thaddeh t1_j7vymt2 wrote
Reply to comment by SereneDreams03 in Oregon's beverage industry cooperative pushes to impose Bottle Deposit in Washington... by Ravenparadoxx
Have you ever dealt with the can return in Oregon?
You have to go to a room that has these machines that are broken half the time. The room itself reeks of spilled sugary soda gone bad. It is infested with yellow jackets attracted to the sugar. You are limited to a certain number of containers per day. The employees that work in these places are miserable.
silicon1 t1_j7wrhsx wrote
Sounds like the Department of Licensing but with Angry Insects and additional stupid rules.
SereneDreams03 t1_j7w4f4x wrote
I've seen the machines, but no, I haven't done the bottle drop myself. It sounds like you can just get the blue bags and drop them off if you don't care about the deposit and don't want to deal with lines. And the limit of containers is 350 per day, which is far more than I use during my current recycling pickup time period of every 2 weeks. I could go months before collecting 350 containers.
As for the working and sanitary conditions, how is it different from a recycling center in Washington? Sounds like employee reviews are similar https://www.indeed.com/cmp/Bottledrop/reviews
https://www.indeed.com/cmp/Waste-Connections/reviews?fcountry=US&floc=Vancouver%2C+WA
I'm really not that familiar with the Bottledrop program in Oregon, so I appreciate the discussion. I'm definitely not sold on it, and it does seem to have some disadvantages and problems, but they also seem to do a better job in getting materials recycled. https://www.columbian.com/news/2018/oct/07/comparing-washington-oregon-oversight-on-recycling/
https://productstewardship.net/news/recovery-and-recycling-rates-oregon-and-washington
thaddeh t1_j7w5nki wrote
Ten cents a can, at 350 cans that's $35. Nice to be able to just throw that away I guess.
ommanipadmehome t1_j7wo8j5 wrote
You pay extra upfront. Must be nice to be able to afford a higher grocery bill.
thaddeh t1_j7wob9p wrote
That too.
SereneDreams03 t1_j7w7ic3 wrote
You were the one complaining about the can return, I was just suggesting an alternative option.
The current rate for recycling pickup in my area is $9.17 a month, so if I could just drop it off locally for free, I'd be saving money. Or even better, wait in line and get paid for my containers.
NoMoOmentumMan t1_j7wc28k wrote
>Or even better, wait in line and get paid for my containers.
You aren't getting paid. You're returning a good and getting a DEPOSIT back. So that means every bottle and can suddenly becomes $.05-$.10 more to buy.
SereneDreams03 t1_j7wghld wrote
That is a good point, but the math still works out that it would be cheaper to pay a 5-10 cent deposit, and return the containers than the current system where I pay 9 bucks a month for pickup. $9.17 would get me 92 to 183 containers per month if I didn't return them. That is far more than I currently use, and if I did return the containers I would be compensated for the deposit.
NoMoOmentumMan t1_j7wj76c wrote
You've openly stated you've never returned cans/bottles, so you're not really qualified to opine on the subject matter as it pertains to the practicality of the experience.
Currently, my household gets its groceries delivered, so can return for me is a special, often dedicated trip. It is (roughly) a 15-mile round trip to do so, so $2.75 in gas.
We do grocery delivery now partly due to can/bottle return. Do you know how quickly you want the whole system burned to the ground when you load up the cans when you go to pick up groceries to find out the kiosk is broken/closed? Now it's an hour long, 45 mile ordeal, thst costs $6.00 in gas because you've go to go to another store.
How about the cart? You want to do your grocery shopping in a cart someone (me) just used to haul 6 bags of cans/bottles in?
Then, there is the system itself. Every store is required to take any can back (think QFC had to take Safeway Select cans back, even though they don't sell them). Only QFC doesn't regularly download updated lists from the state or willfully excludes other brands' cans. They will still technically take them, but you have to go to the service desk and wait in line and do that whole song and dance. No thank you.
Safety.
I'm a 250lb bearded dude that knows the rules for avoiding getting into shit. I was nearly stabbed returning cans once by someone, unfortunately, having a mental crisis. It takes a tremendous amount of privlage to avoid this for many people.
Those are just a few of the madningly frustrating aspects. Curbside pickup is an exceptional value for dollar at $9.17/month. Especially since you'll likely still be paying most of that for paper/plastic/no-deposit curbside pick up.
Edit to add last scentence.
SereneDreams03 t1_j7wmei1 wrote
>You've openly stated you've never returned cans/bottles, so you're not really qualified to opine on the subject matter as it pertains to the practicality of the experience.
I wasn't offering my opinion on the practicality of the experience. That is why I specifically said I was trying to learn more about the system. It's not an entirely foreign concept to me. I've recycled in other areas, just not specifically in Oregon. And as I stated before, I appreciate the insight into their system, no need for the condescension.
>Curbside pickup is an exceptional value for dollar at $9.17/month.
I still don't see how this is preferable, I live in an urban area, not rural like yourself, and I don't get groceries delivered so I could just drop off my containers when I went to the store right? And if I didn't care about getting the deposit back, I'd still be spending less than the $9.17 a month I currently pay, and wouldn't have to deal with the hassle of the machines.
NoMoOmentumMan t1_j7wqal2 wrote
>I live in an urban area, not rural like yourself
I live in Detroit.
>I could just drop off my containers when I went to the store, right?
More than once, I've gone to the store, and the kiosk isn't open. Now you need groceries and you've got a car full of trash.
I've addressed all of your impressions, and they are just not the what winds up playing out. Seriously, take the L and trust a primary source.
>I'd still be spending less than the $9.17 a month.
This is a red herring. What about the recycle bin for paper and such? I have that here and pay for it, but I still have to hassle with can deposits. I could not return them and forgo my deposit because of the hassle, which is completely incongruent with the intent that it will increase recycling.
Seriously, take the L.
SereneDreams03 t1_j7ws34z wrote
>I live in Detroit.
Then why are you commenting about the Oregon bottle dropoff? That is misleading as fuck. You are talking about a completely different system there.
>More than once, I've gone to the store, and the kiosk isn't open. Now you need groceries and you've got a car full of trash.
In Oregon, you can just drop it off in a blue bag if you dont want to wait for a kiosk https://bottledrop.com/locations/?question=7977&ans=7980&text=Gresham&latLng_lng=-122.4356657&latLng_lat=45.5044715
>Seriously, take the L and trust a primary source.
How are you a primary source if you don't even live in Oregon?
> have that here and pay for it
In many parts of Oregon, they don't, though. Plus, they have less material that needs to be picked up.
NoMoOmentumMan t1_j7wuv4x wrote
>Then why are you commenting about the Oregon bottle dropoff?
Because this is a Washington sub, and I lived there for near to 4 decades and still have an interest in the area (in real property and in practicality as I'm there regularly) Furthermore, I've returned cans in Oregon, and the system is functionally the same as what I have to deal with hith in Michigan. This is also a discussion of a post about a bill being lobbied for in Washington, so not even spefic to Oregon.
>That is misleading as fuck. You are talking about a completely different system there.
That's your impression, so I'm not going to shit on it. But, they are the exact same equipment (I have spent a ton of time in the Columbia River Gorge area and have dealt with can return in rural areas and in Portland.
That is the 2nd time you have made assumptions , and it bit you. Maybe stop doing that?
>In many parts of Oregon, they don't, though.
So, no curbside recycle pickup at all? Paper is just tossed? Non-depoait glass/aluminum/plastic too? Sounds like 1981, I'd advise passing on that regression.
>Plus, they have less material that needs to be picked up.
Less isn't zero.
You never addressed a ton of the problems I presented (closed kiosks with a car full of cans/bottles, safety, time and money costs, dirty carts), all of which exist regardless of geography. You came into this saying you didn't know, amd were just asking questions (though it would appear you live in the Vancouver, WA area based on post history, so it stands to reason you're more experienced than you're letting on).
Just be transparent. You are a cheap ass who wants their $9.17 a month back, damn the consequences.
Anyway, good chat. It was nice to engage in some rhetoric.
I'm out.
SereneDreams03 t1_j7wyf14 wrote
>That is the 2nd time you have made assumptions , and it bit you. Maybe stop doing that?
Listen, I tried to be polite and learn more about the Oregon system in particular because that is what this article is proposing to expand to Washington. I've recycled in many different areas, but i was curious about the particulars of their systme. But it seems like I know more about that system than you, and since you've been condescending as fuck the whole time, and since you don't even live in Washington anymore, you can fuck off.
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