Bottle prices jump

Flyers found recently on vending machines throughout campus report a new law proposed by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation regarding the costs of bottled
beverages.

Based on the legislation, the cost of bottled waters and sodas rose from $1.30 to $1.35 after a court order was issued this past October.

According to the New York State Bottle Bill Returnable Container Act, all water products sold in New York State must be labeled with a deposit of at least 5 cents.

The law applies to beverage containers such as plastic bottle, can or jar, weighing less than a gallon or 3.78 liters, and intended for use or consumption in New York.

The Bottle Bill Resource Guide states that the deposit-refund system was established by the beverage industry "as a means of guaranteeing the return of glass bottles to be washed, refilled and resold," and the law requires the refundable deposit "to ensure a high rate of recycling or reuse."

The DEC reported that over the last 26 years the act has achieved "significant impacts to create a cleaner and healthier New York" with 90 billion containers recycled at no cost to local governments.

"Well as small as the increase may seem, incremental changes everywhere add up to a significant amount," said public affairs major and senior Glenn Apolinar. "I know I use leftover change all of the time and maybe one of these days I'll be short."