Mon~bly Plane~ A PUBLICATION OF THE ASSOCIATED STUDENTS
November 1982 Volume 4 No. 1
ENVIRONMENTAL CENTER WESTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
The Bottle Bill Returns by Guy Roberts On November 2, Washington voters may ch(X)se to put a five cent deposit on beverage containers sold in this state. The sponsor of Initiative 414 is an alliance called Citizens for a Cleaner Washington {CCW). The groups director, Bob Swanson, is convinced the bill will reduce litter in recreation areas and along roadsides, increase recycling, reduce solid waste, and strengthen Washington's econcmy by creating jobs while conserving energy and resources. In addition, Swanson and the CC'W reason that the public's overall interest in recycling will increase once they begin returning containers for their deposit. Initiative 414's nickname, the "Bottle Bill," is sanewhat misleading. In addition to glass bottles, aluminum cans and even plastic containers will have a five cent deposit. This is the third time a deposit initiative has been put before the voters in Washington. Despite widespread public approval of similar initiatives in the past, there has always been a powerful and highly visible OW)Sition, backed by many whose businesses would be effected by the new law. Out of ten attempts to pass deposit initiatives in other states all but two have failed, with the industry outspending recycling advocates by ratios as large as 67 to 1 in Washington in 1970, and 45 to 1 in r.bntana in 1980. In addition to the usual media blitz aimed at confupinq the voter about the bottle bill, OH?OJ1ents are trying to turn grocery store shoppers into walking billboards by using sacks printed with "No on 414" messages.
Please Recycle
This o~ition to I-414 has been organized and funded by a group called the Carmittee for Litter Control and Recycling {CI.CR). Members of the carmittee include local and national bottlers and distributors, grocers, some labor unions, and independent recyclers. In a recent letter in the Bellingham Herald, Gene TUrra, President of the Washington State Recycling Association and co-chairman of CT.CR stated that passage of I-414 would cause unem-ployment, waste energy and resources, increase the cost of beverages to the consumer, generate unsanitary conditions in grocery stores and put recyclers out of business. The comnittee also believes that Washington's r-Ddel Litter Control and Recycling Act {MlCRA) is solving the state's litter and solid waste disposal problems.
The MI..CRA was passed ten years ago. It requires fast food restaurants, retail grocers, soft drink and beer bottlers, dairies and other potential sources of litter to help absorb the costs of litter control. $170 million in taxes were collected last year and about 800 youth were employed by the state to pick up bottles, cans, food wrappers and other waste. According to the Everett Herald, since t h e ~ was passed on unreturned bottles, litter along roadways has been reduced by 621. The total anount of litter tiara.Jghout the state has been reduced by 131. But with the act only 10% of Washington's waste is recycled, and according to Bob Swanson, that includes only 20% of the beverage containers sold in Washington. continued beck page
The Greening of the PACs by David Goldsmith The Reagan Administration's relentless assault on the environment has propelled environmental groups into rrore sophisticated forms of political activism. As wilderness areas, natural resources, and clean air are increasingly threatened by econanic interests, environmental groups are organizing to becane a powerful political force known as the "Green Vote." In the past, environmentalists have avoided electoral politics, in part because environmental issues have rarely determined election results. This year, however, they will have spent nearly $2 million on 1982 election campaigns, on the assLnTption that unrest over In-terior Secretary James Watt and the Reagan Administration's en-vironmental policies will guide many voters' decisions.
Behind this surge in activism is the formation of rrore than 30 state Political Action carmittees {PACs) to raise rroney and recruit volunteers for candidates who support environmental issues. Five national groups, including the Sierra Club, Environmental Action, Friends of the Earth, the Solar lobby and the League of Conservation Voters have coordinated major campaign efforts this year. Environmentalists recognize that they will probably never be able to match corportate PACs dollar for dollar. It is estimated that the arrount spent by corporations, trade associations and 1ndependent PACs will exceed $300 million for the 1982 elections. But enviranental PACs intend to carpensate for their lack of rroney by providing volunteers, carrpaign expertise and issue appeal. Through continued back page