What is more environmentally friendly?
or returnable glass/metal containers to be washed and reused or recycled. Washing them uses energy.
What ever happened to mainstream glass soda and milk bottles?
Answer:
With respect to reusable glass containers, our legal system had a lot to do with the elimination of those.
There were lawsuits about bottles that had not been properly washed.
There were also lawsuits over botles that had exploded because they had small cracks in them that had been missed when the bottles were washed and reused.
The only way to have a consistent supply of containers was to go with disposable containers.
The popu;larity of plastic is that it is less likely than a glass container to get a small crack in it and explode.
Also plastic weighs less. That is environmentally friendly because it requires less diesel fuel to transport objects that weigh less.
Also with respect to plastic containers if they are disposed of in a landfill that carbon is sequestered. there are some types of plastics that can be made from plant materials. If you dispose of those in a landfill and make them non biodegradable you are removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and sequestering it.
i'm not sure because although washing does take up energy and recycling plastic doesn't, there are some problems with the plastic recycling system that can actually be harmful to the environment because of the demand for plastic is so high that it gets complicated. there's a lil article that shows the demand to recycle plastic is high but there's not enough facilities to do them all...unless they do something...then i would say plastic is more environmentally friendly
However, from my experience in a third world country like Ecuador, they keep their glass bottles and reuse them themselves. You buy the glass bottled soda, and return the bottle to the store or any other store that sells drink. They treat it like a glass cup. It's an interesting question.
Yes we could learn a lot about re-using from third world communities.
Kids were breaking the glass getting a drink and then cutting themselves.
hard to tell, really, varies from case to case.
addition to those mentioned above, some unscrupulous competitors of those products bought the bottles which cost more than the content sometimes,and instead of the bottles going back to the rightful company, are destroyed in huge quantities.
returning containers really is environment friendly since they are picked up on every rounds of deliveries.
Not having kids that would in turn become resource users and wastemakers is the best long term solution. If we don't curb population growth no amount of recycling and earth friendly behavior will help.
Make an oath to not reproduce (I have) and practice organics and local purchases and grow your own veggies when you can and live a good life.
The number one polluters are breeders.
There are concerns over the stability of plastic bottles in as much as they give off some rather obnoxious and indeed poisonous substances when they are breaking down. Now I am not sure whether that would be in days weeks months or years you will have to find that out for yourself- enjoy!
I believe the glass and metal containers, because between the manufacturing process and the landfill situation, recleaning and reusing containers just makes sense and sets a good example.
Returnable, reusable glass.
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