LTE 10/16: Vote Yes On 2

From The Concord Journal 

Vote yes on 2

On Election Day, Nov. 4, we will have a chance to bring the current bottle deposit law into the 21st century by voting yes on ballot question 2. The current bottle bill dates from 1982, when many beverages such as sports drinks, juices, water and teas were not sold in bottles.

Non-deposit bottles outnumber deposit bottles three to one in the litter found along streets and in public parks, and are not recycled at curbside. It is estimated that the Expanded Bottle Bill will save cities and towns approximately $6.7 million a year in litter pick up and trash disposal costs. That’s why 209 cities and towns, including Concord, have passed resolutions supporting an updated bottle bill.

The opponents of Vote Yes on 2 are spending millions of dollars to try to defeat this rather mild expansion of an existing bottled that asks that more beverage containers have a refundable deposit at point of purchase. A “yes” vote will decrease litter on our roadsides, at sport events, in parks and trails and wherever people gather.

The state legislature has refused to pass an updated bottle bill for years. Now there is a choice for voters to make on Nov. 4. Please vote yes on Question 2.

— Ardis Bordman, Monument Street