Water Bottle Deposits a Plus
Danielle L. Tippett
Baker College of Owosso

Water Bottle Deposits a Plus To walk down the streets today, nearly everyone passing by is carrying a water bottle in which they purchased at the store. It seems that the amount of water being sold by stores is increasing. Where are these water bottles being disposed of is the question. Too many of these water bottles are not being disposed of properly since the majority of these are consumed by people away from home (Lockhart,para.3). They are put into trash cans or thrown on the ground as litter. If there was a bottle deposit required on all water bottles purchased then people would be more conscious of their disposal techniques putting a stop to waste created by consuming water. All water bottles need to have a deposit which can be set by each state’s legislature to help reduce landfill waste and littering. One of the many great benefits of having a water bottle deposit is that it will help to control littering on the streets and beaches which in turn is affecting the environment. When there is litter floating along the beach shores a person might not feel so apt to swimming while on their vacation. The empty water bottles that line the streets will make certain neighborhoods less desirable thus bringing down homeowners property values. The local landfills are increasing in size with all the extra water bottles being carelessly thrown into trash cans. It is estimated that about 500,000 water and other noncarbonated bottles are thrown into the trash just in the state of Connecticut yearly expecting to hit one billion within five years (Hladky,2007). There are fifty states in our country and of them eleven, including the states of Maine, Hawaii, and California already have the bottle-deposit law on noncarbonated drinks such as water and juice (Silverman,2005). Just imagine all the litter in the environment that could and would be prevented if every state were involved in this epidemic. Another reason that the water bottle deposit law makes sense is the fact it will help keep our landfills free of the plastic bottles that end up there. “Environmentalist advocates said about one billion bottles of carbonated beverages are redeemed for deposit in each state every year. But left out are the 300 million bottles of noncarbonated beverages, of which 215 million are water bottles”. (Silverman,2005,p.1) But out of those 215 million water bottles only 12 percent of them are recycled through recycling programs (Silverman,2005). That means 88 percent of purchased water bottles are ending up in our landfills. When calculated that means roughly 189 million water bottles end up rotting away in a landfill creating gases and other toxic substances discharged into the environment as they break down. The water bottle deposit law would help to control littering in the communities in which we live and raise our families putting a stop to environmental hazards. The bottles are produced using a PET plastic which stands for polyethylene terephthalate (Bender,2010). Where and what do you think is produced into the air or leached into the earth’s soil as the bottles decompose in the landfills? Though PET water bottles are shatter-proof there effects are somewhat harmful. One substance that can be found in PET plastic bottles is antimony which can cause dizziness and depression in small doses and in large doses nausea and vomiting (Bosque,2010). When decomposed they let off such gases as carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide (DAK Americas, 2010). The PET resin is released into the ground as the product decomposes (DAK Americas,2010). With the product being insoluble to water and lacking the ability to breakdown easily it makes you wonder just how long one bottle will sit in the landfill (DAK Americas,2010). In an article in the Kalamazoo Gazette it states, “they take from 450 to 1 million years to biodegrade”.(Baiers,2009,p.2) With that said, remember just how many are ending up in landfills each year in each state. That amount of water bottle waste along with everyday consumer waste makes for a lot more money having to be spent on cleaning it all up. Instead of spending money to help with the cleaning up of the waste a bottle deposit on water bottles will create an opportunity to bring extra revenue into each state. In Connecticut alone it looks to bring in approximately an extra $40 million in additional revenue (Stannard,2009). This revenue would come from unclaimed monies placed into a general fund returned to the state’s budget yearly. Another way to project revenue is the possibility to create jobs. Such jobs would come from reuse and recycle plants creating new positions in order to maintain the increase in production. With the economy in its current condition, finding ways to increase jobs and cut consumer costs will be a great benefit to the deposit proposition. If a bottle deposit were to be placed on water bottles it would help stop the purchasing of bottled water by consumers and encourage them to save their money and drink from the tap. To drink from the tap would not be so bad with the help of some of the products created on the market today. Such products are purification systems and filters. They make filters that can be attached to the faucet or connected to a pitcher which can be filled from the tap and can be of the same quality that is received when bought at the store out of a single serve water bottles. To save on the amount of water bottles purchased consumers can buy reusable containers of all different price ranges and styles to fit into their lifestyle. To drink the recommended amount of water each day of eight glasses would equal to be about $.49 a year (Bosque,2010). To drink that same amount of bottled water in which purchased from a store would equal to be about $1,400 in a year (Bosque,2010). A deposit on water bottles would also be beneficial in the reduction of the amount of plastics being produced in the factories. The average water bottle in 2000 weighed a whopping 18.9 grams and though by 2008 it had dropped to 12.7 grams it still is a great amount of plastic being produced (Bender, 2010). Another shattering statistic to follow that last bit of information is that “it takes 17 million barrels of oil per year to make all the plastic water bottles used in the U.S. alone. That’s enough oil to fuel 1.3 million cars for a year”.(Bosque, 2010,p.1) One can only imagine the resources that would and could be saved by enforcing the water bottle deposit law reducing use of oils which could be used in other circumstances more beneficial. An argument that may be faced between the people and their legislature is that they believe that it is actually cheaper to recycle the water bottles rather than reusing them. It doesn’t seem that reusing the bottles would cost any more since wholesalers already have the machinery needed to reuse soda and beer containers. What would be the problem of adding water bottles to the system? When looking at the numbers it costs each state roughly $34-48 for each ton more to recycle it than to send it to a landfill (Depalma,2008). Then you have to keep in mind with recycling the extra costs for more crews and the time and gas to send them out to pick up the recycle (Depalma,2008). To have a water bottle deposit law in order would cut back the costs created by homeowner’s curbside recycling. Opposing viewpoints pertaining to the costs not only stem from recycling of the bottles to be cheaper but also the idea of having to pay a deposit upfront. A problem people may have with water bottle deposits is the cost of having to pay the deposits upfront. Fran Silverman stated, “Opponents said that while adding a water bottles to the deposit law seems logical, it actually is complicated and costly for grocers and consumers”. (Silverman,2005,para.2) People who oppose the deposit law think that it will increase costs all around. For instance, the big argument is that the stores will increase the overall cost of the water (Hladky,2007). To do the math on a five cent deposit on a 24 pack of water bottles is only $1.20 which if disposed of properly the consumer will get the money back for returning the bottles. This law is actually a bonus for consumers in that currently stores and redemption centers receive two cents per soda can or bottle and the change would increase this fee to three cents per container (Hladky,2007). As with any tax or fee paid by working Americans, pay the taxes and fees upfront and receive them back in the end along with helping once again with the littering and land waste on the environment. The population in the world is growing everyday which in turn means more trash that will end up in landfills and on the streets. With people wanting to go green by doing little things to help the environment and change the world, by instilling a water bottle law is just another little thing that can be done to help out. If the water bottle law is not enforced in each and every state instead of the eleven already practicing, the environment will be affected in so many negative ways making it unsafe for the children who are being raised today. This law would set a good example for those children by teaching proper disposal techniques of not only the water bottles but hopefully everything they come in contact with. The water bottle deposit law is important in so many ways which are summed up in the previous paragraphs that it only makes sense to vote “yes” if ever given the chance on the local ballots.

References
Baiers, B., Christiansen, K., & Lodes, E. (2009). Should there be a deposit on plastic water bottles? Kalamazoo Gazette. p. 1-3
Bender, K. (2010, May-June). The slimming of the bottles. Earth
Action Network, Inc., p.10.
Bosque, T. (May 12, 2010). Battle of the reusable bottles:
Plastic vs. aluminum vs. stainless steel. Retrieved May 24,
2010, from http://www.banthebottle.net/articles/battle-of-the-reusable-bottles-plastic-vs-aluminum-vs-stainless-steel/
DAK Americas. (2010). Material safety data sheet. Charlotte,
North Carolina: DAK Americas LLC
Depalma, A. (2008, May 29). In economic terms, recycling almost pays. The New York Times, retrieved May 17, 2010, from General Reference Center Gold
Hladky G. (2007, May 10). State senate oks water bottle deposits bill faces uncertain future in house. New Haven Register, retrieved June 2, 2010, from Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center
Lockhart, B. (2007), March 3). Water, juice, and tea: Bottle bill would expand deposits. The Stamford Advocate, retrieved May 17, 2010, from General Reference Center Gold

Silverman, F. (2005, April 24). A deposit on water bottles:
Clear contents, murky issue. The New York Times, retrieved April 24, 2010, from Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center
Stannard, E. (2009, February 23). State eyes water bottle fee:
Nickel deposit more than a drop in the bucket to augment budget. New Haven Register, retrieved April 21, 2010, from Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center