Don’t throw it all away.

Great strides have been made since the Bottle Bill came into existence in 1982. This container deposit law provides for a five cent refundable deposit on soda and beer bottles. This additional fee encourages the return of the empties to redeem the deposit. It has increased recycling, created jobs, promoted producer and consumer responsibility and, best of all, reduced litter in our communities in Massachusetts and other states that have bottle bills.

Things have changed a lot in the 30-plus years since the original bottle bill came into play in this state. Our lives have changed and our choice of beverages has increased. No longer are soda and beer the only options in the store coolers. Now we have sports drinks, bottled water, and lots of fancy iced teas, juice drinks and other creative quenchers. None of these are subject to the original bottle bill and none are subject to the five-cent deposit.

In November, we will have an opportunity to change that; the bottle bill is ready to catch up. Ballot question 2 will ask citizens of the commonwealth to vote on expanding the bottle bill to include those other beverages. The unclaimed nickels that add up from returns will not go to the general fund like in the past, instead, they will go to an environmental fund.

A no-brainer, right?  Surprisingly, there is great discussion and great discord on this ballot question. The advocates and opponents have geared up for a fight and the ads, articles, and letters to the editor are flying.

On the pro-side, you will find the Sierra Club, Mass Audubon, the League of Women Voters, the Appalachian Mountain Club, The Trustees of Reservations, the Environmental League of Massachusetts, and even the Massachusetts Parent Teacher Association, among many others.

These folks want to talk trash. They assert that voting yes on 2 will stop litter, citing the statistic that 80 per cent of bottles with deposits are either recycled or returned, while only 23 per cent of those without deposits share that fate. They also claim that the bill will save cities and towns more than $6.5 million per year in litter pickup and trash removal costs. 

The opponents of Question 2 suggest that that is just a load of rubbish! These folks, led by grocery and liquor stores, assert that an expansion of the bottle bill is not necessary. They say that 90 per cent of Massachusetts’s residents already have access to recycling (yes, but if only we had a nickel for every time we’ve heard that!); that the new law will be expensive, costing $60 million per year to collect and handle the influx of new bottles to be processed, and that costs will be passed along to consumers and make these products more expensive.

Popular opinion has changed significantly since the opposition launched a well-funded ($8 million) campaign against the initiative. Consider that in August 62 per cent of Massachusetts residents supported this bill, but now only 33 per cent do.

It is difficult not to see this as a David and Goliath fight. Ultimately, you will be alone in the voting booth and will have to make your own decision on the fate of those deposit-less containers. For me, the choice is as clear as the liquid in those water bottles.

Suzan Bellincampi is director of the Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary in Edgartown, and author of Martha’s Vineyard: A Field Guide to Island Nature.