Why doesn’t Washington State have a bottle and can redemption program? But what you can do to make a difference

The bottle and can redemption program also known as the “Bottle Bill” allows people to get paid for returning containers (i.e. cans, bottles, etc.) As of 2026, 10 U.S. states participate in this program: Oregon, California, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Connecticut, and Vermont.

Oregon was the first state to pass this bill in 1971 which started in 1972, and was designed to reduce pollution on beaches and highways. In 2010, BottleDrop was implemented in which Oregon developed redemption centers to modernize the process. This is where Oregon resident participants can visit full-service BottleDrop Redemption Centers and where one can do any of the following: drop off Green and Blue bags, use self-serve bottle and can return machines, use their first of its kind Stream Count AI bulk counting technology (where available), purchase Green bags, pick up Blue bags, get a new/replacement account card, get up to 50 containers hand-counted by BottleDrop staff, or use a kiosk to withdraw funds as cash or store credit (at participating Plus retailers only). Aside from visiting any of these full-service BottleDrop Redemption Centers in Oregon, Oregon resident participants can return up to 350 containers per person per day most retail locations, for example, Walmart and for stores that don’t use the automated machines, they generally accept 144 containers per day per person. Given an Oregon resident participant receives 10 cents per recycled container that’s $14.40 per 144 containers per store and $35 per full-service BottleDrop Redemption Center they visit in a day. Yes, granted Oregon resident participants only have time for one full-service BottleDrop Redemption Center due to the hours the center operates and the location of them are most likely far apart to not allow travel to multiple in one day, however the money that’s earned from this program helps individuals in all walks of life.

Aside from helping Washington State residents being able to achieve their financial goals by having this Bottle Bill, it would also promote more residents to recycle and not litter. The Washington State Department of Ecology released the results of the 2022 Washington Statewide Litter Study, which measured the types and amounts of litter across different site types in Washington. Cascadia staff collected and sorted litter from 182 randomly selected sites, including roadways, on-off ramps, rest areas, parks, and recreation areas. From these samples, they estimated that 37.8 million pounds of waste is littered each year in Washington—or 4.8 pounds per person. The most commonly littered items by weight are glass beer bottles, construction and demolition debris, and cardboard boxes. By type of item, the most commonly littered items are cigarette butts, construction and demolition debris, and food wrappers and snack bags.

Also, the study goes on to say in its “Recommendations” section that since “studies show that people are more likely to litter if there is already litter on the ground, cleanup efforts are crucial to both reducing and preventing litter.”

But cleanup efforts by themselves can’t fix Washington’s litter problem. “Behavior change campaigns, improved collection infrastructure, targeted legislation, and new funding sources are all necessary to stop litter at its source,” the study says.

The article on Kiro7.com news discusses Washington needs “improved collection infrastructure” which means we need the Bottle Bill. It’d benefit the environment, improve our litter problem, improve our homeless situation, alleviate the cost-of-living expenses for Washington residents, as well as help all walks of life Washington residents with their financial goals. All walks of life Washington residents include, but not limited to: those not of legal age for employment, adults of all ages, homeless people, middle class, single people, retirees, those with kids, those in abusive relationships where one partner controls their primary income source, and more.

You can take action and submit this super quick and easy form at this link: https://action.storyofstuff.org/letter/washington-message-your-reps

to get Washington’s Reps to implement the Bottle Bill in Washington. As their form states: “A Washington State Bottle Bill would protect treasured marine species in the Pacific Northwest, help our fishing industries, limit the harmful impacts of microplastics to human health, and more.”

By: Carly Calabrese, Mylocalpress.com writer & highly motivated entrepreneur that is open for freelance & remote only U.S. based writing & editing positions/projects for individuals, businesses, etc. If you are an editor OR know of an editor that hires for this, please email me: info@worksolutionstoday.com. Thank you! 🙏 Also, founder & manager of a Covid-19 awareness & support blog visit: corona-virus-awarenessandsupport.blogspot.com