One lesson I learned when I was very young was the lesson of cutting the 6-pack plastic rings that hold a few sodas together in order to save a fish, bird or land animal from getting stuck. Over 3 decades later and anytime I see those rings, I have to cut them. They are made of a substance that last thousands of years before breaking down and is rapidly contaminating our land and oceans. The solution to make them better is to cut them up… seriously? We dump over 8 million tons of plastic in the ocean every single year creating a devastating impact on our marine life. One of the biggest culprits of garbage is plastic 6 ring packs and water bottles. These rings don’t always get cut up and end up seriously harming or killing thousands of animals every year. A brewery in Florida has come up with a breakthrough in can containment technology and aims to make a dent in the amount of plastic garbage in the ocean.
The brewery created a 6-pack ring made of a biodegradable material that is actually safe and edible for animal consumption.
The rings are made from compressed wheat and barley making them look a lot like cardboard. The difference is that they are edible.
They are durable and can sustain the same conditions as the old plastic rings.
The brewery who came up with this fantastic idea is Saltwater Brewery in Delray Beach, Florida.
They named the incredible development the E6PR which is short for Eco Six Pack Rings
It is safe for all wildlife for consumption. If they don’t get eaten, they break down into nothing.
Saltwater Brewery hopes that they set a trend and other breweries start using the E6PR’s.
Americans drank 3.2 billion gallons of beer from cans last year alone!
The rings are more expensive to produce but the reward is much more valuable. Hopefully people don’t mind spending a little more.
The impact the plastic rings have can be detrimental on wildlife around the world.
Manufacturing costs will go down if more breweries adopt the idea of biodegradable rings.
If the Florida brewery can influence the major beer producers, this idea might just take off and make an amazing impact on the amount of trash we produce every single day.
Cutting the rings is not enough. Animals still eat the plastic and end up dying because of it.
The more awareness that is brought to the issue, the sooner it will be resolved.
Learn more about the process in the video below.
More info: Salt Water Brewery
The amount of trash in the oceans is out of control and we need to make drastic changes immediately if we want to stop a snowball effect of tragedy. Small changes like this might not seem big at first but they do make a huge impact in the long-run. They also inspire others to make changes, become innovative and spread awareness. This is a great step in the right direction. It’s time the rest of us make changes as well and start to solve a problem together.