Editorial

'Bottle bill' could give us Pride of Place

Marge Davis shouldn't have to ride across Tennessee to spread the word about Pride of Place, a litter and recycling plan that could be made possible by a five-cent deposit on glass, plastic and aluminum beverage containers.

But if that's what it takes to shine light on such a worthy cause, then we support Davis in her trek from Memphis to Bristol.

The state Legislature should take notice of her effort and pass the "bottle bill" in the next election because it could do more to preserve energy and cut down on our throwaway mentality than any initiative we've seen in many years.

If it takes effect, Davis said 85 percent of the 4.2 billion beverage containers used annually across Tennessee would be recycled. That's a dramatic increase from the 10 percent now being recycled.

The legislation sponsored last year by Sen. Doug Jackson, D-Dickson, and Mike Turner, D-Old Hickory, would affect some 200,000 tons of beverage containers each year. We encourage the Rutherford County legislative delegation to get behind it.

That's an astounding amount of trash that would be removed from the sides of our highways and kept out of our landfills.

The bill ran into trouble last year because retailers and bottling companies complained that they'd be forced to handle, transport and sort bottles. The legislation, however, would set up independent drop-off centers for bottles and cans where independent recycling companies would collect and transport them.

This is a smart pieces of legislation. Finally, somebody has come up with a plan that will preserve natural resources, such as the petroleum that goes into plastic, and encourage people to recycle. Drink containers are a huge problem in our society. Consider the number of bottles of sports drinks and water emptied at last week's TSSAA state volleyball tournament in Murfreesboro. We'd bet they numbered in the thousands, and many of them will wind up in the landfill.

In our society, it is obvious that people need financial incentive to do some things.

Most people over 40 remember when they used to walk or ride their bicycles all over town looking for returnable soft drink bottles they could turn in for a nickel or dime. The Southern rock group Lynyrd Skynyrd sang about talked about it in "The Ballad of Curtis Lowe."

Once again, kids could be scouring neighborhoods looking for a few bottles to turn in for money. We look forward to reviving those days. This could even turn into a money-maker for local schools that collect bottles. It would certainly beat blackmailing parents to give students money so they can participate in fall festivals, but that's another issue.

We hope Marge Davis finds smooth roads in her ride across the state because her effort should add some Pride of Place to Tennessee.

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