On a recent trip to Arizona I was surprised to find that there was no place to return my bottles and cans. When I asked where the bottle depot was located, I was directed to a place that sold hard liquor. When I asked what to do with the empties, I was told to throw them in the garbage. I was shocked!

Vancouver has a very effective, curbside recycling program. On garbage day you will see the 'blue boxes' lined up along the curb with sorted papers, plastic and glass. At school, returning juice boxes is a regular fund raiser. I wondered why the people of Vancouver were any different than those from Arizona.

I think it takes the will of the govt. plus a business that knows how to make it profitable. Heres some more info on a system that seems to be working for everyone:

Encorp Pacific (Canada) operates on the basis of several principles:

To develop and operate a system which provides consumer-friendly and convenient return points throughout the province
To manage the system in a cost-effective manner that has the lowest impact on consumer shelf prices
To run a cost-based system in which each container type pays its own costs with no cross-subsidization
To divert used products from landfill and incineration
To find useable end products which maximize the value of the recovered commodities
To treat all brand owners equitably

They are not the only recycling business in town, but they are widely known and appreciated. I also think that they are actually making a profit. Need work? Think recycling.

Earth day is April 24th.