THE BOTTLED UP BILL

Tennesseans annually consume the contents of 4.5 billion plastic bottles. Too bad we can't consume the bottles too. There is, however, an excellent bill in the state legislature that would correct this problem, but the convenience store industry and their lobbyists don't like it. Over half the legislators don't support it either, even though 80% of Tennesseans thought it was a good idea, according to an MTSU poll conducted in September 2009. Lobbyists twisted a similar survey's claim that only 5% of our litter comes from plastic bottles. If 4.5 billion bottles is 5% of our state's litter, we wouldn't be able to see the sun for the trash in Tennessee! They claim that it's too costly, but the only expense would be to the investors of the recycle centers and manufacturers who buy the bottles to use in their products. They also claim that people in border towns would drive across state lines to save the 5 cent deposit. Times are hard but with gas approaching $3 per gallon, I wouldn't drive across town to save a nickel a bottle. You can always tell when lobbyists are lying, their lips are moving.