Not an interesting scientific article, but a topic that Is very close to my heart… Beer. Something I really enjoy doing in my free time is tasting yummy craft beers. In case nobody has ever told you, those plastic 6-pack rings, they are not great for the environment. Most of us have seen those images online of traumatized animals somehow entangled in a 6-pack ring. Are these plastic rings causing inhumane amounts of mortality? Probably not. However, we could eliminate these unfortunate incidents and help to reduce the waste plastic in the oceans with a little innovation.
“Holy moly Nick have you heard of this company who makes environmental friendly 6-pack rings?” said someone to me. The creative minds at E6PR created a ring from by-product waste and other compostable materials. If properly disposed of at a compostable facility it will degrade in days, but if accidentally left out in open land or water body, it will degrade in a matter of weeks. Additionally, if the ring is ingested by animals, the organic component materials will not cause any harm to the animals.
Beer is a massive business and seemingly getting the industry onboard would not be difficult. Amazingly, E6PR cannot meet the demands for its product, which means the messages of reducing plastic waste is getting through.
Look for breweries that support this initiative. Currently only select craft breweries in the US are using the ecofriendly six-packs thus far I believe.
Please see E6PR’s website:
https://www.e6pr.com/about-e6pr
