Michigan’s bottle deposit system: Buy a beverage, pay a bit of upcharge, drink it, return it, get that upcharge back.
It’s as routine an experience for us Michiganders as talking about the weather. Yet, it’s extremely powerful. It's a way for us, as individuals, to come together to make collective change. That’s also how the law came to be: through a ballot campaign that 63% of people voted in favor of back in 1976. Now, people love it even more. Over 9 in 10 bottles have been returned through the system over 48 years.
Bill Rustem was the man behind that ballot drive. He joins us to talk about the behind-the-scenes stories of it all, the bottle deposti's success and what he thinks its future should look like.