Puget Soundkeeper volunteers pick up thousands of pounds of trash during our cleanups, much of which consists of bottles and cans. While we work tirelessly to clean up this litter before it enters our environment, we still need the state legislature’s help to reduce this unnecessary waste! It is time for Washington to join the 10 other U.S. states with an implemented bottle bill. Evidence from existing bottle bill states shows dramatic (around 80%) reduction in litter associated with beverage containers.
HB 1607 will reduce waste and increase recycling rates specifically for beverage containers by creating a refund program. Currently, we only recycle 30% of beverage containers in WA, meaning that most bottle and cans are dumped in landfills or littered in our common spaces.
Take action today by sending a comment to your legislators here using this link: https://app.leg.wa.gov/pbc/bill/1607
Your comment can be as short as one sentence! Something super simple, like “Please vote yes to protect Puget Sound from litter and plastic pollution,” goes a long way in showing legislators that voters are tracking this issue and are urging their support.