[GreenYes] NYC: It gets even better ... Not

["Marjorie J. Clarke" <mclarke@shiva.hunter.cuny.edu>]

Hi all,

More detail on the latest travesty:

Rick Muller at the Manhattan boro prez' ofc says that along with killing 
collection of MGP, they are turning the NY state five cent deposit into a 
tax.  I guess this is ostensibly to recover the unredeemed deposits (the 
nickels that people pay but reside with the retailer or manufacturer when 
they don't bring back all the deposit bottles and cans.)  So since metal 
glass and plastic are now to become trash, it makes sense not to reward 
people for bringing these containers back to the stores for recycling 
either, right?  So they will ALL be thrown away.  If this ever were to go 
through, trying to undo this damage will be nearly impossible.  The 
retailers won't want to start collecting bottles and cans again.  They had 
fought the nickel deposit bill for 10 years before it was passed the first 
time.  Rick points out also, that the homeless, who depend on the nickel 
deposit system, will be out of a job, so to speak.  Today's statistic on 
the news is that NYC now has more homeless than at any time in modern 
history.  This turn of events will make these homeless even more 
desperate.  Can higher crime be far behind?  Doesn't it make more sense to 
get state legislation passed to collect the unredeemed deposits?  Gov. 
Cuomo had been screaming about this for years, pleading with the 
legislature to pass such legislation, but they wouldn't.

Is there anybody out there who can give us some economic figures that we 
can use to stop this from going any further?  Please email me.

Maggie Clarke, Ph.D.
Environmental Scientist and Educator
http://everest.hunter.cuny.edu/~mclarke/index.htm
New York City 
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