Michigan's bottle deposit

Howard Meyerson is a former colleague and an outstanding conservation writer. But this column will not make his greatest hits collection.

Michigan's deposit law is a huge success. Retailers have opposed it since before it was overwhelmingly approved by voters in 1976. Now (and for the last dozen years or so) they've been all for recycling -- as long as they're not involved. And they have not stepped up to the plate to fund an alternative with a reasonable chance of success. Even worse, they toss out nonsense like this: 

Dechow and some pals decided to see what drivers were tossing out on the highway. They visited the Kent County Landfill where they tore open the trash bags used in the Adopt-A-Highway Program. "We went through a ton of litter collected from highways and found as many deposit bottles as non-deposit bottles," she said.

"Those were a minuscule amount compared to the other items."

That's hard proof that water bottle litter is not a problem? Come on.