Editorial

Students flexing their muscles

Two recent events illustrate how much power students can wield, especially when they are linked via an online network.

High school students in Montpelier have been cleaning rubbish and junk from the Winooski River for several years, and what they've learned is that too many tires are being thrown in the water rather than disposed of at landfills or transfer stations. The students now are rallying around the idea of a tire deposit system in Vermont, an initiative that for the past four years has been before the Legislature but has yet to make its way toward passage.

Opposition from tire retailers has thwarted attempts to implement a fee or deposit system that would raise money for free deposit days around Vermont - much like those for hazardous waste.

Students at Middlebury College have been more successful at forcing a change, though admittedly a smaller one. When the college introduced a new logo, replacing the traditional Latin seal, students reacted by quickly joining an online opposition group. In just seven days, in the summer no less, 777 students joined the cause.

The college responded by reinstating a slightly modernized Latin seal and using the new maple leaf logo for the college's fund-raising campaign only.

Vermonters should take a cue from both of these student groups and harness the power of youthful passion, environmental activism and online networking. An issue that comes readily to mind is the state's bottle deposit system, which is in dire need of an overhaul.

Right now, Vermont, along with most other states with bottle bills, only mandates a deposit for carbonated beverage containers. Too often, plastic bottles holding water and aluminum cans holding grape juice are thrown into landfills - or maybe into the Winooski or the Walloomsac - while the same containers holding beer or grape soda are returned for a 5 cent deposit. It just doesn't make any sense.

It also makes no sense having a 5 cent deposit today, when inflation since the 1970s dictates a hike in the figure to ensure it's still worthwhile for consumers and roadside gleaners to return empties.

The first state to adopt a bottle bill was Oregon in 1971, and Vermont was second, but since then little progress has been made. Only 11 states have similar legislation - in large part because of well-financed opposition from the grocery industry and beverage distributors.

If the Legislature refuses to listen to calls for change, which most Vermonters support, new grass-roots efforts might add some needed pressure. What if students in schools all around Vermont were mobilized for such an effort? With the Internet, anything is possible, especially involving the young.

Students might not be able to stop the war in Iraq or alter the course of events nationally, but a focused, student-led effort in a small state like Vermont just might push reform efforts over the top.

So, what about it? Sounds like a plan.

http://www.benningtonbanner.com/editorials/ci_6961055