Throwing Money On The Highway

So I’m driving home yesterday and I pass a car going in the opposite direction with the driver’s side door open. First I wondered why the door was open, and then I realized that the rear passenger was throwing his Pringles’ tube and empty drink bottle onto the highway. What a lazy mofo! The NC General Assembly is considering requiring a deposit on drink bottles and cans. The current proposal would require customers to pay an extra 10 cents on each can and bottle purchased. This deposit could cut the amount of litter along state highways. The deposit would create a reason for people to turn the cans and bottles in at designated collection sites to get money back. Eleven states already have so-called "bottle bills" in place and have seen a huge decrease in the amount of bottle along the highways. North Carolina currently spends about $16 million a year cleaning roadsides, and officials said about half of the litter is cans and plastic and glass bottles. Although I have no desire to pay an extra 10 cent for an already over-priced 20oz Dr. Pepper, I feel this program will decrease the amount of trash along the highway as well as the amount of tax money spent to pick up after lazy mofo. The program will fund itself and cut back on the $16 million a year NC is currently spending to clean the roadside. In light of today’s exhausted economy, this is the type of unconventional measures we need to take to reduce spending. The money not redeemed would be used to pay for the program and help fund other highway cleanup efforts.