Photo: A VPIRG volunteer redeeming a bottle (courtesy of VPIRG)
Guests: Marcie Gallagher, Rep. Julia Andrews
On this week’s episode of the Democracy Dispatch Podcast, I chat with Marcie Gallagher, an environmental advocate with VPIRG, who joins the podcast to discuss Vermont’s beverage container law – known more commonly as the Bottle Bill. We unpack the history of the 50-year-old law, its importance, and the attempts and complexities surrounding modernizing it for today’s economy and consumer trends. Can an expanded Bottle Bill make its way into law under the corporate-backed leadership of Governor Phil Scott?
Also on the podcast, Representative Julia Andrews (D-Westford) talks about work in the House Committee on Ways & Means and a bill that would raise revenue through the taxation of Vermonters with the highest incomes.
Governor Phil Scott poses next to his Casella-sponsored stock car
Show notes and resources:
VNRC’s Bottles & Cans: The Story of the Vermont Deposit Law (1978)
Burlington Free Press: Here’s how the $11.56 million from Vermont’s ‘Bottle Bill’ was spent
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