Empties.. non-returnable, no deposit

All in a day's work!, originally uploaded by Cody La Bière.

One thing that really grinds my gear here in Manitoba is that the government, and frankly almost everyone is pushing for a Green Manitoba, pushing for a clean Manitoba, which includes to recycle more, but the Government doesn't really push incentives to recycle, nor do retailers (either than seeing a garbage can at a store for "plastic bag return").

Returning soda bottles, cans, and other containers.. it happens for beer here in Manitoba, but that's it. In Saskatchewan and Quebec, there are stations set up, even a special vending machine (like in Quebec grocery stores) where you can bring back your Coke bottles, milk jugs and whatnot and get a return on a deposit. Hey, that's a great idea, that way people will actually stop littering as much! But no, that's something that's too good of an idea here in Manitoba to work.

The Manitoba Government stopped charging an environmental levy on soda bottles back on April 1st, however several retailers, including the Real Canadian Stupidstore (sorry: I had to do it) still charge the fee, stating it's a "corporate policy" now. What the government should have done is replace the environmental levy with a deposit (like they do on beer, keep it the 2¢ or whatever) and pushed for retailers to take in empties, with the customer getting the two cents back in the end.

But that would not happen, it's not the "government's responsibility" to tell retailers what to do, so they won't anyways. But frankly, I'm sick of seeing empty Coke bottles lying on the road, random a-holes throwing their trash in my parents yard (as they live off the highway), and whatnot. To me, recycling seems more of a hassle to many Manitobans I know moreso than a convenience (or for the heck of it). In my own household, in a building that's shared accommodations with eight other people, people just randomly throw trash in the recycling, recycling in the trash and leave it at that.

IF Manitoba started charging a deposit (and forcing retailers to use the "fake" environmental levy as a deposit), it would get people recycling more, sure it's only 2¢, but it does add up. I know I would end up collecting all the plastic bottles I used in a month and bring it to the closest retailer/station that gives back deposit, and I'd probably have a few bucks extra each month (good for laundry coin).

In Quebec, what they did was if you had soda bottles, or any other recyclable plastic bottles, or even glass bottles (glass FTW), there would be these special vending machines set up where you would drop in your bottles/containers in the machine and it would add up how much the levy is worth (not sure how they do that), and it would print off a receipt (or give you the change) and you would get money back. Heck, their supermarkets and their dépanneurs took back beer empties! Sure more liberal than here in Manitoba. It's not THAT hard. I give props to those people who actually take in their soda empties (probably illegally) and get cash for it n Saskatchewan, atleast they're doing something about the empties instead of just putting in the trash like alot of people I know.