How many of us have purchased a 6-pack of our favorite soda in those aluminum cans? You all know that they often came in those plastic rings.  We were encouraged to cut those rings before disposing of them in the trash.  They looked like this:

Getty Images/Image Source
Getty Images/Image Source
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We were told to cut them because the dangers of plastic rings have long been a topic of concern among conservationists and marine biologists.  When these rings find their way into the ocean, they can endanger birds, mammals, turtles, and other marine life, due to their ability to get stuck around animals’ noses, mouths, and bodies. It’s estimated that plastic products kill around 100,000 marine animals a year.

Well a Philadelphia based packaging company has a new packaging solution.  I hope that this idea will get adapted by more packaging companies throughout the country.  For now only New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania will have this.

Liberty Coca-Cola Beverages, a local plant which bottles Coca-Cola products ranging from Diet Coke and Sprite to Powerade and Monster Energy, will replace its plastic rings with a fiber-based paper packaging.  This will make it much easier to recycle, and hopefully other companies will take on this idea to reduce plastic waste.  Liberty estimates that its new policy will help eliminate 75,000 pounds of plastic each year. You can read a bit more about this HERE.

If this doesn't come to Missouri, I do hope that people will take a minute to cut up the plastic rings that their soda may come in before discarding it.  It is the least we could do.

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