These Wellfleet liquor stores will give you 10 cents - each - for empty nip bottles. Why?

Denise Coffey, Cape Cod Times
Updated ·2 min read

Editor's note: This story was updated Feb. 20, 2024, to correct the list of towns that have banned the sale of nip bottles.

WELLFLEET — The owners of the town’s three liquor stores have decided to put their money where their mouths are. They are giving 10-cent rebates to people who return empty nip bottles.

The move is a result of a petition to ban nips in Wellfleet, ultimately rejected by town meeting last year. The owners of Seaside Liquors, Wellfleet Spirits Shoppe and Wellfleet Wine and Spirits decided to unite to fight the ban, and to do their part to lessen nip litter.

The owners claimed that banning nips wouldn’t stop people from buying them somewhere else, nor would it solve the litter problem. It would only hurt Wellfleet businesses. If the town had passed the petition, customers would have just driven to other towns to buy the nips, said Al Kogos, owner of Seaside Liquors.

Nips at Seaside Liquors in Wellfleet. Three Wellfleet liquor store owners are offering a 10-cent rebate for people who bring back empty nip bottles. They say it's an effort to combat litter and to ensure the town doesn't adopt a ban of nip sales.
Nips at Seaside Liquors in Wellfleet. Three Wellfleet liquor store owners are offering a 10-cent rebate for people who bring back empty nip bottles. They say it's an effort to combat litter and to ensure the town doesn't adopt a ban of nip sales.

“It was nice to see townspeople defeat it and vote our way,” he said in a telephone call Feb. 8.

Eight towns in the state have banned the sales of nip bottles: Chelsea, Brewster, Falmouth, Fairhaven, Mashpee, New Bedford, Newton and Wareham. In Falmouth, a nip ban went into effect October 2021.

Mark Saunders Ferriera, owner of John’s Liquor Store in Falmouth, said he saw a big impact when that town's ban went into effect. Because small containers have a bigger profit margin, he said he’s seen a big margin loss. And the ban is sending people out of town.

“It’s cleaner out there,” Saunders Ferriera said. “I see the pros, but I think there is a better solution. A deposit would have been better, but you have to get the state on board with a redemption program.”

That’s exactly what Kogos is hoping for. Before last year’s town meeting, the owners urged voters not to pass the ban. They circulated pamphlets outlining their reasons why, and asking voters to support proposed bills in the House and Senate that would expand the bottle bill, create parity in the market and tackle the litter challenge.

Nips at Seaside Liquors in Wellfleet
Nips at Seaside Liquors in Wellfleet

The bills, H3690 and S2104, propose incrementally increasing the percentage of redeemed and recycled beverage containers so that by Dec. 2031, 95% are redeemed and recycled.

Kogos said nip sales account for 5% to 10% of revenue, depending on the season.

The 10-cent payback/reward/rebate program started Feb. 1. People can get cash for the empty nips or use the money toward a store purchase. The nips will be stored until the state adopts a recycling program for nips, Kogos said.

"We’re trying to do our part to help promote less litter,” Kogos said. “If this can catch on in other towns, who knows? We'll see how it goes.”

Denise Coffey writes about business, tourism and issues impacting Cape Cod’s residents and visitors. Contact her at dcoffey@capecodonline.com.  

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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Wellfleet liquor stores will pay you not to litter nips. Here's why.