Opinion

Eliminate scams with return laws

Last week, I read with interest stories in this paper regarding issues with returnable and nonreturnable bottles and cans.

Reading about various scams involving returnable containers was a bit amazing, as I never realized the levels to which some scams were taken.

Living close to Ohio, it's easy to see how scammers purchase beverage containers there to skirt the deposit then return them to small mom-and-pop stores where either trusting souls or employees too busy to check simply ask, "How many?" before shelling out a bogus refund.

What I didn't know about and hadn't imagined was how the big retailers purchase crushed cans in bulk in order to scam the state and, ultimately, taxpayers.

I chuckled a bit as I could hear my father in my mind's ear saying, "If crooks spent as much time and effort doing something good and positive as they do figuring out how to scam someone, they'd be amazed at what they could accomplish."

At the same time, I felt bad for ones trying to do good who were caught up in an illegal activity without even knowing. I expect many local nonprofit agencies have been purchasing their fundraising beverages in Ohio to skirt deposits and make more money for their honorable causes. I didn't know it was illegal.

Having to deal with returnable bottles and cans is quite the nuisance, I'll agree. I admit to not taking the time to rinse a pop can before returning it to the store. And having them sit around, taking up space in the garage while attracting other nuisance critters and insects is unappealing.

With all that said, I must tell you that I love the Michigan bottling law! There always will be reckless individuals - such as the one identified in editor Deborah Saul's Saturday column - who toss their trash wherever they like, but the truth is that Michigan is a much cleaner state because of this law.

Most people think twice before tossing cans or bottles out the window. But if they do so anyway, there are desperate souls out there who find their daily sustenance by picking up and returning what those insensitive jerks have tossed away.

Beyond container deposits is a state of mind we all need to endorse: recycling. It saddens me to see the tons of glass, steel, paper and aluminum heading for the Mount Trashmores that keep growing around us.

I remember how the downtrodden Vietnamese people fought over - and used - any trash we soldiers threw away, and I predict the day will come when these landfills and trash piles will be mined for those materials.

As a city manager, I tried to bring recycling to our municipality but was unsuccessful because we couldn't afford it. My thoughts were that we couldn't afford not to! But who cares when you can just set your garbage can at the curb, go to work and, when you come home, presto, it's gone.

And bottle return scams? In my opinion, the quickest and easiest way to eliminate them - albeit unpopular - is for Ohio and the other states to follow Michigan's lead by adopting a bottle law of their own.

But what do I know?

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