BAN THE THROWAWAY BOTTLE & CAN!

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HIDDEN COSTS

Under the good old deposit system of soft drink and beer distribution, of course, you buy only the beverage . . . and borrow the bottle. But with today's throwaways, you purchase the containers too! And they cost you about 7¢ each. Now this may seem like a piddling amount, but if the nation switched completely to refillable containers tomorrow, consumers would save a total of $1.8 billion during the following 365 days!

In addition to this obvious and direct cost, each and every one of us—including folks who don't even drink beer or soda pop—must pay a hidden price for the dubious "convenience" of disposable beverage containers, too. The billions of dollars taxpayers fork out each year just to pick up litter and process solid waste, for example, don't show up at the checkout stand . . . but must be figured into the actual cost of throwaway containers.

And even these hefty sums are small change compared to the value of the resources and energy wasted on the manufacture of one-way cans and bottles. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that if a law requiring deposits on beverage containers were to go into effect by 1980—which seems unlikely at this point—the nation would save 5.2 million tons of glass, 1.5 million tons of steel, 500,000 tons of aluminum, and energy equal to about 41 million barrels of crude oil . . . EACH YEAR!

COUNTERATTACK

Although seven out of 10 people in this country favor some kind of law to require deposits on beverage containers, politicians in your state capitals and in Congress too have been slow (as always) to catch up with this good idea. So far, only six states—Oregon, Vermont, Michigan, Maine, Connecticut, and Iowa—have "bottle bills" (as such laws are frequently called) on the books.

Good oI Oregon—which seems to be chock-full of ecology-minded folks these days—was the first state to ban the throwaway. Its bottle bill, passed in 1972, levies a 5¢ deposit on beverage (beer, soft drink, mineral water, and soda water) containers . . . and forbids the use of pull-tab cans. In addition, it authorizes a special "certified" container—designed by the state—which carries a 2¢ deposit and can be used by any bottler who wishes.

As you might expect, the container lobby (which—in addition to can and bottle manufacturers—includes steel and aluminum companies, metalworkers' unions, supermarket chains, and major brewers and soft-drink bottlers) predicted a number of dire consequences for Oregon if the law passed. Since a lot of you folks might like to help your state adopt a bottle bill, it's worthwhile to compare these predictions with the real facts. (That way, when the lobby tries to sell the same old horse in your neck of the woods, you can put the nag out of its misery before some other poor soul buys it on faith.)

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