At this moment, only ~11 states are bottle deposit states. In another words, you would be charged 5 cents extra per plastic and glass bottles and aluminum cans (10 cents for Michigan). And once you take them to the recycling machines to return these bottles/cans, you’d get a refund of that five cents (ten for Michigan). I personally think that all 50 states should be bottle deposit states and 5 cents is not enough. Maybe ten or even twenty might be reasonable. When people are being charged more, they will be more motivated to have a more sustainable mind, even if they choose to buy bottles.

To be more specific, a higher unit price may reduce the number of people who purchase the products. In addition, people who choose to purchase the products would at least save up the used bottles so that they can bring them to the recycling machines, which would not only pay them back but also that it motivates them to recycle significantly more. To make things even better, this would reduce the amount of littering from cars, bodies of waters and in public and private properties. Less littering would mean more beautiful landscape and protecting children and animals from the ultimate consequences like glass lacerations and the Great Pacific Trash Island (whereas birds and fish mistake plastic for food).