Auburn Bottle Return

02/05/2026

SO TO ARE VALUABLE CUSTOMERS.ESPECIALLY OUR 6.5 CENT NON-PROFIT CUSTOMERS.
NYS has decided that they are not going to try to help any redemption centers so IF WE DO NOT GET YOUR HELP their will be more products out there that YOU will not get your 5 cent deposit back. The NYS is raking in your money from your deposit each year and all you can do is complain to the redemption centers that your not getting your money back. This is not the redemption centers fault . It is yours because you are not complaining to the right people. were just a small fish in this ocean. This is what we are asking you to do. send a Testimony to help or lose your money .
you can change this in any way you see fit to express your thoughts.

Email to both:
[email protected]
[email protected]

Consumer Testimony — Public Protection
Name: __________________________
City/Town: ______________________
Chair and members of the committee,
My name is ____________________, and I live in ____________________.
I am a New Yorker who is required to pay a deposit on beverage containers. I am submitting this testimony because the system I am forced to participate in is being actively broken by state inaction — and I am losing access to get my own money back.
I pay a deposit with the expectation that I can easily redeem it. But due to nearly 20 years of suppressed pay, redemption centers are closing, hours are shrinking, and stores are limiting or denying returns. Entire communities are losing access. This is not a choice. I am being forced to pay into a system that no longer works as intended.
The longer the state ignores this crisis, the more money it keeps through unredeemed deposits. That means the system is now financially rewarding failure instead of encouraging recycling. The more access disappears, the more consumers lose — and the more the state collects.
A system meant to reward New Yorkers for recycling is now promoting state sanctioned theft from those consumers.
This situation is confusing, unfair, and deeply frustrating. This system has long been known as New York’s most successful environmental program. It works. But it feels as though New York gaining a financial stake in the system—specifically from its forced failure—has caused backwards motivation and harm to us consumers.
We are not asking for special treatment.
We are asking for the system to work as promised.
We are asking to keep access to our money—and our ability to keep New York clean.
Please take action in the budget this year to provide redemption centers with a fair and equitable handling fee so that they can stay open, restore access and protect New Yorkers from further harm.
Bills A6267 & S5820a will accomplish this goal.
Thank you for listening.
Signature: __________________________
Date: ______________________________

11/29/2025

Good morning, everyone!
I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. As many of you know, Jade was arrested on November 17th outside the Governor’s mansion — while fighting to protect my business, my employees, and your access to the deposit money you are promised when you buy beverages in New York.
For years, redemption centers have been begging state leaders to address the crisis that is forcing us to close. Handling fees have been frozen for 16 years while wages, rent, and operating costs have surged. Meanwhile, the state continues to profit when access disappears — because every container you can’t return becomes money the state keeps.
We reached a point where drastic action was the only option left to make Albany pay attention. We are simply asking our government to do its job: ensure fair pay so we can remain open, serve our communities, and keep millions of containers out of landfills.
📌 I have court on December 5th, and we are asking for Letters of Support.
If you can share how MT Returnable (or other local redemption centers) positively impact you, your family, your organization, or what losing local access would mean — your voice could truly make a difference.
📝 Please email letters to: [email protected]
⏰ Deadline: Tuesday, December 3rd
Thank you for standing with us — not just for our business, but for fairness, accessibility, and a recycling system that has served New Yorkers for over 40 years.
Together, we will be heard. 💛♻️

11/29/2025

Not for nothing. We here at Auburn Bottle Return have MANAGED to give our customers 6 cents for the past year (per your request) as our prices go up, and it's time that all of you get involved in this bottle bill. We struggle to find companies (that you all enjoy buying new-fangled drinks) the problem is I don't have the access to these companies. Now lately we have had Kinney Drugs water (Nirvana the company) decide that they don't want to pay for there bottles as they want to jump on the Band wagon like all the other companies out there giving the state all that money and no one else see's it that should. This is going to continue until the public comes alive and starts complaining to all our representatives in the capital. This is no Joke this is the worst year that I have not-- been able to contact and get any where, It's like hitting a brick wall. Now the latest is We don't sell in that County any more so we're not paying for them. These bottles should be state wide approved or don't sell them in NY. ( have a company take care of your product before you sell your product. Redemption centers have no power in this Conspiracy. so please help us out with emails and phone calls. EVERY ONE OF MY NON PROFITS THAT GET 6.5 CENTS SHOULD BE JUMPING ALL OVER THE STATE RIGHT NOW. and yet we are getting worse instead of better.

11/26/2025

Holy crap. This picture speaks VOLUMES!
Empire State Redemption Association is with New York State Senate and
4 others
November 23 at 8:20 PM
·
🚨Redemption Centers Are Disappearing Across New York🚨
Each droplet on this map marks a redemption center that has closed since 2023 due to state neglect — and more will follow without urgent action.
New Yorkers are losing access to their own deposit money—as the state profits from that lost access.
It’s time to PASS S8520A/A6267 NOW to stop the closures and protect New Yorkers’ pockets.
📣 CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVES TODAY: Demand a public commitment to hold and complete a special session to pass the handling-fee lifeline bills before redemption deserts take over New York.

11/23/2025

QUEENSBURY – On Monday, Jade Eddy, owner of MT Returnables in Queensbury, dumped around 100 bags of non-deposit beverage containers (equaling approximately $1,000 worth of unclaimed nickels) in front of

11/22/2025

NOW IS OUR MOMENT
First, let me be crystal clear that now is the time we need to do EVERY. SINGLE. THING. we ask.
We are at a critical moment in this movement. We have attention. We have anger. We have folks wanting to help. And we cannot risk losing that momentum.
You all need to understand the reality:
RIGHT NOW, we’ve had struggling business owners arrested simply for asking our government to provide fair pay for hard labor, and to stop robbing New Yorkers through our forced closures.
People are pi**ed. And they want to help.
Our demand is that Governor Hochul, Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Carl Heastie and our own reps commit to and COMPLETE a special session to pass bills S8520a/A6267 by December 22–the anniversary of THEIR special session. The one where they claimed their $110,000 salaries weren’t enough to survive New York’s financial climate and they gave themselves a $32,000 raise. Using our tax dollars.
If they won’t commit, they must explain why their salary security matters more than our household budgets and the survival of our local redemption centers?
We will be revealing a map of redemption center closures as well as a “where they stand” tracker for every single representative.
We have them in the hot seat. And they have to make a choice. Stand with us or for themselves. Our closures line their pockets and take from ours. Period.
WHY WE CAN’T LOSE PACE
Doing things RIGHT NOW is key because anything that happens in Albany puts Governor Hochul’s signature on a deadline for 2025. She will have to tell the public precisely where she stands. Now. And she will have to do it before the election. Same for our reps.
If they wait until the next session opens in January, we’re done for. They could pass legislation on day one, but the reality is, Governor Hochul could let that legislation sit on her desk until NEXT December. I have no doubt this would be the case after the email leaked from her staff. This runs out the clock for too many centers and communities. And it allows them to avoid this pressure point moment. It also allows Hochul and reps up for election to get through voting day without actually answering to this issue.
We cannot allow that to happen.
Pete and I got arrested for all of you. We need backup now. It’s time to tighten the ship and steam full force ahead.
First requests:
•Change your profile picture to spread awareness and garner support.
•Tell people to follow That Bottle Lady
•Ask your customers, accounts and community for letters of support. Have them state how they benefit from and what they would lose if you closed. We will ultimately use 5 copies of each of these. We are going to deliver messages in a bottle to all the key folks.
MORE TO COME…

07/25/2025

Let’s talk about the importance of *privately* owned redemption centers. We don’t just serve the average consumer. We serve thousands of fundraising accounts throughout the state. Scouting troops, churches, food pantries, school organizations, youth groups and more. All of these organizations operate within our communities. Contributing to our communities. And many of them face complete closure of their programs without their bottle return accounts.

The unfortunate truth right now is that New York State is putting these accounts at risk. They continue to cause redemption center closures and take away access to these accounts.

To put things in perspective, just today we counted $623 worth of containers for ONE account holder. That’s 12,460 containers that they otherwise would have had to process themselves without redemption centers. If forced to turn to stores alone, these organizations would be at a loss. The stores aren’t built for this kind of volume, have brand restrictions and it would put the very time consuming burden of handling the containers personally on the account holder. Not to mention all the driving from store to store. To put it bluntly, these folks would have to quit their day job just to handle containers. And we all know that is simply not realistic.

Yes, our corporate competitors may remain. But even they have restrictions. Many of our account holders have come to us out of desperation and frustration with these companies. Too often we have heard that though the company processed their containers, the account holders had to fight for payment. Sometimes for months. And now we are being told that the checks they have to chase down, are being limited to a $200 maximum.

None of this is reasonable. The burden and loss fundraising accounts face is quite serious.

We just wanted to highlight the important, and often overlooked, work we do for our communities. Not only do we care about providing good service. We simply CARE about our communities and the amazing work all these organizations are doing.

We promise, if you keep supporting us, we will continue to fight like hell for you. Together, we will eventually win this war waged upon us.

06/23/2025