ATHOL — In an effort to persuade those who imbibe from tossing tiny liquor bottles onto the roadsides and elsewhere, the selectmen approved a resolution earlier this week calling for the passage of legislation to add “nips” — those 1.7 ounce plastic liquor bottles — and single-use water bottles to the state’s Bottle Bill.
In presenting his draft resolution to selectmen, Town Manager Shaun Suhoski said he was responding to discussions he has had with board members and other Athol residents.
“Recently,” said Suhoski, “a couple of North Shore communities, including Gloucester, have voted to support state legislation to expand the state’s bottle redemption bill to include nip bottles. There’s also been some discussion of including single-use water bottles as well.”
Suhoski provided the board with a summary of House Bill 3528, sponsored by state Rep. Randy Hunt (R-Sandwich) and co-sponsored by Rep. Susannah Whipps (I-Athol), which calls for the imposition of a 5-cent deposit on the sale of the ubiquitous little liquor bottles.
Quoting from the summary posted on the website Change.org, Suhoski said, “The bill will give consumers an incentive to return empty nip bottles for the 5-cent deposit, rather than toss them onto the streets.”
The bill actually expands the definition of “nip” to include “any sealable bottle, can, jar or carton which is primarily composed of glass, metal, plastic or any combination of those materials that has a capacity of not more than 100 milliliters and is produced for the purpose of containing an alcoholic beverage.”
Suhoski noted the bill was reported favorably out of committee but no action taken on the bill before the close of the last legislative session. He said Rep. Whipps informed him that it has been re-filed for the current session.
The specificity of the language would apparently exempt other small serving bottles — such as 2-ounce bottles of energy drinks like 5 Hour Energy and 7-Select — from the proposed deposit.
“I can tell you that I’ve heard from two of the three package stores in town,” said Suhoski. “They said they would be supportive of such efforts. Just one of our retailers distributes over 115,000 nip bottles a year — and you see them everywhere you look.”
“I think it’s a great idea,” said board member Rebecca Bialecki. “You can’t walk 100 feet down through the center or regions of Athol without passing a Fireball bottle flattened to the ground. At least that’s the one I run across all the time. They’ve become something that people just toss out of car windows, so they’re everywhere. It’s a huge concern and not particularly safe and not particularly aesthetically pleasing, so I think it’s the right thing to do and the more we can move in that direction, why not?”
The resolution, which also calls for a 5-cent deposit on single-use water bottles, received the unanimous approval of the board.