I love diet soda. I love the fizz. I love the sweetness (yeah, I know it's aspartame) . I also love that I can get my 5 cent deposit back on my aluminum can or plastic bottle from recycling centers like Sunnking or from the recycling machines in local supermarkets. I live in New York State, which is one of 10 U.S. States that charges a 5 or ten cent deposit on the aluminum, plastic or glass bottles of soda, beer, or wine-cooler type drinks that you purchase. After you have consumed the yummy beverages, you can take them back to recover your deposit. Money talks, and this has been a most successful way to encourage people to recycle!
But wait---what's this? Are people still regularly throwing their beverage containers into the garbage in a state that will give you your deposit money back?!? I know it's shocking, but it's only too true! I have an associate at work who will, in my very presence, finish up his soda and then summarily chuck the can or plastic bottle into the garbage. Now, this is a person who prides himself on being a self-proclaimed "penny-pincher" and always extols his budgeting skills. So, guy---why ya throwin' your hard-earned cash into the garbage can? Do you have a money tree growing in your back yard? Let's say he drinks, on average, five sodas a week and discards his container every time, then he's throwing $13 away every year! Cha-ching...we have a loser!
Here's some pertinent facts on container recycling from serconline.org :
* Recycling aluminum cans saves 95 percent of the energy used to make aluminum cans from virgin ore.
* For each pound of aluminum recovered, Americans save the energy resources to generate about 7.5 kilowatt-hours of electricity. That’s enough energy to meet the electric needs of a city the size of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for six years.
* Recycling just one aluminum can saves enough energy to run a television for three hours.
* The energy saved from recycling one glass bottle will operate a 100-watt light bulb for over an hour.
* Deposit states have cited beverage container litter reduction of up to 84% and total litter reduction of up to 41%
* States with a recycling deposit for aluminum cans have an 80% recycling rate of aluminum cans compared to a 46% recycling rate in states which have no deposit.
Despite all the obvious benefits of container recycling, "Twice as many aluminum cans were wasted in 2001 than in 1981" (serconline.org). What is up with that? Massachusetts Congressman Edward Markey (a Democrat, of course) is trying to pass the Bottle Recycling Climate Protection Act of 2007 that he introduced to the House of Representatives in November of 2007. If passed, this bill will put a 5 cent deposit on all beverage containers sold in the United States!
Alle-flippin'-luia!
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