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Many of you will have met Jenni Hume from the Have You Got The Bottle? campaign at our AGM in April. Eco-Congregation Scotland partners with this campaign, which is urging Scottish Ministers to introduce a deposit return system for all drinks containers in Scotland. This would mean that people pay an extra 10p or so when they buy a drink in any glass, plastic or metal container, and then get a full refund when they return it for recycling. Deposit return has been shown to reduce litter, increase recycling, help to reduce emissions and create more jobs in the waste management sector.

Ways to engage

A number of congregations have already got involved with the campaign, in very creative ways. You can visit www.haveyougotthebottle.org.uk and read about the special Earth Hour sermon at Selkirk Parish Church, where they signed paper copies of the HYGTB petition, and collected them in an empty plastic bottle to send to Roseanna Cunningham, MSP.

The Have You Got The Bottle? team work closely with the Marine Conservation Society, and are offering to come and deliver a joint workshop to any Sunday Schools who are interested. This workshop would deliver learning about leather back turtles, some issues surrounding marine pollution, and solutions we can implement such as introducing a deposit return system. HYGTB and MCS are based in Edinburgh, and can travel to most places around the central belt to deliver these workshops. For those congregations in more remote locations, it may be possible to deliver the workshop by Skype!

Eco-Congregation Scotland are one of 70 organisations who support the HYGTB campaign. Other supporters include universities, brewers, shops, sports groups, cafes, restaurants, and waste management groups. If you know people who run a business in your area, please let them know about this campaign, and encourage them to contact Jenni Hume. The more support we have, the more we can show Scottish Ministers that the people are ready to embrace this positive change! Supporting the campaign is easy – all it takes is a logo and a short statement explaining why you think deposit return is a good idea.

If you’d like to find out more about deposit return, or any of the above opportunities, please contact jenni@haveyougotthebottle.org.uk She will be happy to hear from you!