That washing part always gets me. Its consuming more resources, perhaps more than the bottle or can is worth. My mother in law used to put empty bottle and cans (trash!) into my dishwasher and run it with soap. My god, the waste, the damage to the environment.

It reminds me of eco-tourism. Its fun/satisfying to be part of 'recycling', so folks make up steps they can do to participate more, and end up torpedoing the whole point of it.