Thoughts On Oregon's Hobo Tax And How It Affects Portland? (2015, buying)

[Raisinet]

I'm curious what others thoughts are on Oregon's Hobo Tax, aka. the bottle and can return deposit required on beverages sold in the state.

"Retail outlets of 5,000 square feet or more are required to accept bottle and can returns of
all brands and sizes of beverage containers for each kind (type) they sell."

http://www.oregon.gov/olcc/docs/bott...sibilities.pdf

I never really gave this thing much thought until I've witnessed firsthand how it has impacted my quality of life while living in the city of Portland, which is why I refer to it as the "Hobo Tax."

I've labeled it the "Hobo Tax" because that's how many of the homeless and "travelers" are squeaking by, or getting their next fifth of liquor, or crack rock.

It's so bad they actually have locks on some of the trashcans in downtown Portland to keep them from emptying out the cans in search of stuff to return. There's nothing quite as priceless as watching some homeless schizophrenic cursing as they empty out a dumpster and come up empty handed, and leave trash everywhere.

But this impacts your life in the most unobvious manner here in Portland, which is something you would mistake for good in an urban environment, and that is living near a grocery store.

Because, if you live near a grocery store, then you get all the homeless showing up in your (neighbor)HOOD with trash bags or shopping carts full of cans and bottles they've gathered up from around the city. And when they're done returning their looted cans and bottles, then they leave all those carts, bags, boxes etc. behind. Fred Meyer doesn't take Safeway carts.

And the only thing more priceless than watching the dumpsters and trash cans getting emptied out in their search is to watch them feed the loot into the bottle and can return machines (which are usually broken because they're getting used at an industrial level instead of a family level and the retailer doesn't want to deal with the whole mess and the homeless situation) is to see the homeless encounter a bottle that the machine rejects. When that happens, they'll just toss it across the room, or out the door onto the sidewalk for your pet, or you, to get hurt on.

That opens up quite a debate by the way. Is it the retailer, the landlord, or the city of Portland's job to clean up the broken glass on the sidewalks? They all point the finger at each other.

There's a lesson in this rant for you new arrivals into Portland: Don't move anywhere near a grocery store that has to take bottles and cans back, because the place is surrounded by the homeless surviving off those proceeds. And you have no hope of returning that six pack of beer that your hubby bought and drank. Save yourself: just throw it in the trash and forget the deposit!

I've included a photo of what a major chain grocery store bottle return looks like in downtown Portland after a day with the homeless.

[urbanlife78]

You know, nothing is stopping you from recycling your own bottles and cans to get back that deposit you paid for.....but thank you for your posts in hope to scare anyone from moving here. We locals appreciate your efforts.

[Raisinet]

Originally Posted by urbanlife78

You know, nothing is stopping you from recycling your own bottles and cans to get back that deposit you paid for.....but thank you for your posts in hope to scare anyone from moving here. We locals appreciate your efforts.

I'm a local also in Portland. My Drivers License says Oregon. And I'm not aware of your license saying you've lived here longer, or having any special characteristics that are not on mine.

It's not lost on me that you are quite offended by me showing others what Portland looks like through my eyes, and my lens. This is my last response to you.

[SETabor]

I love it. I get my money back. I've also visited states without deposits and they have bottles and cans on the side of every road. Not that our roads are immaculate but they're a darn sight better than others.

[urbanlife78]

Originally Posted by Raisinet

I'm a local also in Portland. My Drivers License says Oregon. And I'm not aware of your license saying you've lived here longer, or having any special characteristics that are not on mine.

It's not lost on me that you are quite offended by me showing others what Portland looks like through my eyes, and my lens. This is my last response to you.

I didn't say you weren't local, I said "we locals." This isn't about who has lived here longer, this is about your stellar efforts to try to prevent others from moving here.

I am not offended by you at all. I love it when people say how horrible Portland is. It is very helpful and most appreciated.

Though if you are actually moving away before Christmas, then you won't be technically a local for much longer. Which I am sure you are excited about when you get to finally leave this filthy city with high rents.

[Raisinet]

Originally Posted by SETabor

I love it. I get my money back. I've also visited states without deposits and they have bottles and cans on the side of every road. Not that our roads are immaculate but they're a darn sight better than others.

I originally thought that too from a common-sense standpoint, but after witnessing all the stuff that gets left on the beach out at Sauvie Island, I'm not convinced it has it's intended outcome.

Apparently it's a failure in participation as well, and they're talking about raising it to ten cents due to lack of participation. That's a $3.50 tax on your time for a case of water to be returned.

Bottle bill may have outlived its usefulness: Editorial | OregonLive.com

[jjpop]

Many grocery stores have a place where you can put your deposit bottles and cans in a bin the proceeds go to a local school or charity. At New Seasons it's usually inside near the registers.

I agree with you, Raisinet, that the self-serve return areas at the grocery stores are flat out gross. They smell bad and I've seen a lot of broken glass. That's one of the reasons we just give ours away now--we don't want to deal with it to get our $1.15 returned to us.

[VelouriaPDX]

Before buying our current place, we lived within 1/4 mile of Fred Meyer and had at least 20+ people going through the unlocked recycling bins near our kitchen window everyday. And at least that many carts rumbling down the road at all hours of the day and night. It was a constant stream.

[urbanlife78]

When I use to live on the edge of downtown, there was an old man who would collect the bottles and cans the early morning before recycling came through. He was always very nice and polite, I never had an issue with him and figured if someone was gonna make money on what we were basically throwing away, I say have at it.

[VelouriaPDX]

I would never have minded an occasional polite bottle collector. I did mind the angry and more menacing ones, like I said, at least 20 a day within a few feet of our back door. Many were harmless, some definitely weren't. Now it doesn't effect me at all because our recycling is behind a locked gate.