New laws taking effect Oct. 1 to impact bottled water drinkers

New laws taking effect today in several states will have an impact on bottled water drinkers.

Beginning today, residents of Connecticut will have to pay a 5 cent deposit on every bottle of water they buy. This extends the state's existing bottle bill, which requires consumers to pay a refundable deposit on beverage purchases.

Bottle bills, while they do generate revenues for states, also are aimed at improving recycling rates. Customers receive a refund only when they return their empty bottles to the store, where they are collected and recycled. By the end of the year, six states will require deposits on bottled water.

Here in North Carolina, Primo Water's home state, it's now illegal to throw plastic bottles and containers in the trash. We applaud the state's efforts to encourage mandatory recycling on plastic bottles, but we realize that enforcing this law will be difficult and perhaps even unpopular.

But it is so necessary. DigTriad reports that four of every five plastic containers are thrown away instead of recycled. According to the N.C. Division of Pollution Prevention and Environmental Assistance, only 18 percent of plastic bottles used in the state are recycled. That's the height of environmental irresponsibility.

According to the city of Greensboro, if every plastic bottle used in the state were recycled, that would keep more than 2.4 billion plastic bottles from landfills annually.

The new law sends the message to residents that we can't keep throwing plastic into our landfills. Because of the number of plastic bottles that are trashed annually -- billions -- we're already facing huge environmental consequences for this wasteful behavior. The new law makes those consequences more immediate. Throw away plastic containers in North Carolina instead of recycling them and face a potential fine.

Actually, North Carolina residents don't have to worry about being fined for tossing an empty bottle in the trash instead of the recycling ban. But state inspectors will be looking for trash haulers who dump loads of plastic and other banned materials in landfills.

Here's more on enforcement of the new plastic bottle ban from Earth911:

It’s not going to be a Big Brother law, but the best way to be in compliance with the law is to recycle plastic bottles,” says Scott Mouw, environmental supervisor for the North Carolina Department of the Environment and Natural Resources. “Everyone wants to do the right thing, and the right thing is to recycle.”

While we don't believe that garbage cops should target individuals, we do hope that this new law will encourage more people to recycle plastics. Many municipalities in the state offer curbside recycling, making it so easy for residents to recycle. We'd also love to see more restaurants and public venues offer recycling bins alongside trash cans.

Of course, laws like this would be moot if more people would take the pledge and Break Free from bottled water and reduce their overall consumption of plastic bottles and containers.