Gina Goldenberg
Former Creative Associate, Editorial & Creative Team, The Public Interest Network
Former Creative Associate, Editorial & Creative Team, The Public Interest Network
Flavored water, vitamin-enhanced water, sports drinks, energy drinks … Many of the bottled products that end up in Massachusetts landfills and incinerators didn’t even exist when the state adopted the Bottle Bill in 1982.
That’s why bottle trash is going up in the state, and that’s why on Sept. 13 MASSPIRG Executive Director Janet Domenitz testified before the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utility and Energy, urging the committee’s support for updating the four decade-old container deposit and recycling law.
In her testimony, Janet emphasized how updating the Bottle Bill would divert reusable material out of our trash and keep litter off our streets and parks. The proposed update would expand the bill to cover bottled water, sports drinks, nips and more, and would raise the deposit from 5¢ to 10¢.
MASSPIRG encourages state lawmakers to take action and modernize the Bottle Bill.
Photo: MASSPIRG and 52 other Massachusetts-based organizations have endorsed the updated Bottle Bill. Credit: Staff Pictured: Elizabeth Saunders, Massachusetts Director, Clean Water Action (top left); Kirstie Pecci, Director, Zero Waste Project, Conservation Law Foundation (top right); Bill Lippincott, Chair, Don’t Waste ME (middle left); Chris Powicki, Member, Sierra Club and Bourne, MA resident (middle right); Janet Domenitz, Executive Director, MASSPIRG (bottom left); Megan Stokes, Development Director, Community Action Works (bottom right)
Former Creative Associate, Editorial & Creative Team, The Public Interest Network