Consumer Retorts: Transportation Security Administration

If you’re going to take my water bottle, can you freakin’ recycle it?

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CONSUMER RETORTS

Consumer Retorts

TRANSPORTATION SECURITY ADMINISTRATION

THE FEDERAL ban on carry-on liquids may help stop terrorists, but it’s not doing much for the planet. A now-ubiquitous feature of airport security lines around the country is a row of garbage cans overflowing with glass and plastic bottles. In some cities, individual airports handle the contraband; in others, TSA hires contractors to remove it. So does the TSA recycle any of it? Nope. Spokesman Nico Melendez says he’s never thought of recycling the bottles. “Why can’t they go to landfills?” he wonders. And frankly, he says, the problem isn’t TSA’s to solve—it’s up to passengers to know the rules and to pack accordingly. By the end of our conversation, Melendez is more circumspect. “We’re not averse to doing something environmentally friendly with the stuff,” he concludes. “Someone just needs to have a solution.”

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BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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