Letters to the Editor

Michigan's deposit law should be expanded

Anyone who thinks we don't need a deposit law needs only to go anywhere that does not have one ("Recycling better than deposit law," Dec. 27). If you have ever taken a side trip out of Las Vegas or toured the Smoky Mountain region you will see how important a deposit law is. If you look around Michigan you will see the good the bottle bill has done for our state.

As a matter of fact, we need to expand our bottle bill to cover all drink bottles. With the public turning away from carbonated drinks, and going to fruit and energy drinks, it is more important than ever to expand the bottle bill.

When I walk my dog every day, I walk through alleys and behind stores where the ground is littered with whiskey and energy drink cans and bottles. If there were a deposit on them, they would not be there. If you ever worked on an Adopt a Highway project, you would fully understand the need for a bottle bill.

Tourism is one of the biggest businesses, people want to share our outdoors with us, and we need to take care of our outdoors.

Rick Whitson
Southgate

Michigan is a leader

The reason the bottle law is a success, whether other states agree with it or not, is because there is an incentive to do it. In addition, that 10 cents per article redeemed is spent the same day in the store where the recycling takes place.

Edward Deeb points out that no other state has recycling because they learned from the Michigan experience. I choose to believe Michigan has taken the lead and other states have yet to catch up.

Robert J. Shoens
Northville

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