the marching bands of Norwalk and Brien McMahon High Schools.

You can help the environment and boost the bands at the same time.

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