The heartbreaking reality that millions of marine animals are strangled by plastic pollution each year led one local brewing company to find a positive solution.
The downright awesome Florida-based company called Saltwater Brewery, along with the help of ad agency We Believers, teamed up to make a difference for the world’s marine wildlife by creating edible six-pack rings. The edible six-pack rings are 100% biodegradable and are created from recycled leftovers of the brewing process; wheat and barley.
“Millions of marine mammals and sea turtles become entrapped in plastic or ingest it and die,” explains marine biologist Mark Tokulka.
Studies have shown that roughly 1 million sea birds, and 100,000 marine animals including cute sea turtles, cute little sea otters, and giant majestic whales die each year due to ingesting and being strangled by plastic six-pack rings.
This photo shows one such poor sea turtle that got stuck as a baby in a plastic ring, and has been suffering and growing deformed due to it ever since:
Each time we drink a canned beverage that comes in a plastic six-pack, it definitely takes away the satisfaction of the beverage knowing that we personally are contributing to the suffering of millions of birds and sea animals.
“People think cutting the rings is enough [but] the birds and turtles eat the plastic either way,” explains Russel S. Haas. Many wildlife volunteers find ocean animals washing up on the shores with bellies full of eaten plastic.
It’s long past the time to do something about the plastic problem in our oceans, and Saltwater Brewery is leading the way in being a change for good.
The Brewery is currently set to replace all of their previous plastic six-pack rings with an edible model. They sell roughly 400,000 cans per month, so their efforts are definitely making a difference.
They estimate that the cost of the edible rings is around 10 to 15 cents per unit when buying in bulk. They are slightly more expensive than the dangerous plastic six-pack rings, but ocean wildlife and a healthy environment is worth more to this wonderful company than a few pennies on the dollar. Their heroic business attitude is something we would all like to see more of from major corporations and companies that show no remorse whatsoever as to how their businesses are harming animals and the environment (something that might require a few public protests until changes occur!)
Saltwater Brewery believes that they can set a new standard for the industry and is really hoping that other breweries and beverage companies will follow their lead by switching to edible six-pack rings as well.
Part of the global solution requires more and more companies participating in the eco-friendly rings, as this will help to drive the cost down.
According to Gustavo Lauria, the co-founder of We Believers, “If most craft breweries and big beer companies implement this technology, the manufacturing cost will drop and be very competitive compared with the current plastic solution, while saving hundreds of thousands of marine lives.”
The edible rings are strong enough to support the weight of the cans and are as resistant and durable as the plastic rings. There’s really no reason for companies to not start using them.
According to a 1989 law, six-pack rings cannot be made from regular plastic, but only from other materials or 100% photodegradable plastic which breaks down into smaller pieces of plastic within 2 to 4 months. While this helps the plastic visibly disappear faster, it’s still existing in micro pellets that are being consumed in mass quantities by the fish we eat, and ultimately, by us! We can only guess at the negative health effects caused to humans when eating fish who have ingested plastic their whole lives.
Adding insult to injury, the Plastics Industry Trade Association considers small pieces of plastic non-hazardous to marine wildlife, contrary to reality. There are too many photos of birds and marine animals that have died as a direct result of ingesting small pieces of plastic. It’s really important that we start doing something about this easily fixable and far reaching problem.
Americans consumed 6.3 billion gallons of beer in the last year alone, and the majority of the six-pack rings that kept the cans together on shelves are now floating in our world’s beautiful oceans.
Saltwater Brewery knows that their eco-friendly and sustainable six-pack rings will save the lives of tens of thousands of marine animals, all while setting a new precedent for doing good business and helping them to connect with their target audience of “surfers, fisherman and people who love the sea.”
Watch this wonderful video which explains the edible six-pack rings:
Would you support a company that strives to eliminate pollution for the sake of the environment?
Let us know in the comments.
Great job Saltwater Brewery! Thanks for making a positive impact on our wonderful world.
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