This is great and all for the environment but as someone who lives in downtown Portland the effectiveness of this program has actually reduced "quality of life" downtown.
Homelessness has been an issue here for a while, but by making it more economically viable to do bottle deposits this program has created mini hubs for the homeless to converge on.
There is a large Target store downtown with bottle deposit machines, there is usually a group of homeless folks who hang out overnight waiting for the store to open to deposit their goods -- and they leave a trail of trash and needles behind. And generally make it unpleasant to shop at the store.
Bottle deposit isn't really a means of addressing homelessness but it is just another factor when considering how chronic Portland's homeless issue is.
Not only is it reducing QoL in downtown...but also the surrounding area. I also work in the Pearl District and I recall my boss (who lives around 15 minutes drive from the office) stating that once in a while homeless people go to his neighborhood and pillage the trash and leaving shopping carts all over the place, which is quite unsettling.
In addition, I'm glad I stay away from the target for can recycling. I think I'll stick with the Whole Paychecks down in the Pearl, even of that POS breaks way too often.
Homelessness has been an issue here for a while, but by making it more economically viable to do bottle deposits this program has created mini hubs for the homeless to converge on.
There is a large Target store downtown with bottle deposit machines, there is usually a group of homeless folks who hang out overnight waiting for the store to open to deposit their goods -- and they leave a trail of trash and needles behind. And generally make it unpleasant to shop at the store.
Bottle deposit isn't really a means of addressing homelessness but it is just another factor when considering how chronic Portland's homeless issue is.