BAN THE THROWAWAY BOTTLE & CAN!

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But where do the major brewers and soft-drink bottlers fit into the picture? Why do Anheuser-Busch, Coca-Cola, and the Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company—among other firms—fight so hard to preserve throwaway containers? After all, wouldn't they actually save money by using bottles over again . . . instead of buying new ones constantly?

The answer is a resounding "NO" ... and the reasons why reveal the American corporate mind at its devious, rapacious best (or worst).

First, instead of just passing the additional cost of throwaway containers on to consumers, the big beer and soda pop companies actually jack up the price of products sold in such containers to include a hefty profit on those very bottles and cans . . . items that they didn't even manufacture! In short, you pay a markup for the package as well as the potable when you buy anything in a throwaway container ... and, of course, industry likes it that way.

Second . . . well, let's get an insider to tell it in his own words: Peter Chokola runs an independent bottling operation in a small Pennsylvania town near Wilkes Barre. He is an outspoken advocate of mandatory deposits—which he says will help the small operator like himself—and charges that big bottlers such as CocaCola are out to run the little guys out of business across the nation.

"Why the headlong rush by certain segments of the American bottling industry towards conversion to one-way disposable containers?" asked Peter in a 1973 speech. "The answer is ... MONOPOLY! It becomes obvious to any competent industry observer that the returnable-reusable deposit bottle imposes a natural limitation on the market area served from any bottling plant ... the limitation being how far delivery trucks can carry the filled bottles and return with the empties!"

In short, since the big bottlers no longer have to worry about returns, they can ship their products halfway across the country if necessary. Which means they can invade the small territories that local brewers and soft-drink companies once had mostly to themselves.

Back in 1958, for example—when refill. ables were still the mainstay of the beverage industry—America could boast 184 breweries ... many of them family owned and operated. These small, local operations brewed distinctive beers from old-time recipes often handed down for generations. And by every standard used to judge a good beer, these local "suds" were vastly superior to the mass-produced dishwater now on the market.

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