Expand the Bottle Bill!

Think back to when you were in elementary, and asked a teacher if you could be rewarded for what you were expected to do. You figured that because you were the only one doing what the teacher expected you to do, you would be rewarded. Your teacher’s response probably sounded like, “Why should you be rewarded for what you are supposed to do?” Well, it is about time that people are rewarded for what they are expected to do, and they have been ever since the bottle bill was passed. If the bottle bill is expanded, people would be able to recycle more bottles for money, meaning more recycling, and less pollution.
So, “What is the bottle bill?” The bottle bill is a bill that was proposed to encourage recycling through a simple machine that collects bottles and cans. The bottle bill goes through a simple process, to recycle throwaway beverages. The first part of the bill is to include a deposit on throwaways. The second part of the bill is to return the deposit to those who return the throwaway beverages.
In the year 1974, State Representative Lynn Jondahl decided to prepare a legislation to ban throwaways. Why did Jondahl decided to prepare such legislation? In the 1950’s most beverage containers were made of glass. The glass bottles were recycled in a fashion similar to that of the bottle bill. Many companies and businesses grew weary of the situation. In the 1960’s stores decided to make throwaway bottles and cans. This way, people would not have to worry about deposits, or returns. As the years passed, litter became an issue. Broken glass bottles and cans were found on streets and beaches. For this reason Representative Jondahl decided to put his bottle bill into effect.
Though the bottle bill seemed to be a wonderful idea to the majority of the people in Michigan, the bill had its’ opponents. Who were these opponents? They were no one other than the stores and business who believed that they would be negatively affected by the bill. The stores and business felt that the recycled bottles and cans would take away valuable space. Some said that the process would be too expensive, and unsanitary. Others believed that many good paying jobs would be lost.
The opponents of Jondahl had prevented the bottle bill from being passed for a while, but later failed to do so. Because 73% of the Michigan population agreed with passing the bottle bill, a petition was sent throughout the states to pass the bill. The petition had double the signatures than needed on it. It took as little as two months to raise 400,000 signatures by the Michigan United Conservation Club. On November 2, 1976, the bottle bill was passed. Those who were for the bottle bill had 8 million more votes than those who opposed the bill.
Since the bill was passed, the United States has seen nothing other than improvements by the bill. The percent of litter in Michigan was reduced by 84% since the bottle bill was passed. Ninety-seven percent of containers were recycled since the bill was passed. After Michigan passed the bottle bill, many other states passed a bottle bill. Oregon and Vermont were the two states that banned throwaways after Michigan. It has been proven that states that have a bottle bill have less litter than those that do not have such a bill. Michigan itself has the highest bottle bill, and therefore, the highest rate of recycling.
For those who believe that the bill is too expensive, “Is there a certain limit to how much we should spend on saving our nation?” Do people prefer living in a nation of sick people? Before the bottle bill was passed, Seagulls and rats ate from the landfills and spread diseases.
We as Americans should do all we can to save our nation from becoming a landfill. Through my interview with Jaclyn Delbrugge, I realized that she was one of the people who agree, but feel that the taxes would be too high. The only part that matters is that the process works. How high can the taxes be? I mean, it is ok if you put aside buying a new purse each month for helping your society. Another thing I realized through my interview was that Delbrugge was one of the many people who prefer curbside recycling. Though many people feel that we should stick to curbside recycling, the process only works in urban communities. What about residential and suburban areas? The bottle bill works for all communities.
Today, Michigan’s bottle bill applies only to pop and beer bottles. Imagine how many more bottles would be recycled if Michigan were to expand the bottle bill to include non-carbonated bottles such as water bottles, sports drinks, bottled coffees, teas, and fruit drinks. If this was to happen, an additional 800 million containers would be recycled.
The bottle bill is a type of recycling that works in all communities. The recycling rate has increased since the bottle bill passed. If the bottle bill is expanded to include non-carbonated bottles, the recycling rate will increase to a greater extent. For this reason, the bottle bill should be expanded.


Work Cited
Switalski, Michael. Switalski Reintroduces Bottle Bill Expansion. 29 Jan. 2009. 19 Feb.
2009. .

Damstra, Carolyn. The Mitten. Mar. 2009. 19 Feb 2009.
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Hoy, Valerie. Litter Studies in Seven Bill States. 2007. 19 Feb. 2009.


Hoy, Valerie. Get the Facts. 2006. 19 Feb. 2009.
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Rhetoric: Is speaking and writing with the intention to persuade, communicate, and teach. In order to speak well, a person must be capable of using research and evidence to communicate with others through persuasion. As one speaks and writes, they should also be capable of dividing what is said and how it is being said. In written rhetoric, the writer should show their ethos throughout the writing. Political leaders, student advocates and educators are a few examples of people who speak and write in order to persuade. For instance, a democrat will attempt to persuade others to follow their political views through strong emotional speeches and written documents. Another example is Martin Luther king. Martin Luther King persuaded many to disagree with racism through an emotional speech.

View my PowerPoint Project

To view my powerpoint on the war in Gaza, go to the discussion board on ctools. Click on War in Gaza.

Imagine watching your entire family die in front of your eyes. On top of this crisis, half the world is blaming you for your family’s death. You and your entire family are labeled terrorist, and others believe that you should have died with your family. The above scenario is what many Palestinians are dealing with in Gaza. Is being born on a land that is not believed to be yours a crime? Is it possible for 100 percent of a population to be terrorists? Many people tend to answer questions about the war in Gaza as if the situation is a game.
How is it that so many people decided whether or not the people in Gaza should live in less than a day? Many Americans decided to donate money toward the war within the same day that the war in Gaza began. People should have researched the topic before taking any action.
Yes. Many centuries ago, Palestine may have belonged to Israel. The fact that Palestine may have belonged to Israel does not give Israel the right to control the lives of the Gaza community many centuries later. Imagine Native Americans fighting Americans for their land. Would we not fight back? It may be that the country may have originally been theirs, but we live here now. Giving our land up would mean giving up our government, our freedom, and certain rules and regulations.
People have lived long enough to reflect current problems with ones in the past. The way that people were once convinced that African Americans are not human is the same way that people are convinced that the communities of Gaza are terrorists. The people of Gaza should not have to wait as long as African Americans had to wait to gain their freedom.
So, “what lead to the hundreds of deaths in Gaza?” Egypt created a cease fire agreement between Israel and Hamas (a group of Palestinians who claim to be fighting for Palestinians through faith). Both the Israelis and the Palestinians broke the agreement every once in a while (Taylor 1). The Israelis felt that it was necessary to protect the people living around the bordering strips of Israel (Butler 1). Israelis claim that for this reason, they began the economic blockade. The blockade denied the Gaza community from strip fuel, building materials, cash, agricultural imports, medical supplies, or equipment. During the year long blockade, a group of Hamas people shot rockets at Israelis for one week, killing 30 civilians (Rothberg 1). Israelis then decided to bomb Palestinians for three weeks non-stop, until the cease fire was replaced. At the end of the war, 1,300 Palestinians were killed.
Every life is precious. Innocent Israelis and Palestinians were murdered during the war on Gaza. Not one of the innocent civilians deserved to die. If it were not for the ignorance and closed-minded people in those countries, the war would not have existed. Though we cannot change the past, we can change the future. For this reason, every individual should support president Obama when he attempts to end the war in Gaza, and creating peace.




Work Cited
Rothberg, Peter. War in Gaza.29 Dec. 2009. 19 Jan. 2009.


Taylor, Alan. Israel and Gaza. 31 Dec.2009. 19 Jan. 2009.
<http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/12/israel_and_gaza.html>

Butler, Katherine. Why Did Israel Attack Gaza? 29 Dec 2009. 19 Jan. 2009
gaz_n_153987.html>

The Internet has become a part of my daily life. All my professors require their students to have a website to turn in their work. Reading assignments, watching videos, and doing homework are some ways in which our websites are used. The majority of my courses require one, or two different websites. My comp 106 course requires a blog website, and a ctools website, EDT 210 requires a VLT website, NACI 231 requires a Pet, and Sep website. Let me tell you what a hassle it is to remember all my emails and passwords.

Before I took my screen shot, I was customizing my blog, and creating a new post. My VLT website was also open to read my assignments. The diagram picture is an example assignment of a required assignment for my EDT 210 course.

The computer itself has also played a large role in my life. A way to save documents that can be saved all around the world has been created through the Secure Shell process. So why is this important? People no longer have to worry about installing a USB! All you have to do is drag the file into your home drive. I was opening a composition file through this process on my computer before I did my screen shot. The two files that appear at the upper left are the files in my home drive.

An Advocate for Peace

Though people have at least one topic that they feel strongly about, not many decide to advocate about that topic. A topic that I feel strongly influenced by is peace. For this reason, I would like to advocate for peace in Gaza. Hundreds of innocent people are dying each day, and only a few are attempting to stop the war.

The audience that I will speak to are those who willingly pay for the war, for those who do not know about the war, and for those who know about the war, and take no action toward stopping the war. Today people tend to take sides about an issue that they know little about. War is not a game. Whether or not the people in Gaza deserve to die is not an issue to be decided in a day. Donating money toward killing hundreds of people is also not a decision that should be made in one day.

In order to advocate for peace in Gaza, I will present the facts through research. Visuals will be shown through a power point to convince others that peace is the answer. After I present the information about the war in Gaza, the decision to take some action toward stopping the war will depend on the decisions of the audience.