Smart Way to Clean Up Our City

**londoner** · 04-19-2011, 12:42 PM

...is with a Bottle Bill. I know it's been on the state docket before, but never enacted. In my neighborhood in particular most of the trash in the gutters is plastic/ glass bottle related. With our homeless population? at 5cents a bottle? We'd be spick and span within a month.

Any reason why the state would oppose this? It's a lousy 5 cents on the front, that's recouped on the back end...

Most of the progressive states have something like this in place, where's PA at in getting this through?

Bottle Bill Resource Guide

**ocduke** · 04-19-2011, 05:08 PM

Funny...you used PA and progressive in the same sentence

**MetalDeth81** · 04-19-2011, 05:15 PM

Originally Posted by ocduke

funny...you used pa and progressive in the same sentence

+like

**whatever** · 04-20-2011, 03:49 AM

Originally Posted by MetalDeth81

+like

I did some research on goats. Cities have been know to use goats to eat trash but from what I learned Goats don't prefer trash and it would probably give them stomach aches, especially Philly trash, and be considered animals abuse. Then you would have goat rights activists at City Hall and City hall is sooooo busy with very important other things. Also Philly residents might try something stupid like try to train them to fights like bulldogs or roosters.

**Politburo** · 04-20-2011, 07:58 AM

Originally Posted by londoner

Any reason why the state would oppose this?

Lobbying from the beer distributors/manufacturers, Wawa, Sheetz, etc..

**NonAbsolut** · 04-20-2011, 10:39 AM

If the unclaimed deposits are not claimed by the state (as in a few examples) but rather left as windfall profit to the retailer/distributor, what is the industry's objection?

**Politburo** · 04-20-2011, 11:03 AM

Originally Posted by NonAbsolut

If the unclaimed deposits are not claimed by the state (as in a few examples) but rather left as windfall profit to the retailer/distributor, what is the industry's objection?

Well I don't speak for the industry but I'd think they would probably still be against it. Even if there is a possible profit at the end of the year, it's still another compliance item.

**desolate** · 04-20-2011, 01:53 PM

Litter comes from terrible trash pick up.

Not outright littering.

Using a CVS bag as a trashcan two days early before a storm has more to do with surface litter than anything.

and out trashmen and they way they drive away from spills doesn't help.

The hood won't recycle so charging others means little to the source of the litter.

**Freckles** · 04-20-2011, 01:59 PM

Originally Posted by desolate

Litter comes from terrible trash pick up.

Not outright littering.

Using a CVS bag as a trashcan two days early before a storm has more to do with surface litter than anything.

and out trashmen and they way they drive away from spills doesn't help.

The hood won't recycle so charging others means little to the source of the litter.

I'm also thinking more and more it's from a lack of trash receptacles. For example, I walked for 15 minutes today from the Art Museum area to Center City and did not come across one convenient* trash can. It was only until I got to the trolley station that I was able to throw away my bag. Had I been less inclined to not litter, that bag would have ended up on the streets long before I hit CC.

* I did see a couple of the solar powered trash receptacles on Market but they were on the other side of the street. I needed to be somewhere and didn't have time to wait for traffic lights, cross the street, then cross the street again to get to the trolley.

**Cya** · 04-20-2011, 02:43 PM

Originally Posted by NonAbsolut

If the unclaimed deposits are not claimed by the state (as in a few examples) but rather left as windfall profit to the retailer/distributor, what is the industry's objection?

I never really understood the notices on plastic bottles and cans. Some say 5cents.
If a person collected 20 bottles, where do they take them? Does the location pay the $1.00 to the person dropping them off at that time?
Who is paying the 5cents? The bottle manufacturer? Or the city/county/state?

I see homeless people collecting these bottles/cans too. I just never knew what they did with them.

**londoner** · 08-29-2011, 12:41 PM

Originally Posted by Cya

I never really understood the notices on plastic bottles and cans. Some say 5cents.
If a person collected 20 bottles, where do they take them? Does the location pay the $1.00 to the person dropping them off at that time?
Who is paying the 5cents? The bottle manufacturer? Or the city/county/state?

I see homeless people collecting these bottles/cans too. I just never knew what they did with them.

BottleBill.org - What is a bottle bill?

It's not super complicated. You basically pay 5 extra cents per bottle you purchase. You then receive that 5cents back when you take it to a recycling center.

States with bottle bills actually have machines (genenrally out front of super markets or beer/wine distributors) that handle the intake of the bottles then spit out a receipt which you take to the register to receive cash. Think the penny-arcade in TD Banks, except i think you have to do it 1 at a time.

I picked up 15 bottles on my walk around marian anderson rec center yesterday (the average is around 10 per walk/per day). Some homeless, unemployed person could really earn some coin if a bottle bill was enacted. Bottle Bills, unfortunately, are not popular among the state senators and representatives hailing from locations that are not exactly urban-oriented. PA is a big state. Imagine how much cleaner our streets would be if something like this were enacted...you can support an old bottle bill here (there's a link to send a support letter):

Pennsylvania Bottle Bill Campaign | Campaign For Recycling

**LUCas** · 08-29-2011, 01:08 PM

Originally Posted by desolate

Litter comes from terrible trash pick up.

Not outright littering.

Good point, but it's really both. For example, the cop I saw the other day eating some kind of snack cake, and then tossing the wrapper on the ground. Then there are the piles of chicken bones I see from people buying wings at the local pizza place, walking down the street and dropping bones as they go, and then the styrofoam box when they get to the end. You'd think they could at least leave the bones in the box they're going to throw on the ground, but apparently that's too much work.

**Lolly** · 08-29-2011, 01:24 PM

Originally Posted by desolate

Litter comes from terrible trash pick up.

Not outright littering.

Using a CVS bag as a trashcan two days early before a storm has more to do with surface litter than anything.

Wow, a first, I agree with Desolate! I would really like to see more strict enforcement of how (and not just when) trash is set out.

Also, Philly's open-topped recycling containers do not help. I would love to see them retro-fitted and/or just plain redesigned with a top to better prevent them from spilling all their contents in the wind.

I dread windy trash day-afters for these reasons.

I also agree with this:

Originally Posted by londoner

I picked up 15 bottles on my walk around marian anderson rec center yesterday (the average is around 10 per walk/per day). Some homeless, unemployed person could really earn some coin if a bottle bill was enacted.

Just imagine, we could send our local homeless friends off to collect bottles next time they came around begging because they're "hungry."

**gren** · 08-29-2011, 01:42 PM

Now, imagine the windfall of uncollected deposits would go to pay for street cleaning...

**AbortedWalrus** · 10-12-2011, 01:27 PM

Better trash pickup, or trash pick up twice a week would help (a pipe dream, I know). I've said it once though, and I will say it again--we should do like Singapore (not the caning). If you get caught littering there you are forced to do 12 hours of litter cleanup. Put the cops on a litter beat once a month and by the end of the day you'd have enough mandatory community service time to clean the entire city. I am sure the S$5000 fine also helps.

**londoner** · 06-07-2012, 01:48 PM

On my walk around the block 2 days ago...
10cents, 10cents, 10cents, 10cents...one could do pretty well cleaning up our streets.

**loveisnoise** · 06-07-2012, 04:31 PM

Those shoes are atrocious.

Those cans say that hipster activity is afoot.

Originally Posted by londoner

On my walk around the block 2 days ago...
10cents, 10cents, 10cents, 10cents...one could do pretty well cleaning up our streets.

**NickleDimer** · 06-08-2012, 10:56 AM

small % tax on fast food, use proceeds to clean streets. solved.

**Naveen** · 06-08-2012, 12:43 PM

This works to keep streets clean in cities where the litter is at manageable levels. If we paid 10c for every bottle collected from the streets of Philly, we'd be paying more for the entire streets department!

Seriously though, I think this is a good idea. Certainly better than, say, having to have house numbers painted on curbs.

**iheartphilly** · 06-08-2012, 01:30 PM

There is an immediate solution. Grab a broom or shovel, gloves & garbage bag & clean out the grates.Pick one or more on your corner & go for it. Or walk down your block & pick up litter. Don't litter yourself. Recycle what you can. Pick up what you can. Don't wait for "someone else" to do it because that won't happen. Don't believe you're somehow above doing this, you're not!