items tagged with recycling

Iowa lawmakers have once again crushed a proposal to expand the state’s 1978 bottle bill.

A panel of lawmakers on February 22 heard testimony on House Study Bill 652, which would expand Iowa’s beverage-container-control law – the anti-litter law more commonly known as the “bottle bill,” – to include water bottles and sports drinks.

But the bill’s floor manager made clear that the legislation isn’t going anywhere this year.

Colin Beavan's thought was hardly unusual. Most of us have wondered whether all our accumulated belongings and technology make our lives better.

"We're consuming way too much stuff as a civilization," Beavan said. "And we have an idea that's because we need all these things. When people tend to talk about living environmentally, they tend to think of depriving ourselves. The question became in our year: Would we be less happy or more happy? Would we actually find that there were some greater satisfactions than consuming resources to be had? And if that was the case - which it was in our case - might it be possible for our culture to design itself in such a way so that it uses fewer resources but also gives us happier lives?"