Students bundled up and braved the cold this weekend in order to bolster support for the environmental legislation.

Armed with colorful posters and informational flyers, several Vanderbilt and high school students gathered at the West End entrance to Centennial Park last Sunday to promote awareness for the Bottle Bill that Tennessee legislators will consider in mid to late March. The bill, formally titled the Tennessee Beverage Container Deposit Act of 2007, would require consumers to pay a 5 cent deposit on designated beverages. The consumer would get that money back when returning empty containers to a certified redemption center. The government would also charge beverage distributors a 3 cent-per-bottle handling fee, and reimburse distribution centers 3 cents per bottle redeemed.

According to tnbottlebill.org, this legislation could reduce overall litter by up to 60 percent, increase the recycling rate for beverage containers from 10 percent to 85 percent, and create more than 800 small businesses in the form of redemption centers. The site also says the bill would increase state revenues and the potential market value for the recycled containers equals $110 million.

And the students at the rally were supporting it in full force.

Rally co-organizer Jeremy Doochin, a Vanderbilt sophomore, said the legislation "just makes sense."

"This is a great way for people to be responsible for litter," Doochin said. "Tennessee residents produce about 3 pounds of litter per person, while Maine (a bottle-bill state) only has about 3 to 3.5 ounces per person."

Fellow sophomore and co-organizer Becca Maddox agreed.

 "(The legislation) would decrease the eco-footprint of Tennessee," she said.

Both students stressed that the 5 cent deposit mandated by the bill is not the same as a tax, since consumers get that money back after returning empty containers.

"Consumers should include the externalities ... when they consider costs," Doochin said. "We have to think about where (empty containers) go afterwards, and how we already pay that cost. We pay through taxes to clean up litter and wildlife being killed, and the poor pay by having landfills in their backyard."

Maddox seemed pleased with Sunday's turnout.

"We ... have gotten a lot of responses," she said. "People have stopped by our table or respond by honking or cheering. It's been exciting."

The students plan to host a bigger rally at the Capitol in mid-March. They encourage concerned students to get involved by calling or sending letters to legislators.

-Tamesha Derico can be reached at tamesha.s.derico@vanderbilt.edu