recycle rant

Here in Connecticut every time you buy a plastic bottle, they charge you 5 EXTRA cents. This doesn't sound like a lot, but I rarely buy just one water bottle, it's usually by the case. They are also not required to list this "deposit" in the sale price, so your total is often a couple dollars more than you plan to pay. Still, not a huge deal. Most stores have a little "bottle room" (many of which are inhabited by homeless since they are accessible 24hrs and not inside the actual store) where you can recycle your bottles and get the "deposit" as a credit back to that store. This sounds great! However, you can only recycle bottles at the store the bottle was purchased. I shop at many stores, so this is a pain! Also, 98% of the time, the machine is "full" so you can't even put your bottles in. Usually by this time I'm so sick of hauling huge bags of bottles around I just leave them in the room for someone else to claim.

In the beginning I used to recycle all bottles. But this little process got old real quick because I rarely received my "deposit" back. I quit recycling and ignored the phone calls from the apartment complex about throwing recyclables in the dumpster.

During one of my nesting stints I decided it was time to empty the completely overflowing bin of bottles. Since Walmart machines take just about every brand of bottle I decided we'd try to recycle there again. IMMEDIATELY upon entering the bottle room I remembered why I don't put up with this crap. Besides the overwhelming stench of urine, every machine except one was full. AND in front of the machine stood this...

I finally snapped this pic about 30 minutes into her sorting. She kept looking at me and saying in a surprised voice "Oh, are you waiting for this machine?" I told her 3 times, "Yes, it is the only one that isn't full.". I don't know what possessed me to wait my turn and get my credit, but it WILL NOT happen again. I'm all for a better environment and all, but don't appreciate being FORCED to recyle or pay the consequences... literally.