As election day nears, there are a few things we can all agree on: improving our environment and keeping our streets clean. These should be priorities here in Massachusetts. As a company that serves communities across the state, including Martha’s Vineyard, we have proven our commitment to the environment and have a long history of environmental leadership. Stop & Shop has been recognized by the Environmental Protection Agency as an Energy Star Leader for improved energy performance in its buildings. We are committed to building LEED-certified stores that reduce the company’s carbon footprint, employing innovative green building technologies, and conserving energy.

We have programs in place to recycle plastic bags, all of our corrugated cardboard and organic waste. All of these initiatives are part of our Better Neighbor Promise, and the responsible retailing program which we launched to not only protect the environment but to support the community and better the lives of its customers.

We engage in these efforts because they make good environmental sense. Our concern with Question 2 is that it will bring tremendous costs without any significant environmental benefits. Simply put, it is not a good proposal.

Question 2 would add about $68 million a year to grocery costs. It’s not hard to see how. The machines we house in our stores now are not only expensive, but they aren’t capable of accepting all of the additional beverage containers to which Question 2 would add five-cent deposits. New machines would be needed and other containers would have to be accepted by hand. This, on top of the loss of retail space and costs to address sanitation issues that these containers will invite, amounts to enormous overhead costs. Grocers across the state would have to pass those costs onto consumers.

Unfortunately, Question 2 results in a lose-lose situation, as these higher costs will not result in any significant recycling rate increase. The increase would only be one eighth of one per cent, as this proposal targets just a sliver of the waste stream.

In 1982, a forced deposit system might have been the only option. Today, communities across the state have access to recycling programs like curbside and drop-off. These programs allow residents to bring recyclables to one place or just to their curb. Question 2 will only add the hassle of making a special trip to the grocery store and standing in line to redeem containers, all for bottles and cans that would have been recycled anyway through a municipal program.

The $68 million in added grocery costs doesn’t even include the five cent per container fee that Question 2 would add to numerous beverages. If not redeemed, deposits go to the state government with no guarantee as to how they will be spent. Over the past 10 years, $350 million in unclaimed deposits have gone to the state’s general fund rather than to the environment. Even those who recycle beverage containers through municipal programs are penalized with this fee. That defies common sense.

It is no surprise that the campaign for No on Question 2: Stop Forced Deposits coalition has grown to over 3,500 members here in Massachusetts. Environmentalists, recyclers, businesses, grocers and community organizations across the state oppose this question. A total of 26 chambers of commerce examined the proposal and concluded that it would not be good for their communities.

Our top concerns include offering competitive prices and quality customer service to our valued customers, as we care about the communities in which we operate. The lack of benefit, inefficiencies and consumer costs brought by Question 2 are too much to ignore.

Our state needs to build on recycling programs that work today. Comprehensive programs like curbside and single stream recycling, which saves residents the trouble of sorting, offer convenient options that target numerous recyclables, not just bottles and cans. Curbside recycling is also about 10 times cheaper than a forced deposit system.

When something is going to cost grocery shoppers tens of millions of dollars a year, it should be effective and worthwhile — and a less than one per cent recycling rate increase is far from it. We hope that voters join our coalition in voting no on Question 2 on Nov. 4.

Joe Kelley is president of Stop & Shop Supermarkets New England.