>For New Yorkers only:

What is BBBB? It stands for Bigger Better Bottle Bill. The Bottle Bill is what NY calls their refund program for soda and other carbonated beverage bottles. NY is trying to expand the program to include water and juice bottles.

We are closer to victory on the Bigger Better Bottle Bill than ever before. Governor Paterson has proposed including the BBBB in the state budget this year. With only weeks to go before April 1st when state lawmakers are supposed to finalize the budget, your calls and letters now could make all the difference!

The public strongly supports this environmental measure:
– More than 700 groups, businesses, and local governments endorse the BBBB
– 3 polls show that more than 80% of New Yorkers support the BBBB
– More than 100 editorials have been published calling on lawmakers to pass the BBBB

The Bigger Better Bottle Bill updates New York’s 5-cent deposit law on beer and soda to include non-carbonated beverages, like bottled water and sports drinks, which now make up a third of the beverage market. This would increase recycling and make our communities cleaner and healthier. It also would require beverage companies, who currently keep the deposits when people don’t return their bottles and cans, to turn this money over to the state. This would generate more than $200 million a year for environmental protection in New York.

This measure has been “bottled up” in Albany for many years due to opposition from the powerful beverage and supermarket lobbies. While the Assembly has passed it several times, the Senate has consistently failed to take action.This year, however, with new leadership in the Senate and a massive budget gap that lawmakers are struggling to fill, we are very, very close to achieving a landmark environmental victory.

Please contact your state legislators and urge them to include the Bigger Better Bottle Bill in the 2009-2010 state budget.