Washington lawmakers should abandon their tax on bottles | Opinion

I did something for the first time this month. I went to our state legislature and testified about a bill that I think is a bad idea.

Some people are trying to charge everyone 10 cents on every bottle container you buy. They are going to automatically take our money, and you could only get it back by being inconvenienced from collecting all your empty bottles and driving them to a drop-off place.

It just doesn’t seem right. We already have a recycling program that we pay for. I grew up in California and have traveled a lot for work, but I’ve always lived in places where recycling was important. I think it’s important, too. That’s why at home we put our empty bottles into a recycling bin at our curb that gets picked up every Thursday.

Our family has lived in Olympia now for a few years, and we love it — this is where I want to retire. It’s a beautiful place and recycling is a part of that.

I couldn’t believe it when my wife first found out that this tax on bottles was being considered. It doesn’t matter if it’s a bottle for soda or water, we found out. The tax is on every bottle, so if you buy an eight-pack of energy drinks or a flat of water bottles at Costco, it can mean you are paying around 50% more than before.

We found out when the legislation was in a public hearing, and I was able to get off work a little early so I could go. I waited in a hallway outside of the hearing room and learned from a security guard when everything would start and how I could sign up to testify. When the hearing started, everyone was wearing suits. It seemed like there were a lot of people there from different businesses and government agencies, but not a lot of regular people.

The person who testified right before me talked about how this would increase the cost of grocery bills, and I nodded my head because that’s true. When it was my turn to testify, I started by saying that I was there representing just myself as the parent of two teenagers.

Respectfully, I asked the elected officials in front of us: “Can we all be serious? People who actually pay taxes are going to be buying these groceries and the ones suffering. And for all those saying bottles are litter and there so much litter in the oceans and all in the streets — as if this new bill would somehow prevent that. There’s always going to be litter in the streets, and all this new bill would do is inconvenience us. You need to come to your senses and just stop this, please.”

One of the lawmakers asked me during the hearing how it would affect my family. I said we buy a lot of beverages. We have two teenagers and this is just going to make everything cost more.

All the studies about these programs in other states are incomprehensible. I’ve lived in some of those states with these programs and there are still tons of bottles and cups in the streets. The only thing I know for sure about this bill is that it would make everything cost more for normal people. I have a friend who drives from Aberdeen for work. He already has a long commute and now people want him to drive even more to find one of these drop-off sites just so he can get his money back?

There should be a lot more people testifying to make their voices heard. Good or bad, that’s what our country is about and that’s what we get to do. I’m telling my friends and people I work with about this bill.

The people who don’t make tons and tons of money will shoulder the burden of this tax. They all think it’s a bad idea, and we’re going to tell our elected officials what we think.

Reggie Camp, 41, has lived in Olympia since 2024 with his wife and two teenage children.