Deposit Doom
October 27th 2008 19:58
The deposit on bottles and cans isn't working, and is costing more than it is worth. Since not all states have a deposit, it should come as no shock that eventually it ends up costing you. Deposits came around before we had recycling programs in effect. The idea was that instead of throwing away containers that might be dangerous to the environment, you would instead deposit a nickle and go redeem it later.
Needless to say that most people hoard deposit containers until they have enough to make the return worth it or incase they need extra cash. Few people tend to wash these containers when returning them, meaning you may have had them until the mold formed on them! I say if you want the extra rainy day money go look for nickle containers because they are extra money, not the ones you buy and hold onto.
The real failure in the deposit laws, is the state of Michigan that has a dime deposit on beverage containers. That means that people are taking their deposit containers to Michigan, just like Kramer and Newman did in an episode of Seinfeld! This means it is costing Michigan plenty!
The problem is that since there are many states without a deposit on containers, they still get containers that have the states where deposit is accepted written on them. Thus they are perfectly legal to get a deposit in that state. The problem is more when living in a non-deposit state on the border of deposit states. I live in New York that has a deposit, but Pennsylvania and New Jersey don't but they get the 'deposit' cans'*. When I was in New Hampshire there was no deposit, but their beverages had the 'deposit states' written on them, and Massachusetts was less than a mile away.
*That is why I always questioned the Seinfeld logic...yes I know it's a TV show! Why drive to Michigan to deposit cans for an extra nickel, when you could have gone and bought your beverages in NJ and cashed them in NY for an extra nickel?
Needless to say that most people hoard deposit containers until they have enough to make the return worth it or incase they need extra cash. Few people tend to wash these containers when returning them, meaning you may have had them until the mold formed on them! I say if you want the extra rainy day money go look for nickle containers because they are extra money, not the ones you buy and hold onto.
The real failure in the deposit laws, is the state of Michigan that has a dime deposit on beverage containers. That means that people are taking their deposit containers to Michigan, just like Kramer and Newman did in an episode of Seinfeld! This means it is costing Michigan plenty!
The problem is that since there are many states without a deposit on containers, they still get containers that have the states where deposit is accepted written on them. Thus they are perfectly legal to get a deposit in that state. The problem is more when living in a non-deposit state on the border of deposit states. I live in New York that has a deposit, but Pennsylvania and New Jersey don't but they get the 'deposit' cans'*. When I was in New Hampshire there was no deposit, but their beverages had the 'deposit states' written on them, and Massachusetts was less than a mile away.
*That is why I always questioned the Seinfeld logic...yes I know it's a TV show! Why drive to Michigan to deposit cans for an extra nickel, when you could have gone and bought your beverages in NJ and cashed them in NY for an extra nickel?
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