Frazz by Jef Mallett for February 24, 2015

Uncle Milton Friedman would be pleased.

We have no recycling where I live.

Ugh, the self-righteous sanctimony is too much to bear in today’s strip.

People who run like to decorate road sides with water bottles. go collect those.

Very few can get away with ‘social engineering’. Not even Jeff.

As usual, the sanctimonious self righteousness of the comments is too much.

Back in the day soda bottles (this is before cans were used) had a ‘return’ deposit (I think it was 3¢) that was redeemed at the grocery store. Then some wise marketing guru came up with the ‘no deposit-no return’ bottle. It didn’t take long for all kinds of empties to be found cluttering the environment. It was only after this that recycling centers as we know them came into being.

LOVE this Jef! It is pop and it is a great bill!

Aluminum recycles …

In states with bottle return laws, the process is easy. Most larger groceries have machines that read and sort the various types of bottles that can be returned and will then spit out a receipt that you take to the cashier for your refund (or more likely you use in the store buying food). Smaller stores take back the bottles in a more bottle by bottle fashion. But, the rule is that every establishment that SELLS a returnable bottle as designated by the state, MUST accept bottles of that sort back from consumers and must pay the bottle cost (again, either 5 or 10 cents, depending on state and bottle type). It works beautifully in Michigan where “Frazz” is set, and there are A LOT of school teams, clubs, etc that have bottle drives to raise money. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++Again, the part that rankled my sensibilities was the idea that these bottles given are NOT a monetary gift that the bottle giver has given the team/club. To associate it with “lazy” people who “drink too much” sugar and have “no motivation” sounds awfully suspiciously like the bigoted comments some obnoxious folks used to spew about various minority folks (say Italian immigrants or Irish immigrants for instance). +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++I take back my own bottles all the time to not have them cluttering about in the garage. So, unfortunately when one of the school teams or clubs stop by asking for DONATIONS, I usually only have a dozen or less to offer them. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++The point I guess from me is that Jef’s attitude this time really IS rather rude. If he ever looks at any of these comments, he might find value in reading mine, as I usually see the gentle humor he is working towards. But this time, I truly think he failed miserably.

I’m always surprised by the number of bottles collectors find in old mill ponds. They’re from when deposits were .02 and the drink a nickel. I would have thought people were money conscious enough back in the 20s, 30s and 40s to not toss return for deposit bottles away, but they did.

Im a bit lazy and cheep.By the time i get my cans to the recycler, I’ve got enough money to buy more than just a couple more sodas…

Night Gaunt… thank you for the different perspective. I am used to various school groups going door-to-door here to ask for bottles and cans for DONATION, that I assumed that was the intent here by Jef. I had assumed he was suggesting that anyone who buys beverages (sugary in what he suggests, but just as applicable to diet (sugar-free) or beer) was a lazy, drinking (of deemed inappropriate things) lout with no motivation. I can see your perspective now about it being potentially a school drive where kids are looking around in their neighborhoods for DISCARDED bottles to return for money. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++That COULD potentially be the way Jef meant the comic to read. I guess unfortunately for folks who do CONTRIBUTE purposefully to bottle and can drives for school activities…. this was stated in an ambiguous enough way that it could ruffle feathers. It did ruffle mine. It would be interesting to know if the ambiguity was intentional (meaning a negative jab at all who do not drink from reusable containers or water from the tap) or if the ambiguity was unintentional on Jef’s part and he meant simply the cast offs that people discard all around. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++While using less packaging (including bottles and cans) is a laudable goal for us all, it does not really fit into an all-or-nothing sort of scheme… we all, no matter how much we may try, will generate waste to a degree that will end up eventually in a landfill. Responsible people try to have it be as little as possible, and try to recycle what they can. The bottle deposit laws in the states I know of that have them, have made a valuable impact.

Nothing pompous about that, nosiree, uh-uh.

Dude, he is what, 8? Children are, by adult standards, psychopaths. He doesn’t show it the way Calvin did, he acts normal but “smart” and “mature” so bothers people more. His opinion is offensive in a mature adult, in a child its more perceptive but with perspective. Frazz actually seemed moderate in this, and I can imagine him trying to soften C’s statement afterwards – he’s done it before.

I also disagree that the characters (skinny ones) are shown as perfect, they do have their own faults of various types. A small part of me wonders what type of faults @bigpuma wishes they had, though.

Oh and I lived in MI for awhile, I actually find the idea people would give up those bottles a bit odd unless they were lazy – but I did partake in the “group cleans up an area for money” version of bottle drive.

in Michigan, both bottles and cans have the 10-cent deposit for all sodapop, beer, wine coolers and malt beverages. Flavored sparkling water gets lumped in there, as well, but not plain water or non-carbonated beverages.

So yes, CANS too.

I’ve seen these can drives, and they sometimes consist of a labeled trashcan strategically placed near an eating area. People bring a single sodapop to drink with lunch and don’t want to carry the empty back to their home stash of returnables, so they throw it in the donation can. That’s the level of laziness being catered to, here.

Problem is, if the people “can’t be bothered”, then they are probably just dumping them in their regular trash, so how are other people collecting them?