The following letter was sent to environment minister Barry Penner and copied to Coast Reporter for publication.
Honourable Minister Barry Penner:
My husband and I do a fair amount of biking and see many ditches, parks and beaches in the countryside littered with beer bottles, cans, pop bottles, etc. I would like to make two suggestions how to eliminate this litter.
We should pay $1 deposit fee for all pop cans, glass - wine or beer, as well for all the plastic pop bottles. When I buy bottled milk I have to pay $1 in deposit fee. I don't have a problem with it because I always return the bottles. And I do not see them littering the countryside either.
We should be able to return the cans/bottles at any grocery store regardless where they were purchased originally. It would save time and eliminate unnecessary trips while shopping, making it hassle free. The other day I was returning beer bottles in the liquor store and received .10 for each bottle. Then I was told to go to a different location to return bottles that looked just the same except they were non-alcoholic beer bottles. They were worth only .5 each. The paltry .5 even the .10 we get back is not worth the effort running around for lot of people.
Different countries have different systems that work for example Sweden and Germany. In one of those countries for instance, all grocery stores have specifically designed recycling machines accepting cans/bottles regardless of where they were purchased. The machine recognizes the size/shape of the deposited item and issues a receipt for the appropriate amount that is paid out to the consumer at the cash register.
Marcela Tuma
Sechelt
