r for Lochmead, since they transport empty returnables back to the dairy at little extra cost, and the uniform empties are easily stacked at Dari Mart stores in their original delivery cases. The 40 cent bottle deposit helps build a returning clientele. Castle Creamery in Hayward, California still uses special thick glass milk bottles, for which they require a $1 deposit. The return rate is about 97% on the half-gallon bottles, but only 80-85% on the traditional quart bottles, since many people keep them for nostalgia’s sake. One advantage glass has over plastic bottles is flavor — heavily reused plastic bottles retain flavors and odors, and super- high temperature sterilization would melt the bottle. Plastics eventually stink. Since glass is a superior barrier the product lasts longer and tastes better. Castle creamery containers last on average 30 trips, but at the end of their lives they can be made into a bottle again. Worn-out plastic bottles cannot easily be made into another container, so they are chopped up and used as various fillers. The plastics industry coined the oxymoron “linear recycling” to label the limits of their reprocessing. Genesis Juice in Eugene, Oregon is a 15 year-old worker-owned cooperative specializing in organic juice. This popular co-op squeezes everything from oranges and carrots to beets and wheat grass into bottles that carry a 20- cent deposit no matter what the size ( 8oz, 16oz, Iqt, or Page 26 RAIN Spring 1993 Volume XIV, Number 3
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