More Bottles to Count

The Bottled Water Craze

New York State’s “Bigger Better Bottle Bill” gives people the opportunity to get money for turning in their empty water bottles. Not everyone is happy with the bill, or even think that it will have a positive effect on the environment.

People have been collecting and turning in their beer and Coca-Cola bottles for money since the early 80’s. Bottles water did not really exist and become popular until recently. With so many people drinking bottled water now, state lawmakers have decided to include water bottles for redemption, encouraging people to recycle these empties along with their coke cans.

Expensive for Some, Encouraging for Others

But many small convenience stores are not taking peoples’ empty water bottles. Business owners like Paul NoJaim of NoJaim Brother’s Super Market in downtown Syracuse, say it is very costly to accept the bottles.

"We're supposed to sell wholesome food in a safe environment but the reality is we're forced to comply with a law that's very dirty and that requires us to clean bottles and an awful lot of pest control and it requires a lot of labor… it's a very expensive proposition," said NoJaim.

He also thinks that the law is not encouraging people to recycle. NoJaim said that people are still carelessly throwing out their garbage and it is people living off of the streets trying to make some money, who are cashing in on these bottles.

Yet bottle pickers like Mary McCabe were happy to hear the bill had passed and see it as an added opportunity to benefit from what others throw away.

N-C-C News Reporter Leigh Paterson took to the streets to see what people were saying about the bill.