NEWS!
MAJOR HEARINGS THIS WEEK: TUESDAY, APRIL 29, AND WEDNESDAY, APRIL 30. We need you there! Click on Legislation for the latest.
UT SURVEY SHOWS 80.4% OF TENNESSEANS SUPPORT A CONTAINER DEPOSIT. A survey conducted March 2-20 by the University of Tennessee’s Social Science Research Institute in Knoxville shows that more than four out of five Tennesseans—80.4%—support a 5-cent deposit on beverage containers as a way to increase recycling and reduce litter. Click on the following links to see a summary of the survey questions and results, demographic breakdowns, and our press release.
Summary of survey results
Demographic breakdowns #1: support 5-cent deposit?
Demographic breakdowns #2: litter questions
Demographic breakdowns #3: recycling questions
Survey press release
POP is about . . .
(East Orange, Vermont)
… school kids learning to love recycling and disdain littering
(bottle drive at Onekana Elementary, Manistee, Mich.)
… hundreds of redemption centers creating thousands of jobs
(Four Winds Redemption Center, Livermore, Maine)
… low-income folks
earning
extra money
(reverse vending machines, Portland, Maine)
… small-business owners turning bottles
and cans into a career
(Ron Raymond, Ron's Redemption, Standish, Maine)
fiber in Dalton, Ga.)
scrap supplies increase
(Worldwise pet bowl, Calif.)
(drop-&-go kiosk at Hannaford Supermarket, Scarborough, Maine)
dollars through bottle drives
(Liverpool HS Marching Band, Liverpool, New York;
raised $3,657 in one day!)
Why do we need POP?
In addition to having some of the lowest recycling rates in the country, Tennessee has some of the worst litter:
Third Creek, Knoxville
photo by
Mark C. Campen
Lake in Soddy-Daisy
photo by Madeline Rose
photo by James Baker
Mt. Juliet: 72 percent!
photo by Marge Davis
photo by Marge Davis
photo by Ronn Duff, Tazewell
CONSIDER THESE FACTS:
Discarded bottles and cans are the number-one component of litter in Tennessee, comprising roughly half of Tennessee's roadside litter volume.
A 5-cent deposit will eliminate 80 to 90 percent of this portion of the litter stream, resulting in an overall litter reduction of at least 40 percent, perhaps more.
In addition, the bill will pay for Tennessee's existing comprehensive litter program, while removing the litter taxes on beer and soft drinks that currently provide the funding.
our children!
photo by Tom Wachter, Knoxville