Dr. Epstein says, "I pick up the discarded bottles and cans that mar this urban experience and are a jarring note in an otherwise pleasing and stimulating setting. [. . .] I’ve managed to pick up more than 1,500 bottles in the last three years of walking around Cambridge. This is a rather distressing commentary on our littering society."
Is he speaking officially for the Charles River Conservancy, as a physician, or both? Wanting to extend the "bottle bill" to all containers he admits only 20 percent of bottles are now recycled. Another law would lower the percentage recycled. In Cambridge relaxed rectitude is acceptable and encouraged. If littering laws are unenforced what good is another law? Instead of raising awareness of the littering problem, this caring professional wants another law which will not solve the problem. Obama wants to give everybody everything. Obama refuses to address the base actions of politicians and their enablers, the corrupt members of the nation who exploit laws at the expense of the taxpayer and the law abiding citizens. This is one more example of that.
http://www.wickedlocal.com/cambridge/news/opinions/letters/x1328940877/Guest-commentary-Bottle-bill-crucial-for-our-future
Guest commentary: Bottle bill crucial for our future
By Dr. Michael F. Epstein
Cambridge Chronicle
Posted Feb 16, 2010 @ 10:31 AM
Last update Feb 16, 2010 @ 11:52 AM
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2 comments:
You seem to have misunderstood what he said. Of the containers that are covered by the bottle bill (Coke, Pepsi, etc), 80% are redeemed/recycled.
Of the containers that are not covered (Poland Springs, Gatorade, Nantucket Nectars), only 21% are recycled. If we updated the bottle bill, it would extend this amazing recycling rate to all our beverage containers.
With over 3.3 BILLION containers sold every year in Massachusetts, these non-recycled containers are choking our landfills, clogging our sewers, littering our parks - and using up badly needed resources. Updating our bottle bill will boost recycling, save our communities disposal costs and litter cleanup fees, and conserve valuable resources. These plastic bottles are made of 99% petroleum - what a sad waste to send our valuable oil to landfills where they'll sit forever. Anyone who wants their 5-cent deposit back simply returns the bottles for a full refund. What could be more fair?
Phil Sego
Massachusetts Sierra Club
Dr. Epstein said, "Americans discard more than 75 billion disposable beverage containers each year, and only 20 percent of those are recycled." He did not make a distinction between refundable deposit and non refundable. He does not address the law taking money from law abiding citizens and giving it to corporations. The issue is non enforcement of littering laws which the original bill has not mitigated. Then again in Massachusetts laws are optional.
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