[act-ma] Rally to support the Bottle Bill Update, Wed. 10/7, 9am

[Phillip Sego, Mass Sierra Club]

We need YOUR help to pass the Bottle Bill Update!

The Sierra Club, MASSPIRG, and many other environmental groups, have been 
working to pass legislation to update the bottle bill, adding water, sports 
drinks, teas, and other beverages. These bottles are mostly made of PET 
plastic. When placed in our landfills, they take up 10 times more space than 
typical trash. When littered, they never break down. They’re made from 99% 
petroleum. And blue-bins capture only 22% of beverage containers, while the 
bottle bill redeems/recycles nearly 80%.

But despite our bottle bill’s overwhelming success and popularity, the 
bottlers are still against it. Meanwhile, litter is steadily becoming worse, 
and over 1 billion beverage containers per year are filling up our few 
remaining landfills.

We need your help! We’re asking YOU to help us pass the Bottle Bill Update!

1. Come to the Rally and Press Conference:  Wed. Oct 7, 2009, 9am, State
House, Bowdoin St. entrance.

2. Come to the Hearings: Wed. Oct 7, 2009, 10am, State House, Room 1a.

3. Contact your State Representative and State Senator: If you know who your
legislators are, visit www.mass.gov/legis/memmenu.htm to contact them. If
you're unsure, visit www.wheredoivotema.com/bal/myelectioninfo.php. Ask them
to Support the Updated Bottle Bill, H3515

4. Has your City/Town passed a resolution of support? Visit
www.massrecycle.org/bottlebill/resolution.html to see the list that have. If
yours isn't on the list, contact your City Council, Board of Aldermen, or
Selectmen and ask them to pass the municipal resolution.

5. Are you part of an organization that can endorse our efforts? If so, can
you distribute flyers and gather signatures to show legislators that the
public supports the bottle bill. A draft flyer and poster are at
www.massbottlebill.org. Feel free to modify this to suit your organization’s
focus.

6. Send a letter to the editor of your local paper. Sample letters are at
www.massbottlebill.org

7. Contact other community groups that use bottle and can drives to support
their programs. Scouts, school athletic programs, social service non-profits
across the state use bottle and can drives to supplement their budget.

8. Other Ideas? If you have other ideas, please share them with us!

9. Volunteer! There's lots you can do to help pass the Bottle Bill Update!
Contact phil at sierraclubmass.org for more information.

Thanks for your support!

Phillip Sego, phil at sierraclubmass.org
Massachusetts Sierra Club Bottle Bill Project