Press Room

Senator Schwartz lauds Salida and Denver students for Bottle Bill to help fund education

Wednesday, February 23 2011

“I’m very impressed with these kids”

(Senator Schwartz and Representative Pabon were joined today on the west steps of the Capitol by students and the bottles they have collected.)

DENVER— Senator Gail Schwartz (D-Snowmass) and Representative Dan Pabon (D-Denver), along with several groups of school children and education advocates today called for a statewide plastic and glass bottle refund program to increase Colorado’s recycling rate, save the state money and direct extra revenue to help pay for K-12 education. The idea was generated by students at the Crest Academy in Salida.    
 
"I'm very impressed with these kids from Salida and their ability to identify this significant problem and offer win-win-win solutions for cleaning our environment, supporting recycling, and funding education,” said Sen. Schwartz.  “I'm asking for support from the business community and the public because, as these kids have pointed out, it's time that we step up to help find better ways to dispose of materials we are putting into our waste stream."
 
House Bill 1247 sets up a $.05 deposit on all glass and plastic bottles in the state.  Revenue generated from containers where the deposit is paid but not returned for a refund would be split between recycling incentives and the State Education Fund.
 
At today’s press conference Senator Schwartz and Representative Pabon were joined by Colorado Education Association President Beverly Ingle and teachers and students from the Crest Academy and the Denver Green School. The Crest Academy has been collecting their own bottles for several months and brought them to the capitol today to demonstrate that the many plastic and glass bottles consumed each day could be going towards funding their education.