Some Portland grocery stores stop bottle and can returns

[@nawtfeelingthis1932]

Without getting too specific I manage a retail store in Portland. Several years ago I had an employee who got stuck with a used needle one day and the next day another employee was assaulted by a transient because there was a dispute over how many cans were being redeemed. That was when I shut down our bottle redemption efforts. All of my employees were spooked and ready to walk out if their safety concerns were not taken seriously. It's unsafe for customers, employees and ultimately it's bad for business. I haven't gotten any push back from law enforcement or government oversight because none of the retail stores in my area take back bottles for the same reasons.

[@Chris_at_Home]

Did you quit charging the deposit on containers for the beverages that were sold there?

[@evegreenification]

Thank you for considering the safety of the people who help you over the people who demand something from you. This kind of basic common sense is what we need a lot more of in PDX.

[@KATingler]

My point exactly.

[@mctrimm7097]

Good for you! We need more business managers making sane decisions.

[@StarseedJane]

We need more bottle drops

[@992001jeffr]

Portland won’t enforce laws against illegal camping, or urinating in public, but they’ll enforce a bottle law to put their stores out of business.

[@norahjaneeast5450]

Like I commented it's against the law for the store to not accept bottles returns but I certainly hope the homeless people understand it's also against the law to brutally attack people

[@992001jeffr]

@@norahjaneeast5450 Ordinary citizens can’t change the behavior of homeless criminals, they can only change the priorities of law enforcement by voting for politicians who set the priorities of law enforcement. Portlanders have chosen to vote for politicians whose priorities are to protect criminals at any cost, even if that cost is the death of a safe society. Portland is the next Chicago. The worse it gets, the more difficult it will be to fix.

[@fridayray8891]

remember, we are run by twits who Could NEVER hold a real job in the Private sector...

[@992001jeffr]

@@fridayray8891 Also remember…most of them are lawyers. Lawyers represent/defend criminals, and criminal behavior.

[@fridayray8891]

@OnVacation yeah, if they followed the monies (contracts) via Multnomah County into the rehab contracts.....you might find how many are former college buddies....what a coincidence?

[@williamwelborn4555]

It's required to accept the returnables by law but are there really laws anymore?

[@essebug1066]

You are 100% correct 🤣

[@gloriakoch4764]

Hi William. Try exceeding the speed limit then tell the officer there is no speeding law anymore 😊

[@bebeandjohnnotsonomadiclif5287]

the only law in Portland is you got to be a moron to live there.

[@fridayray8891]

not when your connected to the dnc

[@daniburke9452]

Not in Oregon we've also decriminalized drugs and theft

[@lprice5583]

Larry breezed by the fact that he and his girlfriend have drug habit rather quickly.

[@mattwelsh8631]

I work at a grocery store and the main concerns we had before our bottle drop system were:having to deal with were store cleanliness,stopping what what we we doing to hand count,hoping the bags and containers we counted out of were clean,and a few other things

[@carlbowles1808]

Staphylococcus infections make handling cans risky.

[@sailingmohican2767]

So what's the difference from a soccer mom with dirty cans?

[@jean-mariebenes3080]

@@sailingmohican2767 I have yet to find an uncapped needle in soccer mom's bag while counting lol but I certainly won't rule it out as a future possibility. The cans collected are from all over so of course many are dirty, but the bags they are being lugged around in often have more to worry about. Dealing with the CanDo was always a problem, not because we had to do hand counts for soccer mom's and homeless people. It's because the machines suc&ed as& and we never had the labor budget to support an all hours of operation CanDo machine security guard/technician. More people then not bring dirty cans and that's part of the reason the machines suc&. The machine is constantly being tripped up or scammed too which attracts people who are trying to scam. NO not all homeless people are scammers, some of our well known scammers are not homeless. I've made lots of amazing connections at the grocery store to know the difference. My only wish was that the bottle drop had lower barriers, everyone should be able to use it, not just those with an ID, and phone. Outsourcing was the right decision, but going with a recycling company that isn't inclusive was not the something we all agreed to. We want something that actually works for everyone.

[@carlbowles1808]

@@jean-mariebenes3080 Flesh eating bacteria, I know several who got it while collecting cans.

[@ksmith2852]

Can you not see the hypocrisy? These bums follow no laws..live in public spaces, pee and crap wherever they want, harass customers...and then complain that THEY (business owners)are not following the law by not accepting cans. The world has gone mad😢

[@cecerider4414]

Customers are telling store managers that they do not feel safe with drug addicts inside the store. recycling cans and bottles is a way to come into the store. End the practice; end the people coming into the stores. People who want to shop are sick of this.

[@nicolemonrue]

My girlfriend has cancer....we use it for food and cigarettes....just stop dude

[@norahjaneeast5450]

It's against the law for the stores to not accept bottle returns well I hope the homeless people also understand it's against the law too brutally attack people

[@tahoeclay]

Thankfully it’s not against the law to be a complete idiot.

[@MultiBrad777]

What brutal attack are you referring to???

[@clarencesmith2305]

There is a state limit of 144 empties per person per day.

[@outlawbillionairez9780]

I do 144 at 2 to 3 retailers every day. My city will get a bottle center where you can do much more. Grocery Outlet does appointment only, and I book every day. They are great people! And they count your stuff by hand. $14.40 a day is about $101 a week. 52 weeks.. $5,200/year.

[@karenowens8287]

They push for recycling but limit and stop accepting. We should recycle more.

[@j.sayler6330]

Wow, we should feel sorry for Portland and all its bums.

[@SisterSherryDoingStuff]

I shop at Market of Choice...and I'm glad they stopped taking them. The stench is unreal.

[@lspthrattan]

So take a bath.

[@TVHouseHistorian]

@@lspthrattan stop coddling the homeless, and they will learn to solve their own problems.

[@Kona_Blue]

@@lspthrattan I can tell you are a soft self righteous lib

[@gregoryhagen8801]

@@lspthrattan 😆😆😆👍

[@Darthdoodoo]

I'm from Michigan and when I went back there years ago all the big stores had automatic machines to put the cans and stuff in you had to do it yourself they're usually in between the entrances at the front of the store.

[@johndavis2938]

They still do. The shut the recycling down at my local Fred Myers because the machine was unreliable and employees were having to constantly having to come out and unjam or put in more receipt paper etc. Profit margins have forced Freddie's to cut back on labor. Thus, the bottle exchange has suffered because of low man power and subpar machinery

[@luigivincenz3843]

they have it in very few places here in L.A. I prefer to use that vs weighing because I know they cheat me on the value. It's 5c CRV for every 12 ounce can and I INTENTIONALLY deposit 300 cans, which in math means $15. The scale says they pay me $8 (effing rip off) but the machine count is correct at $15. The problem is the cans CANNOT be deformed or bent when putting into the machine. If you stuff bags of it in your car, you have to re-form the can when you do it.

[@frannyy9309]

My ex worked at Hawthorne Fred Meyer and he would tell me stories about the homeless having fights all the time at the bottle return machines

[@ethandang212]

If the stores are not going to accept the cans back they shouldn't be able to charge the deposit

[@mediumeffort3315]

The stores don't keep the deposit. The deposit money goes to the state and the state reimburses the stores for empties that are returned to the store. This is the same money that funds the state run bottle return centers that do nothing except process empty bottles. With the scale that people now collect cans (something not predicted when the bottle bill originally passed) it really should just be state run bottle return centers that handle all the returns, stores should only need to collect the deposit for the state, they shouldn't be saddled with this nightmare logistically.

[@pdxoneway]

@@mediumeffort3315 yeah we know they don't keep it but something that always stuck in my mind was as a kid seeing some fella tell my grandfather that if he wouldn't take the cans back then he couldn't sell the cans to begin with and even as a kid that made sense to me. Still makes sense now

[@caseyporter1235]

@@pdxoneway When a person brings in hundreds if not thousands of cans and bottles, how many were bought at that store? Is a store responsible to take back more cans than it sells and also bottles and cans sold at another store? Not an easy problem........

[@johnellis3309]

Canning on on the streets is known as the meth support Network. They need to ban the bottle Bill until then get this problem under control. They also need to reopen the mental institutions give these people a place to stay until they can get well

[@sBaum]

Well, they are extremely close to getting their fix and your taking up time and distracting operation…thats where the anger And tension come from.

[@wouldntyouliketoknow3811]

Portland can't do anything without screwing it up this is totally the norm

[@karlabritfeld7104]

Thank goodness there are still some people out there who want to do this. I think the incidents of safety concerns are about one in a million and for some store owner to shut it down is ridiculous.

[@josephwheeler1]

Exactly. Why should some teenager be afraid of getting AIDS or hepatitis or getting their face slashed from a homeless person? It's not like there's that many homeless people around anyway. And it's also not like homeless people are known for attacking people for no reason. I'm sure most of them are not on drugs or not addicted to alcohol which means they're going to act like everyone else. I doubt there are ever attacks on people by homeless people. And even if they are they can just bear it. Being attacked a few times every year by homeless people is not that bad is it? Just watch your back and make sure they're not trying to stick you with any needles on purpose and you'll probably be fine. Isn't that why we all live in Portland anyway? So that we can support homeless people sticking people with needles.

[@mbishop5954]

This all seems very strange. I live in a city where we have a recycling bin for every house/apartment. It is provided and collected by the city and the proceeds partially offset the cost of city services. Any stray cans can be picked up and can be cashed in at a neighborhood recycling center. Why would anyone want a grocery store to be used as a garbage dump?

[@jebbrown2847]

Let's just call it what it is, a tax, not a deposit.

[@TakenTook]

Do you know why beverage bottle/can deposit laws were originally created? People like me (who were alive back when dinosaurs roamed the Earth, and beverage containers were still only metal or glass) remember why. While **unclaimed** deposit money does go into a fund that is either kept by the state, beverage manufacturers, or beverage distributors -- that wasn't the original reason for the law. It is just an unintended consequence of beverage container return laws. And obviously the deposits that are actually claimed by turning your bottle or can back in don't generate any money for the retailer or state or distributor. And if the states or industries that do keep the extra money from **unclaimed** deposits really wanted to maximize this as a source of revenue, then they should actually get serious and make these deposit laws apply to more than just carbonated drinks. If they were to require a deposit on every glass or plastic container for other things that we buy -- from fruit juice to pickles to shampoo -- it would not only decrease littering (the original hippie dippy 1970s intent of these bottle return laws) but it would force the industries that produce this packaging in the first place to find a way to truly recycle things again. Like back when we used to sterilize and refill glass pop bottles. Most manufacturers of soda pop switched to plastic decades ago because it is lighter and therefore cheaper to transport to the retailer. But today's manufacturers don't. care about the environmental impact that all that plastic causes. If we make it more expensive for them to deal with the plastic packaging that they create by forcing the manufacturers to truly recycle it - which is not as easy as it sounds for most plastics, and sometimes actually impossible for others - than it is for them to just go back to using glass packaging And pay for the increased transit costs, maybe they will go back to glass packaging, which is endlessly recyclable even when it is in a form that is too delicate to be reusable after sterilization.

[@koryano321]

You speak truth my friend. Kudos 👏

[@thesecurityguardchannel]

It’s a racket. The homeless come into the store, steal packages of water(that the stores can’t stop them from doing), then dump out the water, and immediately return them for 10 cents each. They do this all day, everyday.

[@banderezztonylapore9493]

They will also use food stamps to by large packs of water, dump the water and return the bottles for cash to by drugs, tobacco, or alcohol.

[@johncastro3673]

You're absolutely correct. I saw this happen last week at the Burlingame FM. This guy walked out with a very large number of water bottles and no one tried stopping him. Needless to say that the consumer ends up paying for these thefts. FM will always safeguard its profit margin.

[@outlawbillionairez9780]

@@johncastro3673 99.999% of crimes (thefts) are committed by housed people, not homeless. Next time yer in Fred Meyers/Kroger, give them ten bucks to make you feel better about their RECORD PROFITS during a pandemic. What creeps. Blame everything on those who the worst off.

[@TRIPWIRE330]

@@outlawbillionairez9780 or bankers or bailouts for wall street in the billions..or tax money to pay for some rich kids student loan..and the list goes on..but yea let's harsh the gig of someone working to collect cans..

[@michaelvance1118]

So what

[@donnadoriggins5236]

Interesting I work in that area the crime is off the rails every store has been robbed vandalized employees attacked cars windows smashed fires arson stabbings shootings it just dosent stop. Half that area is all for lease. Portland Detroit 2.0

[@Darthdoodoo]

Somebody needs to create a business collecting all of these cans and bottles from these people. If the stores aren't going to do it somebody could get rich off of it taking a little percentage for themselves

[@dorothylewis4185]

I like Blair she goes into the community and talks with THE PEOPLE about the story or issues.

[@fridayray8891]

ha ha ...don't fall for their deception

[@benjaminsamford8328]

The people will lie to you to make themselves look innocent my dear. They said there were no fights or anything in three years under that bridge. What about the multiple dead people

[@Eidolon1andOnly]

Why didn't she talk to *_the people_* running the stores refusing to accept bottle returns to get the full story? She even says how she doesn't understand their safety concerns at the end of the video, yet she would understand if she bothered to talk to those store owners.

[@AlexandarHullRichter]

@@Eidolon1andOnly she said they refused.

[@Eidolon1andOnly]

@@AlexandarHullRichter When did she say that and who refused? Seems like there's multiple stores and businesses she could have spoken to, so even if one refused to talk to her, another might have been willing.

[@emilysmith259]

A good example to expand on the BottleDrop program. It's safer, stores don't need to deal with it (the smell, the mess, the maintenance of the machines, etc) and even BottleDrop itself will soon have the ability to deposit funds into your account instead of having to withdraw them so handling cash won't even be needed.

[@bobsacamano7653]

who uses an account?

[@daniburke9452]

@@bobsacamano7653 I use the bottle drop system. I use the green bags. I fill the bags then drop them off. The money goes onto your card and u can withdrawl it at the bottle drop or at a store. If u use the money in store they give u 20%more for instore purchases

[@bobsacamano7653]

@@daniburke9452 don't you have to pay for the green bags?

[@canaanwinthrop2463]

I load two GreenBags into my car and drive to the Fredmeyer Bottledrop only to find it is 100% full. I can’t even use my foot to cram just one of my bags in. I drive home and unload the bags. I try again the next couple of weeks and it is the same story. Wasted time, wasted gas, poor system.

[@seaturtledog]

I think the solution is the Stores should help fund bottle drop locations. Selling beer and soda is a huge money maker for stores. Why do you think they put the $6 bag of chips near the beer coolers?

[@outlawbillionairez9780]

Oregon Bottle Bill, first in America. 1972. Requires retailers to accept cans and bottles BY LAW! And they hate it!

[@banderezztonylapore9493]

This is true however they are only required to return 2.40 if they are within a certain distance of a recycling center such as bottle drop… Since almost every metro retail store satisfies this requirement there has been a backlash from bottle returners. Many times ending in verbal attacks, threats of violence, and assaults.

[@evegreenification]

@@banderezztonylapore9493 Thank you. I didn't glean this from the video, so it really helps explain the situation.

[@mindyourbusiness4199]

Its against the law for criminals to attack people, but they dont stop that. Its worth more to pay a daily fine then deal with the violence. Eventually the store will close and the locals wont be able to buy food either. KEep ignorning that fact. That totally doesnt tank a city. Though I feel no sympathy for a single person in Portland. Not one. They are all shocked because they are getting what they voted for and demanded. Its laughable.

[@Kona_Blue]

These people refuse to work. I’m over the homeless, help yourselves

[@evegreenification]

I'm over the violent ones being allowed to do whatever they feel like in the community and front line employees (those least compensated) get to deal with it. I'm over everyone else being taxed and lorded over with more and more laws and fewer and fewer benefits. The people who are being the problem need to be solved, not everybody else continuing to suffer year after year.

[@Elennar29]

That is work

[@gregoryhagen8801]

That's why they're BUM'S.

[@luigivincenz3843]

I'm originally from BC Canada and it's illegal to weigh cans, bottles etc. in the province. The deposit places are stand-alone businesses and not affiliated with a retail company. The best part is they give you a TRAY (with 50 slots?) where you slot the cans, bottles etc. so you and they know how much you get paid. Plus for a business to be approved, there has to be washing sink to wash the crap off the bottles and cans before putting them into the slot for hygiene. It's 10 cents each so people know the value and it's not surprising someone grabs the can when you throw it into the garbage . It wont even hit halfway to the garbage can lol

[@chrisbullard5901]

This is insanity! If the City of Portland wants to improve its image and keep the streets clean, the homeless are obviously already doing the work for a profit motive! Just take it to the next logical step: Offer any homeless person in transitional housing a part-time job cleaning the streets they already know so well. You pay them by the hour as a base, offer to handle the bulk recyclable returns as an intermediary to assuage the fears of retail stores, and let the homeless keep the recycling refund as straight profit. By giving them their pick of a 4-6 hour shift to work and the profit motive of keeping the recycling refunds as money in their pocket, you can set them up for success by giving them the workday hours necessary to clean up and interview for jobs out of the rescue missions or some volunteer space.

[@jean-mariebenes3080]

Currently they have something kinda similar going on I believe under the Morrison bridge and it's 20 an hour to count cans, can't remember if there was even a limit. There needs to be more of this. I'm pretty sure having the homeless clean the streets for pay is also in effect.

[@dcg590]

They don’t want it! They don’t want job, structure or rules. How many handouts can you actually provide before the tax payers get tired of it?

[@mrmja50]

How many of these cans and bottles never had a deposit paid on them since they were brought over from Vancouver?

[@AlexandarHullRichter]

How many got paid for in Portland and taken to Vancouver?

[@sallymoen6371]

I've always admired the bottle & can return in Oregon, its been around a long time, and gives money back for people bringing back empties. I guess it was an offshoot of the 1970's ecology movement. I only wish my state had this program, as it is apparently a good cash source for poor people who are willing to go collect bottles & cans, which isn't as easy as you think, as many folks take the returnables home so they can return them themselves at their next grocery shopping trip. Still, the one man collected $300 worth in one day which paid for his hotel room, gas, food, incidentals...Imagine poor folks that do not have these cashable returns and what they might do to survive, and you understand the shoplifting, catalytic converter thefts off of cars at night, bicycle stolen for easy cash at pawn shops, purse snatching, panhandling, etc etc. No not every poor person in my community steals or begs money to survive, I only wish there was this easier way to support people at the same time it gets recycles off the street & out of the trash.

[@danbosch-]

where do you think the dude got 3000 bottles and cans from? i would be willing to bet it wasn't from street litter.

[@renatofabbro5263]

I had my catalytic converter stolen and it cost me $1,800 in total when factoring in the rental car that I needed while my car was in the shop. I have zero sympathy for these people.

[@CRneu]

@@danbosch- believe it or not, a lot of folks leave cans out for people because they don't care about the deposit and know someone is gonna come grab them. On trash day you can drive around and find plenty of bags of cans next to the garbage bin. A lot of other folks are just lazy and throw cans in their recycle, so canners will go through recycle bins really quick and pull out cans. It's a win/win.

[@col8981]

Is there a reason why the cans are not flattened, at least partially?

[@redcurrantart]

My homeless ‘neighbors’ rifle are trash and leave it strewn all over. And then they’ve even broken into our cars. I don’t blame the grocery stores. Everyone is sick of this. This whole nonsense of everyone is respectful and nice and let’s pretend that they don’t abuse property and people? That’s utter bullshit. maybe there are those in the homeless community that are decent good people who have no other option to be on the street. But then we have the junkies, the mentally disturbed, and the people who have decided to check out of society and have lived like this for decades. when you start hurting other people, when you start stealing and abusing property, that’s when you become a parasite.

[@banderezztonylapore9493]

Stores that are in a full-service redemption center zone (Bottledrop) are required to have an OLCC notice posted (or a sign made by the store with equivalent information) saying they may limit returns to 24 containers per person per day…

[@MultiBrad777]

do they limit stores to selling less than 24 cans a day???…

[@banderezztonylapore9493]

@@MultiBrad777 lol.., if you really need to ask such a stupid question you are obviously a moron. The fact is the it is not the retailers charging these deposits. It is the state. The state is responsible for reimbursement not the retailer. That is why the bottledrop program was developed.

[@jpperry2117]

When my local store switched to a Green Bags drop off, all these challenges went away.

[@ericspearo5731]

Do the homeless realize it’s also against the law to attack people? I think one of the most basic rules of life apply here. Don’t Sh*t where you eat

[@karenflores4987]

I got here from a short where people were filmed outside a store deliberately dumping newly bought water bottles on the parking lot just so they could get the money from returns.

[@rogerr.8507]

disgusting 🤮

[@Melissa0774]

In New York many years ago, they used to have machines in the front of grocery stores, where you feed the cans into a hole, one at a time and it prints out a receipt that you take to the cashier to get the money. Do they still have those? I think it's important for everyone, NOT just homeless people, to have an easy, quick way to make money like that. But I think using automated machines is a much better approach. The less the bottle collectors have to deal with other people, the better, regardless of whether or not they're homeless. I do have to wonder where they're getting all those cans and bottles from, though. Don't they have to pick them out of people's garbage cans or municipal recycling bins? (if they have municipal recycling) Is it not illegal to take cans from municipal recycling bins? I think it is in other states. Or do they just not have municipal recycling in Oregon because they rely on the bottle return system instead? Even still, people are ok with the homeless going through their trash cans? I have to say though, if they really want to make people recycle, paying them to do it is a much better approach than just relying on them to sort their stuff into bins, just out of the kindness of their hearts, because they care about the environment, which is the only thing that most states do.

[@johndavis2938]

Yes they do here in Oregon. The machines are finicky however and break often.

[@johnathin0061892]

They have the "Tomra machines" in all bottle deposit states. They are very slow if you have lots of bottles, sometimes reject good bottles and cans for no reason and break down constantly. It is illegal to take the cans from recycling bins in most places, but the cops generally look the other way as long as they don't make a mess or cause any problems.

[@utrich31]

notice he said..."no major fights'...but still they fight. I'm for the safety of store employees and stores should be allowed to make those decisions.

[@Brian01987]

Why is there automated process in returning recyclables like glass bottles.

[@robertjenkins7663]

You can't force someone or a company to force there employees to be in a unsafe environment and be assaulted even if it's the state law. Oregon it's called "working in a hostel work environment" which is against your own laws. Get so tired of these states trying to force people to do things even if it's dangerous because they say it's the law and you'll be fined. State employees need to go down get in line and see how it feels to be yelled at and assaulted for know reason.

[@gregoryhagen8801]

Have you ever worked at a 7-11? You are more likely to get shot there, than a cop is. Talk about "unsafe working conditions"

[@jazziez6467]

Sounds like they'll leave Fred Meyers and other big chains alone and go after the mom and pop party stores. Nice going Portland.

[@allouttabubblegum1984]

They need to get rid of depositables period. I dont want my taxes going to peoples drug habits, only to feed them. Only 5% of recyclables actually get processed, we pay more to get less services. Same with yard debris. But the gov't is the biggest welfare queen, needs to be audited.

[@timbehrens9678]

Deposit is not a tax

[@AlexandarHullRichter]

If you don't want someone getting your deposit, you should recycle your bottles yourself. That's the point of having the deposit.

[@uhadme]

I won't obey the law, until you make the world perfect and crime free. Thanks for the great idea.

[@5after4am]

Stores that won't accept bottle returns need to stop charging 10 cents deposit on every bottle they sell.

[@fridayray8891]

good!!!! stop the tweakers

[@bodyzoasispersonaltraining9186]

No fentanyl bottle exchange?

[@JoeOvercoat]

The guy saying he doesn’t understand. the problem is either in denial or a liar, and clearly has not coordinated with one of his customers who says that most of the people he works with respond with violence instead of words. And apparently, when they do use words, they’ll yell at TV crews, like that will get them off TV.

[@philtheduck09]

Because of VIOLENCE from people returning bottles!!

[@mbryson2899]

Have you any statistics to show it's a pattern and not just a media-glorified anomaly? I've seen violence very occasionally from shoppers, but not once from canners. At least here in CA canners know that if they misbehave they will be banned from the business; I've seen the posters of banned folks.

[@philtheduck09]

@@mbryson2899 in Portland the DA will not hold anyone accountable for the crimes they're committing so it's like the Wild West downtown and large and small businesses are getting robbed and broken into. We have a violence issue here.

[@mbryson2899]

@@philtheduck09 And they're returning recycling as they commit those crimes? I don't understand why you think they are connected.

[@nancyhanson5620]

Meth ruins everything

[@jessicalee3245]

Wtf my friend is homeless in downtown Portland and he’s never touched drugs or alcohol… he cans to get dog food for his chihuahua he’s had since she was 5 weeks old, she just turned 11 last month….

[@nychris2258]

Of course he must have a dog

[@jamaraquai4224]

@@nychris2258 Yeah, sometimes they do. Ever tried living on the streets? It's not always a safe space. Dogs provide companionship, protection and sometimes even a means to garner income.

[@RhizometricReality]

It's not dropping off bottles that make people hostile. It's the economic disparity and other depravity in which people's lives are reduced to by the economic system we are impoverished by. Have some class awareness lady.

[@johndavis2938]

👍

[@funkypunkypine]

Blair, I appreciate your reporting but honestly surprised that you wonder why people would get hostile when you start recording video. A lot of people, regardless of homeless status or not, do not want to just randomly be recorded without consent.

[@wrobinnes]

Example #238 of the problems you introduce when you allow and encourage drug use and lawless behavior. Keep it comin' Portland!

[@shawnncheriyoung3597]

All the stores in Klamath Falls, Oregon stopped taking cans and bottles 3 or 4 years ago... They have a place they call the "Bottle Drop", but they only let you return a certain amount of cans and bottles....return the limit, change your clothes and return some more...

[@drc97086]

Go to the Bottle Return?

[@btfup]

Reporter: It's a little tense, but nobody shanked me so all good...

[@jasonlewis1926]

Lived in Portland for 26 years. The bottle return bill is only one thing…a pain in the ass. So glad I live in a state that has no bottle bill now.

[@VenusNouveau2005]

Hell yes. I'm looking to move out of Oregon for reasons this video illustrates. One of my many criteria is that it *not* have a bottle bill and the attendant underground addict/crime economy it creates. Where did you go?

[@Dc-oe8qe]

I work at a market gas station. It's a massive loss to the store to process the returns. ( around 1000. Dollars a month)

[@MultiBrad777]

any business that’s interested in selling beverages must weigh the pros and cons of whether or not it is an affordable business to be in ….

[@jamaraquai4224]

$1000 is nothing compared to the monthly income. And as @MultiBrad777 said, it's the price of business. Can't swing it? Close up shop. Maybe that way more people would treat the houseless communities with empathy and compassion having lived a day or two in their shoes instead of showing nothing but blind prejudice.

[@AlexandarHullRichter]

Is the state not reimbursing you?

[@Dc-oe8qe]

@@AlexandarHullRichter no

[@AlexandarHullRichter]

@@Dc-oe8qe sounds like you need to be claiming against them. The refund is supposed to come from the state, not from you.

[@plicketyplunk]

That is lousy they won't accept the returns but they need to keep staff safe.

[@TwinSister1957]

As of today 12/17/2022 Fred Meyers here in Florence, Or the Bottle Drop service is OPEN and ACCEPTING recycles

[@newmb321]

"it's become a pillar in the community." bro...

[@TRIPWIRE330]

A bottle deposit is a loan..if a store collects this deposit..then they must! repay it!!

[@GrizzlyUrsusArctos]

But those bottles being returned weren’t purchased. How does that factor in the reason the old and lame bill was enacted in the 70’s

[@larryj1048]

Suspicious that they have so many of the same brands of cans and bottles. Hmmm.

[@christinerobinette6888]

Why don't these people just go out and get a regular job with all the effort that they're doing for the bottles. I call that laziness. Guys been under there for 3 years. Talking life about it how does hardly no fights or anything. What's that got to do with the bottles and the store owners. The people uses money for drugs or alcohol or cigarettes. And look how some of these people are dressed they smell. I can understand concern

[@MR-in8bl]

"A pillar in the community"

[@777gift]

they must stop charging customer for bottle recycle in any can or bottle if they will not take them back

[@rollfizzlebeef7142]

The spirit of being reimbursed for bottle/can return is so that customers paying the bottle/can deposit can return their qualifying empties and receive THEIR money back, without interest solely to promote recycling and civic responsibility. I may be mistaken but I don't think the statute accounted for "canning" being a career/side hustle or for it to be the solely the domain of individuals NOT making purchases at stores selling qualifying bottles/cans. Bottle return machines require capital expenditure, maintenance and personnel to own/operate which is paid for by the paying customers, not the homeless. It is a hallmark of a civil society that a consumer and a retail outlet have a tacit agreement to cooperate and incentivise basic civil responsibility and enhance recycling. Cash for homeless individuals doesn't really factor into the equation between paying customer and retailer and if anything, homeless individuals inserting themselves into the equation breaks the tacit agreement between paying customer and retail outlet, chasing away/making it difficult for the former and impossible/unsafe for the latter.

[@AlexandarHullRichter]

The point is to incentivize bottles being returned and recycled, regardless of who does it. If people choose to throw away the bottles they paid for instead of returning them, that is their choice. These homeless people are simply cleaning up the mess left by people who made that choice.

[@Eidolon1andOnly]

Where's the other side of the story?

[@jayski9410]

Remember those homeless people broke the law to get those cans. It's called scavenging. They've gone into the recycling bins on garbage day and stolen the most valuable recyclable from the hauling company, who counts on that revenue to keep hauling & garbage collection fees lower for the homeowners. I've now gone to crushing my cans so you can't get the return deposit and I don't put them out on the street until just before the truck is due. I even woke up one morning to find that a homeless person had set up camp in my front yard overnight. I didn't call the cops. I stood there, made him pack up and leave, myself. I don't pay nearly 20 Grand a year in property taxes so these people can move in with me for free. So down here in L.A. I've lost all sympathy for the homeless.

[@johndavis2938]

You are the actual problem

[@cayminlast]

In this day and age, our veterans and people having to live like this is a true reflection of the political leadership and their priorities. Illegal immigrants get far greater aid, benefits and assistance than citizens.

[@johncase1353]

When my mom worked at Walmart YEARS ago she said she would get pissed off seeing white and black people/families having to put back half their cart of food because they didn't have enough money or food stamps but always had immigrants with their cart over flowing with food and them paying for it with their food stamp card. One time which lead her to quit was this time she was working on the checkout and she had a white woman having to put back nearly 90% of her food because she only got $150 a month in food stamps but right behind her was a Middle Eastern family with two shopping carts. One was loaded with food that cost nearly $400 that they paid for in food stamps and the second was loaded with new fishing poles, DVDs, video games and other things that cost more than the food that the husband pulled out a huge wad of money to pay for. My mom was thinking to herself if they have that kind of money why are they on food stamps.

[@gregoryhagen8801]

@@johncase1353 Wtf does that have to do with this story?

[@jakegomez2393]

Why don't they just come out and say that the homeless' right to get high supersede the right of store workers to be safe. People get hostile dropping off their bottles because they are detoxing from fentanyl and meth. The city of Portland government and the county makes millions off the homeless problem every year. They don't want it to stop. It's sick.

[@pdxmack]

This is a non issue since consumers can return bottles at "return it" outlets. I like the convenience of doing a monthly recycling drop. Plus I've home delivery and don't want to go to a store.

[@lillybell2557]

Didn’t know you could return plastic.

[@rzorNvme]

Summer of love

[@williewonka6694]

So, the bottle and can bill is a major source of funding for drug culture, got it. Plenty of other states are cleaner than Oregon without bottle deposits. Past time for that silly practice to end.

[@lavendersprig2905]

sounds like they dont have room for it all .

[@AhJodie]

This is a great story, and... at least these people are working, and cleaning up the city! In Wisconsin, there are machines that accept them and pay out.

[@danbosch-]

id be willing to bet a lot of them are rummaging through residential recycle bins mostly. thus making a mess with their rummaging. i would sincerely doubt that there are thousands upon thousands of dollars of bottles and cans dumped on the streets every night.

[@AhJodie]

@@danbosch- we started putting ours next to the garbage cans so they can be easier for those who collect them.

[@purplebutterfly7257]

The unhygienic conditions of used cans and bottles would be enough for me not to get involved in that business.

[@sailingmohican2767]

Sell 100 bottles 10 dollars in register refuse to take bottles back keep 10 bucks use homeless people as excuse

[@bradleebo3461]

The scam is called "water dumping." It works as follows: Food stamp recipients use their benefits to purchase water bottles and from there promptly dump the water out and redeem the bottles for cash. It takes dedication to make any measurable profit off this.

[@canilernproto3018]

Lmao that is the dumbest thing ever dude. Think about it for more than 30 seconds before you open your mouth with such garbage.

[@canilernproto3018]

@@carollynt No it's not.

[@raymondlin8728]

Why waste the water

[@KN-ko8ez]

Larry sure breezed over the fact that he and his wife have a chemical dependency that they have to deal with.

[@baht_and_paid]

Burnside market has been denying bottle returns for over a year. They don't hesitate to charge the bottle return money though. Is there any govt agency that you can report stores to for not accepting bottle returns for bs reasons?

[@CRneu]

they dont keep the deposit. it's sent to a fund managed by the state, which the state then pays out for returned cans.

[@johnbruenn8755]

How is this even legal? It’s a state law.

[@e-curb]

It's illegal to shoplift, but people do it. And the cops don't arrest anyone for it.

[@andrewmurray9391]

What you have to ask is why are there so many cans being thrown away. A system where everyone is afraid of crackheads isn't working. They aren't returning their cans for the ten cents. It doesn't matter how you feel about it or me, this is the way things are working as we've laid them out. If we want to pretend to be "nice", the up from 5 cents to 10 cents did not do it. Your system failed.

[@victorlopez-eq3yl]

Sad when we need it most...wow I hope they stay open and I hear there shutting down everywhere

[@Eidolon1andOnly]

*they're shutting down everywhere.

[@mandy648]

Unfortunately sometimes the homeless go into the grocery stores and steal items after trading in their bottles/cans. There is also higher crime near the grocery stores that except cans/bottles. The few homeless that act this way ruin it for the homeless trying to survive.

[@nicholasthompson7690]

Really?

[@btfup]

Tina Kotek's Oregon!

[@frederickfamily3861]

Then quit charging the 10¢ fee

[@CebuShortRides]

"yelled" keyword.

[@Kyle-sr6jm]

$300 a day. "We manage to pay for our habits, like everybody else."

[@allensare8887]

Where have you been. This happened years ago. Great job.

[@jamaraquai4224]

It's a story about the houseless community which, in general, is [wrongfully] regarded as a plague of lesser humans, so naturally it's going to take a while to get the story out. This doesn't affect the status quo American who, in general, maintains the prejudice above without empathy or compassion of any kind.

[@jtb3797]

Probably tired of getting harassed by junkies.

[@johndavis2938]

Because only "junkies" return bottles?? You're not making any sense.

[@tazz7830]

2:35 They've become " pillars of the community? " 🙄 #YaOk

[@catface3473]

His truck unregistered and uninsured..rattling your garbage cans at 2 am..

[@ccthree329]

Maybe its time to do away with the bottle and can deposits. Yes you would have them littering public places and in garbage cans but paying people to clean them up and sort the ones that dont make the recycle bin would be cheaper than a homeless, drunken, drug fuled mental illness takeover. It's easier to put bottles and cans in a recycle bin or even garbage can than it is clearing out old tarps, trailers, cars, car parts, used toilet paper, food containers, condoms, needles and so on.

[@AlexandarHullRichter]

No one leaves a job and becomes homeless because collecting cans is fun. Check your privilege, please.

[@ccthree329]

@@AlexandarHullRichter Check your damaged brain

[@tombee4536]

Love that utopia. No issues like that in the State of Jefferson.

[@farmanspickles2753]

I live in the NE Washington, poorest and least populated county in the state. We have our fair share of troublesome meth heads out here. Difference is we can disappear them.

[@CRneu]

What're you talking about? Lol these issues absolutely exist in southern oregon/north cali. It's crazy the lies you folks convince yourself of to justify your bigotry and hatred. It's absolutely mind boggling hearing the things you say when the issues are right in front of you.

[@Ali81OO]

enviromentalists are trippin ! Recycle people you gotta recycle !