Alpo Posted June 9, 2021 Share Posted June 9, 2021 This is on the side of a plastic soda pop bottle. IA - MA 5¢. HI - CT-ME - NY-VT 5¢ OR - MI 10¢ CA CASH REFUND The first line says Iowa and Massachusetts have a 5-cent refund on the bottle. The next line says Hawaii, Connecticut, Maine, New York, and Vermont also have a five-cent refund. The third line says that Oregon and Mississippi will give me 10 cents for the bottle. If the last line that has me puzzled. California cash refund??? What the heck does that mean? I mean hell, I take that empty bottle into a store in Jackson Mississippi, and he's going to give me a dime. He's not going to give me a check for $0.10, or put it on my Discover card. He's going to give me a cash refund. Ain't he? Seems like every day, more and more, California does something that confuses me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Capt. James H. Callahan Posted June 9, 2021 Share Posted June 9, 2021 Probably an IOU. JHC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seamus McGillicuddy Posted June 9, 2021 Share Posted June 9, 2021 Don’t know the answer but it reminds me of the Seinfeld episode where Kramer and Newman try to us a US Mail truck to pull off the Michigan recycling scam by hauling cans and bottles there to double their value. Hilarious. Seamus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster Ron Wayne Posted June 9, 2021 Share Posted June 9, 2021 Sounds like Joe Biden Jebbern in writing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliff Hanger #3720LR Posted June 9, 2021 Share Posted June 9, 2021 The answer is not Cash Refund. These are recycling charges added to each can in those states. CA also has a charge for recycling but they also will pay you a fee to take to a recycling center. However, the refund is less than the fee at the store charged for recycling. ------------------- For each can you are charged a recycling charge of, say $.05 each can. Take to recycling center and you get a per pound fee which is about $0.35 today. Problem is, you paid $.05 each and it take 24 cans to make a pound. You paid a recycling fee of $1.20 for 24 cans. You get back $0.35 for your trouble. Others make $0.85 on your pound of cans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hardpan Curmudgeon SASS #8967 Posted June 9, 2021 Share Posted June 9, 2021 Another case of the citizens of California being snookered. I remember it well.... Touted as "a major anti-litter bill that would establish a refundable beer and soft-drink container recycling program," The California Beverage Container Recycling and Litter Reduction Act of 1986 was passed with the assurance that the "deposit" would be recoverable; convenient location were to be established everywhere, don'tcha know. Of course, after the thing passed, why... this just wouldn't be practical at all! But no problem! Folks can just "cash in them bottles and cans at recycling centers!" Problem solved! So, lessee... 32 aluminum cans weigh one pound. At a nickel per (5¢ for containers under 24 ounces; 10¢ for containers over), that's a buck sixty paid. Recovery at a recycling center? About fifty cents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Steak Posted June 9, 2021 Share Posted June 9, 2021 Growing up, the corner store would give you a nickel for a returnable bottle. Then plastics came out and some bottles came with just a few states on the side. The ten states on that bottle have redemption laws that encourage recycling. The CA 'cash refund' (unless things have changed) varies by container size The label on the side of that soda bottle is one of the few tangibles left to remind people that we don't all live in the "same" USA. Most of us just assume that the laws are generally the same everywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crooked River Pete, SASS 43485 Posted June 9, 2021 Share Posted June 9, 2021 1 hour ago, Alpo said: The third line says that Oregon and Mississippi will give me 10 cents for the bottle. MI is Michigan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpo Posted June 9, 2021 Author Share Posted June 9, 2021 I don't know about the rest of the country, but the post office abbreviations annoy the hell out of me. I live in Fla, not FL. I miss the time when you didn't have to guess whether MI was Miss or Mich. Do y'all out there on the West Coast wish you still lived in Calif, or Ore, or Wash? Is AZ anywhere near Ariz? Why do they even need an abbreviation for Ohio or Iowa? There's only four damn letters. Many abbreviations were that many. Okla. Ariz. Miss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Steak Posted June 9, 2021 Share Posted June 9, 2021 19 minutes ago, Alpo said: I don't know about the rest of the country, but the post office abbreviations annoy the hell out of me. I live in Fla, not FL. I miss the time when you didn't have to guess whether MI was Miss or Mich. Do y'all out there on the West Coast wish you still lived in Calif, or Ore, or Wash? Is AZ anywhere near Ariz? Why do they even need an abbreviation for Ohio or Iowa? There's only four damn letters. Many abbreviations were that many. Okla. Ariz. Miss. You make some pretty good points. This 'two letter' system of abbreviations is pretty binary for a country as woke as 2021-USA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abilene Slim SASS 81783 Posted June 10, 2021 Share Posted June 10, 2021 When you have about 10 minutes to kill... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Utah Bob #35998 Posted June 10, 2021 Share Posted June 10, 2021 5 hours ago, Alpo said: I don't know about the rest of the country, but the post office abbreviations annoy the hell out of me. I live in Fla, not FL. I miss the time when you didn't have to guess whether MI was Miss or Mich. Do y'all out there on the West Coast wish you still lived in Calif, or Ore, or Wash? Is AZ anywhere near Ariz? Why do they even need an abbreviation for Ohio or Iowa? There's only four damn letters. Many abbreviations were that many. Okla. Ariz. Miss. Wow! When did they change the abbreviations? It was decades ago if I recall. Yeah I checked. 1963. And you’re still annoyed?? I know that some folks from Boston still say Boston MASS. Like mass was an actual word. Ever hear anybody say they were from Miami Fla and pronounce FLa? Me neither. Not them Mass folks are cut from a different bolt of cloth for sure. Chicken Paaaam. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpo Posted June 10, 2021 Author Share Posted June 10, 2021 21 minutes ago, Utah Bob #35998 said: And you’re still annoyed?? Yep Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
watab kid Posted June 10, 2021 Share Posted June 10, 2021 dont turn in the wrong ones in iowa they reject them no matter what the label says , i bet CA does give you an IOU - maybe you can use it when purchasing the next bottle ? or maybe they just charge you for both Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Still hand Bill Posted June 10, 2021 Share Posted June 10, 2021 Iowa used to take them back at any store that sold them. Was a good deal when we were kids. Made a lot of $$. Now there are specific recycle centers. Not worth the time or effort anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
watab kid Posted June 10, 2021 Share Posted June 10, 2021 so my sister told me - after trying to return minnesotta cans and bottles by accident once after her vacation here , so we no longer recycle mine when i visit there - kinda defeats the purpose in my mind but hey , politian's wrote the laws right ? seems to keep most of the litter off the highways tho Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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