The shift from glass to plastic. (recycle, bicycle, buy, packaging)
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Over the years I have noticed that many drinks, excluding alcohol, are shifting from glass containers to plastic. Of course, pop has mostly come in a plastic bottle as long as I've been alive(I'm 25). I have been able to find some pop in a glass bottle. However, I notice some bottled teas aren't in glass bottles anymore. When I was younger, between ages 9-13, I was gaining an appreciation for tea and still drink it to this day. Back in the 90's, I could find Arizona Green Tea in a glass bottle. My mother would buy(and later I did too). Later on, Gold Peak Tea came along and it was in a glass(when it came out). Now it comes in a glass bottle. Personally, I liked the glass bottles better. I wonder what has gone on as far as glass goes.
Are you serious? you mean you really do not understand that plastic is cheaper?
It is only very recent trend that people try to use less plastic. Not all people, off course, just those who are intelligent enough )))
I personally try to drink canned coke, because it is actually being recycled. very small fraction of plastic bottle is actually being recycled, since it is much much more expensive to use recycled materials.
Also I noticed in some resorts restarants offer drinks in glass bottles and then recycle them. Mostly coke. Those changes are tiny.I think the government should regulate it with taxes - then we will see the change.
Are you serious? you mean you really do not understand that plastic is cheaper?
It is only very recent trend that people try to use less plastic. Not all people, off course, just those who are intelligent enough )))
I personally try to drink canned coke, because it is actually being recycled. very small fraction of plastic bottle is actually being recycled, since it is much much more expensive to use recycled materials.
Also I noticed in some resorts restarants offer drinks in glass bottles and then recycle them. Mostly coke. Those changes are tiny.I think the government should regulate it with taxes - then we will see the change.
I wouldn't know. I would think you could recycle glass. I think there is a slightly better taste from glass than with plastic. I want to see more glass used and recycled. I would say that every state should be on the Bottle Bill. Where I live, in Georgia, we don't use it.
The change that I am seeing is more with tea nowadays. Plastic bottles are used instead of glass. I liked the glass better. I happen to know that plastic is made from petroleum. Petroleum isn't cheap anymore. Glass can still be recycled.
Over the years I have noticed that many drinks, excluding alcohol, are shifting from glass containers to plastic. Of course, pop has mostly come in a plastic bottle as long as I've been alive(I'm 25). I have been able to find some pop in a glass bottle. However, I notice some bottled teas aren't in glass bottles anymore. When I was younger, between ages 9-13, I was gaining an appreciation for tea and still drink it to this day. Back in the 90's, I could find Arizona Green Tea in a glass bottle. My mother would buy(and later I did too). Later on, Gold Peak Tea came along and it was in a glass(when it came out). Now it comes in a glass bottle. Personally, I liked the glass bottles better. I wonder what has gone on as far as glass goes.
When I was a kid I drank Pepsi (with REAL sugar back then) in glass bottles, and I STILL miss it immensely. I despise cans, have never gotten used to them. Thank God that beer still comes in glass bottles!
Glass isn't recyclable in your area? It's curbside pickup where I live. We have to separate the clear from the colored glass. It's an easily-recyclable material.
Here in the Portland-Metro area is an increasing hate-affair with plastic bottles. Bottled water is now is a "bad thing" because it's plastic. Well, for carrying around it is still the better option, I think ~ lighter and unbreakable. But a lot of people here have been switching over to those aluminum bottles. It keeps the water cool but it still heavier to carry around.
I can't imagine 2-liter bottles of drinks in anything but plastic, but I'd sure love to enjoy my soft-drinks again in glass ones.
When I was a kid I drank Pepsi (with REAL sugar back then) in glass bottles, and I STILL miss it immensely. I despise cans, have never gotten used to them. Thank God that beer still comes in glass bottles!
Glass isn't recyclable in your area? It's curbside pickup where I live. We have to separate the clear from the colored glass. It's an easily-recyclable material.
Here in the Portland-Metro area is an increasing hate-affair with plastic bottles. Bottled water is now is a "bad thing" because it's plastic. Well, for carrying around it is still the better option, I think ~ lighter and unbreakable. But a lot of people here have been switching over to those aluminum bottles. It keeps the water cool but it still heavier to carry around.
I can't imagine 2-liter bottles of drinks in anything but plastic, but I'd sure love to enjoy my soft-drinks again in glass ones.
I don't live in Portland. I live in the Atlanta-Metro area. Plastic is everywhere, and for some reason, litter isn't uncommon. Glass could be recycled, but for some reason, I see more plastic than anything else. There is curbside pick up, if you live in the city. I live in "unincorporated" Cobb County, which looks a bit "city-like". The way municipalities work in Georgia, it's hard to tell.
I try to get my pop in a glass more often. What bugs me is where I find Arizona Green Tea, it's usually in a plastic bottle or a large can. I haven't seen it in glass in a long time. When I was younger, I thought it was a vase because of the green artwork on the bottle. Still, I want to see glass make a comeback.
I think Portland metro is different because compared to Atlanta, I see it as more progressive in some ways. Portland is the antithesis of Atlanta. Plenty of bicycle-friendly areas, the transit system is progressing better than in Atlanta, the air is cleaner in Portland. Atlanta, on the other hand, is the asthma capital of the USA. I think it is just how Portland does things.
Glass is also a lot heavier so more expensive to transport. We buy soda in either cans (easy to recycle) or glass (the Italian type sodas - just carbonated water, juice and real sugar.
In the mornings (or the night before) in the summer, I brew a pot of iced tea (I use a Mr Tea maker) for the husband to take to work. Way cheaper,better tasting, and gentler on the earth than the individual serving bottles.
I worked in the glass container industry in the 70's and the thought then was that there were certain items that would never go to plastic with beer, soda, ketchup, mustard and other acidic items being the main ones. Of course, R&D for that company was working to change that and they pretty much did.
For soda one of the drawbacks was the need to for stores to keep the returned empties (there was a deposit on them) until pick-up. Some states outlawed returnable bottles so that was a driver, too.
Touched on was glass weight and that is especially true when it relates to transportation, yopu could load 2 or 3 times the number of plastic bottles in a trailer compared to glass.
Overall glass from bottles (not drinking glasses, different chemistry) is much easier to recycle than plastic since there are so many types of plastic (styrene, polyethylene, etc.) and material contamination is a problem. Glass re-melting is a high temperature operation so any bad bugs get taken care of as compared to grinding plastic and the fairly low temperatures for re-maelting.
They idea was that milk and drinks and such in glass bottles could be consumed, the glass container could be returned (intact) to the bottler, they could be washed, and they could then be refilled for consumption once again.
Revolutionary idea, huh? Yeah... way to much logic for our time.
Bottom line is that glass bottles don't maximize profit for packaging manufacturers. Once those glass bottles are constructed, they last a LONG time unless they are broken/abused. Plastic on the other hand is a bottomless well for the manufacturer. And profit is the only thing that matters, right?
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