A letter to Bottle Bill Supporters

Hello Bottle Bill Supporters!

Happy New Year!

We have been busy finalizing details, and meeting with legislators to ensure that the bottle bill is comprehensive and works well for everyone involved. The legislative session has begun and the bill will be introduced in a couple of short weeks. We will keep you updated with details. Also, if you visit the blog http://mdbottlebill.blogspot.com/, there is a schedule of important dates for the Maryland General Assembly.

There is also a link to an article in the Gazette about the bottle bill (http://gazette.net/stories/011907/businew190005_32023.shtml ). The article has a lot of opposition written into it, so we are calling on you for action! If you are interested in writing a letter to the editor in response to the article, that would be very helpful. Useful statistics can be found on www.bottlebill.org and we have included the instructions for writing a letter to the Gazette below. Also, feel free to respond to this email to ask for any further assistance that you may need.

Please email us to inform us if you are able to write a letter. It is very important that we keep Maryland citizens informed of the importance of this bill.

THANK YOU so much for your interest and involvement!

We will be in touch very soon ~

Sincerely,

C.U.R.B

(Citizens Using Resources Better)

Gazette Information:

Send us your letters

The Gazette encourages letters on any subject of community interest. Please include a name, address and daytime and evening phone numbers for verification purposes. We edit letters for brevity, grammar and clarity. Please limit letters to one idea and 200 words. Letters must be received by noon Friday to run in the following week's publication. Because of the volume received, we cannot return or acknowledge letters not used. Use these addresses as a guide:

Carroll County: The Gazette Attn: Letters to the Editor 218 S. Main St. Mt. Airy, MD 21771 carroll@gazette.net Fax: 301-829-9101	Frederick County: The Gazette Attn: Letters to the Editor 2A N. Market St., 4th floor Frederick, MD 21701 frederick@gazette.net Fax: 301-846-2124
Montgomery County: The Gazette Attn: Letters to the Editor 1200 Quince Orchard Blvd. Gaithersburg, MD 20878 montgomery@gazette.net Fax: 301-670-7183	Prince George's County: The Gazette Attn: Letters to the Editor 8201 Corporate Drive, Suite 1200 Landover, MD 20785 princegeorges@gazette.net Fax: 301-731-2141

Oh...the intensity is growing

Check out this article in the Gazette

http://gazette.net/stories/011907/businew190005_32023.shtml

THE DETAILS ON THE PATH TO INTRODUCE A BOTTLE BILL

Remember the old Schoolhouse Rock song “I’m just a bill”? Well it has been just like that, except a lot more complicated and our bill doesn’t speak, or sing. After drafting our original bill, we approached Todd Schuler, a new Delegate from the 8^th District about sponsoring the bill. We approached Delegate Schuler for two reasons:

1) He seemed like a pretty cool guy and

2) He campaigned on the issue of the Bottle Bill and won with the issue.

Needless to say, our meeting with Delegate Schuler went smashingly and Delegate Schuler was glad to work with us, and allow us to work with him on the bill.

As we were finalizing the bill (and preparing for the Inconvenient Truth screening), we started to hear whispers of another Bottle Bill being created in Maryland. It turned out that Delegate Pete Hammen (of the 46^th District…also a pretty cool guy), with a gaggle of environmentalist groups was drafting a bottle bill. While Delegate Schuler had the energy, Delegate Hammen has the pull to make it happen, and the two working together is mind-blowing. Delegate Schuler actually was the one who told us about the bill and helped us get in contact with Delegate Hammen. We are now all working together to give Maryland the best bottle bill.

What is going to make ours the best? Well, now that you ask, our goal is not to start controversy or to fight the lobbyists, rather to make a bill that while everybody will not be happy with, most people are.

What is in the bill? Stay tuned…

So cool...

Ever wonder what you can do with recycled bottles? Well, just about everything, this is just one example!

So you want to pass a bottle bill your state……..

As many people know by now there is an extensive effort to pass a bottle bill in Maryland this up coming legislation year. Among some of the states that currently have a bottle bill include California, Connecticut, Maine, Iowa, New York and Vermont to name a few. We hope that this year Maryland can join the group of states that have already made it a point to make recycling a top priority.

Although this process has been extremely exciting, it has also taken a lot of hard work and commitment. bottlebill.org has been a heaven sent resource! For those of you now considering working on a bottle bill for your state we HIGHLY recommend this great website. bottlebill.org has tons of great information so that anyone anywhere can get started. It breaks down what a bottle bill is and how it works so that it is easily understood. bottlebill.org also gives you facts and myths about what a bottle bill will do and not do, which come in handy when dealing with opponents. It gives your information about who has a bottle bill and who is currently working on a bottle bill, along with slide show presentations and publications. It even provides a “Toolkit for Activists”!!!!

So if you’re ready to jump on board in efforts to take better care of our environment….GOOD LUCK!.....and don’t forget bottlebill.org is there to help!

General Assembly Schedule

Just FYI...
The Maryland General Assembly convened on January 10, 2007 at 10:00 AM and runs for ninety days.
The Website is mlis.state.md.us

General Assembly Schedule

Just FYI...
The Maryland General Assembly convened on January 10, 2007 at 10:00 AM and runs for ninety days.
The Website is mlis.state.md.us

Happy New Year!!!

Making Positive Change

Happy New Year!

Yesterday marked the first day of the Maryland General Assembly 2007 session. We have been working hard on finalizing the draft of the bottle bill and will be prepared to introduce it very shortly.

We will keep you updated on progress and actions needed as the session unfolds. Please keep in mind that after the bottle bill is introduced, we will need a lot of support to ensure that it passes. We will be organizing events, and requesting supporters to attend hearings, write letters to the editor, etc.

If you are not already on our contact list and would like to be, please email us at mdbottlebill@gmail.org to be added.

Thank you to everyone who attended the December screening of
An Inconvenient Truth and to those who are committed to having a bottle deposit program in Maryland!