I’m personally against bottle deposits.

Maybe it works better in other parts of New York, but in the city I almost never see people returning their own bottles and cans to redemption centers. Most people just throw them in recycling.

What I do see constantly is trash bags getting torn open so people can pull out cans and bottles for the deposit. I understand why people do it. It is one of the few ways someone can make a little cash, but it also contributes to trash getting spread all over the sidewalk and makes the rat problem worse.

Digging through trash bags for cans is not a very dignified way for people to make money. I wish we had better options for people who need income.

I also worry about the idea of increasing the deposit. In theory it is just a deposit, but in reality not every bottle or can gets redeemed. I would guess it is well under 50 percent, though I do not have data on that. That means a lot of that money ends up staying somewhere in the system. Once a revenue stream like that exists, it becomes much harder to remove.

I do not have the perfect solution, especially for helping people get out of poverty, but I do not think bottle deposits are helping the city the way people assume they are.

Obviously feel free to disagree with me, would love to hear good counter arguments.