1-20-2019

If you’re one of the 100 million people who’s planning to watch the Super Bowl this year, take a moment to consider your beverage choices. Alcoholic beverages are undoubtedly a centerpiece of the game, hence the popular “Super Sick Monday.”

But whether your beverages are alcoholic or not, what’s the greenest choice for your beverage containers — plastic, glass or aluminum?

Plastic bottles are lightweight and easy to ship in bulk without breaking, but making them in the first place is incredibly hard on the planet. It requires oil drilling, extraction and processing with natural gas. What’s worse, very little plastic gets recycled. Even when it does get recycled, it can’t be recycled infinitely, and it needs to be combined with virgin plastic to be usable.

Glass bottles are made from silica, or sand, and limestone. Collecting these is not as hard on the environment as most other materials. However, glass bottles are the least eco-friendly to transport because of how heavy they are. Still, glass bottles are 100 percent recyclable!

Aluminum cans are made from open-pit mining for bauxite. This kind of extraction is very hard on the environment and causes permanent scars on the land. However, once we have the aluminum, it’s lightweight to transport (although not as light as plastic), and it can be recycled infinitely!

Which container should you pick?

• Aluminum cans are the best choice if you’re choosing a beverage that has been shipped any great distance.
• Reusable growlers or kegs of local brew are even better, if that’s an option for you. Reusing is always preferable to recycling.
• Glass bottles from local breweries are also an eco-friendly choice, since they don’t have to be shipped very far.
• If you’re buying soda that doesn’t come in cans, choose the two-liter plastic bottles — that way you’re purchasing less plastic overall.

No matter which containers you buy, remember to recycle! Set out a container with a clear recycling sign for your guests, and when the game’s over, you can take all the empty bottles and cans to a nearby beverage container recycling center to get your CRV money back. You might not make enough to pay off any game day betting debts, but it will at least make sure your beverage containers get a chance at a second run.