Solid argument

I am writing concerning your editorial of April 7 on LD 975, and the repeal of the law banning aseptic containers. I feel the ban was a step in the right direction as it forced the removal of an unnecessary packaged product from the waste stream.

As a first grade teacher of 15 years I saw the immediate positive effects when the law took effect in 1989. First, my students were not throwing away approximately 10 containers per day, or 1,750 per year. Now multiply that out over all the classrooms in the state. You get the picture. Second, the students began to use thermoses once again, or containers covered by the bottle bill. From my perspective the ban caused no undue hardship, and helped the environment. That’s a pretty good law.

Also the multi-layer containers can be recycled in only 12 states with more urban populations. Thus the repeal of the ban would have the immediate effect of returning those 1,750 containers back into the waste stream, undermine the bottle bill, and hurt the redemption centers established since 1989.

I’m proud to live in a state that is at the forefront of solving our nation’s solid waste problem. I urge the Legislature to keep the ban on aseptic containers by rejecting LD 975, and not give in to the pressures and false promises of the container industry. Ted Carter Woodland