In support of a bottle bill: A letter to the Minnesota House

In a letter addressed primarily to Representative Melissa Hortman, I expressed support of a measure she introduced in the 2007-2008 legislative session, which would essentially require the wholesalers of products sold in plastic bottles to account for the number of pounds of plastic distributed each year (less the weight of product contents), and have a plan to gather plastic from the public to be recycled. The measure would set certain recycling expectations of each company, equivalent to a fixed percentage of the number of pounds they had sold or distributed the prior year. Click here to review what was at one time referred to as HR 4046.

My initial emails to Representative Hortman were sent last fall. I tried again with the commencement of the 2009 session in January. In her email response, she indicated that she was basically "floating the idea" when her bill was introduced last year, in the hopes of having it discovered by citizens like myself, thus allowing her to determine the extent of public support for the measure. She has mine.

In fact, in addition to the control of plastic bottles, I suggested that legislation might include the plastic cups that are distributed in the service of fountain drinks and beverages distributed at fast food restaurants, coffee shops, gas stations and convenience stores.

To read my letter to the House, just click here.

In addition to Representative Hortman, I sent copies the letter to congressional colleagues I understood to be co-authors of the bill, including: Representative Erin Murphy, Representative Mindy Greiling, Representative Linda Slocum, and Representative Tina Liebling. Further, I shared the letter with members of the Environmental Policy & Oversight Committee: Representative Kent Eken (Chair), Representative Paul Gardner (Vice Chair), Representative Denny McNamara (Lead GOP). And finally, I sent a copy of the letter to Lyndon Carlson, the Representative from the district where Julie and I reside.

[Note: To protect recipients from spamming, I have removed email addresses from this copy of the correspondence.]

© 2009, Mike D. Anderson. All rights reserved.