Letter to the Editor

Ontario should consider deposit bylaw

Sir:I saw a story recently about London banning the sales of bottled water but I didn't see the mention of plastic pop or juice bottles.

Did they take into consideration the increase in the pop sales by doing that? I myself will not drink out of a public fountain and have warned my kids of the dangers of doing so, which will make me buy more soft drinks from machines if water is not available.

Fountains that are out in the open are subject to many infections and diseases from birds, animals and people who think its funny to spit or urinate in them.

In our house, we get water from our fridge dispenser but when out doing something we buy bottled water.

Most bottles of water are consumed in public places like parks, on beaches, while camping, while driving, golfing and biking, this is for a reason. Most people will not use fountains, just look at the outdoor fountain at the side of the Royal bank downtown I don't think its even hooked up anymore if it's still there. Maybe someone should check as to why.

Why not put the pollution problem back on the province and the makers of plastic drinking bottles and force a deposit bylaw. Most people have access to recycling but still don't.

Other places have implemented deposits and it has cut their plastic pollution in great amounts. These bottles can be recycled into new bottles and cut waste in great amounts.

Take Alberta for example. They implemented a deposit bylaw and since 2007 the number of containers recovered by the system has increased by 3.7 per cent to more than 1.57 billion, meaning that each and every Albertan returned more than 457 empty containers. Overall, almost eight out of every 10 containers sold in Alberta were returned for either reuse or recycled into other valuable products with almost $119 million in deposits returned to consumers. With 85 per cent of Albertans reporting that they participate and support the system, beverage container recycling continues to be strong in the province.

This and more information on their program can be found at http://www.bottlebill.org/legislation/canada/alberta.htm.

A deposit on plastic bottles would remove so much from our landfills. Even if the purchaser doesn't return the bottle himself or herself, someone else might. How many times have you seen someone going through your recycling box to get your cans or driving down the back roads looking for beer cans and bottles that someone has thrown away? Many do this for extra income. I know myself as a kid we used to pull a wagon around looking for glass pop bottles so we would have money for the pool to go swimming or to buy candy at the store.

We lived for years with deposits on glass bottles and now have it so we can return wine and liquor bottles and look at the amount of returns since it started. So why not plastic?

Ontario needs to step up with the times. Don't ban; instead take action. Let's set examples and standards for our kids before its too late.

Eileen Barnes Chatham

http://www.chathamdailynews.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1167332