Tuesday, February 28, 2006

The unintended effect

I remember Bottle Sam. He made his living walking from Oakes to Ellendale and back picking up empty pop bottles. The deposit was 3 cents as I recall. I don't know how he got enough to make it work. But he tried.

When I go to Michigan I always make sure I have a few empty pop bottles I rescue from the Recyle Bin. It pays for lunch.

Michigan has a "Bottle Law". They pay you to bring them your empty pop bottles. I know it's to get waste off the street but it's hard not to help them out some. I wonder how many empty bottles migrate from Illinois and Indiana every day. I mean I was going anyway and....

I'm a bad guy. But they started it. It's hard to pass up.

So, hate me. Illinois from time to time threatens to implement such a law. It does make for cleaned out garbage cans. People spend their days in Truck Stops looking for empty containers and cashing them in. In some cases people actually steal cans and bottles from the back of the stores who paid them to bring the others in. Ultimate recycling.

Unintended consequences is what this is all about. Same thing in Europe. They do this same silly thing. Now a prime import from Belgium to the Netherlands is empty pop bottles. Read all about it here.

No good deed goes unpunished.




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