DC Council member boat tour shows why her ‘bottle bill’ is needed

in-article-vertical-video float right padding-left px width px key media only screen and max-width px in-article-vertical-video float none padding-left px in-article-vertical-video connatix video caption width px significant tnvbNcaMHUrl margin-bottom px padding px px background D text-align center font-weight bold color fff border-radius px connatix video caption margin-bottom px margin-top font-size px color font-weight text-align left display none This page contains a video which is being blocked by your ad blocker In order to view the video you must disable your ad blocker new Image src https capi connatix com tr si token be c -c - acb-af - a ccca cid c ffed c- - c -b f- c d a cnx cmd push function cnx playerId bc b - b- e d-b b - e mediaId ae c a -d c - c-b - a f e a render fb cc eea fef db dd b e function renderError playerApi if renderError playerApi typeof playerApi getSize function var size playerApi getSize var captionElements document querySelectorAll connatix video caption var captionElementsArray captionElements captionElementsArray forEach el if el size el style width size width px el style display block DC Council member shows why her bottle bill is needed with a boat tour Ward D C Council member Brianne Nadeau took activists and others along for a boat ride on the Anacostia River on Wednesday to illustrate the need for provision she has introduced which she says will effect in less trash in the river Launching from the boat ramp at Anacostia Park the tour went north to Kingman Island Along the way pieces of trash especially floating plastic bottles were evident along the shoreline and floating in the river The Recycling Refund and Litter Reduction Amendment Act creates a beverage container deposit scheme in the District requiring retailers to charge a -cent deposit on eligible beverage containers Consumers receive a refund when they return empty containers for recycling The effort would be administered by a nonprofit funded by beverage distributors and regulated by the Department of Force and the Surroundings The four horsemen of the water quality apocalypse in the Anacostia River are sediment sewage industrial pollutants and trash announced Chris Williams president of the Anacostia Watershed Society and pilot of the boat Williams disclosed the river s soundness has improved greatly over the last decade but there s still a lot to do especially when it comes to the presence of trash He stated the so-called bottle bill will conclusion in cleaner water in D C For decades companies like Coca-Cola Deer Park Pepsi have been polluting our communities and have had no responsibility for collecting the containers they ve been putting out in our region explained Nadeau who chairs the Committee on Residents Works and Operations And now if this passes they will have to pay to do that Related stories DC Council proposes bottle bill requiring -cent deposit on cans and bottles New bill aims to pull plastic bottles out of the Anacostia River Evaluation D C bag tax is working Hundreds of supporters clean up the Anacostia River banks Mayor Muriel Bowser also opposes the measure saying it would increase costs to consumers and businesses Nadeau explained there is no evidence a bottle bill in any other jurisdiction has resulted in higher costs Nadeau added that states with similar laws have seen immediate and substantial reductions in bottles and cans entering the waste stream driven by strong incentives for residents visitors and collectors to redeem containers Michigan disclosed a return rate while Maine achieved These programs also significantly cut other forms of litter They fear that if we can pass this bottle bill in the District of Columbia other states will be able to do it as well Nadeau revealed commenting on efforts in Maryland to pass a similar measure We re trying to make it as simple as manageable just cents She noted with the change in regime in Richmond a similar effort might take hold there as well D C s bottle bill now goes to the Committee on Transportation and the Ecosystem chaired by Ward Council member Charles Allen Source