Is drinking from an aluminum can better for the environment than from a plastic bottle?

Question

Assume I recycle both after drinking. Could be soda or anything else. I mainly ask because of the new bans in some areas of bottled water. They have canned sparkling water now too, which I don't mind substituting in place of regular bottled water. But am I helping the earth by drinking from the aluminum can instead of the plastic bottle?

Answer 1

What a tricky question! In my opinion it would be best to drink from an aluminum can if it is recycled; however just slightly better than drinking from a plastic bottle that's recycled.

The reason I think the aluminum would be better is that it is not a petroleum based product. Yes, it does require energy to both manufacture and recycle it, but not all energy comes from oil. Yet with a plastic bottle, it takes oil to make it, energy to produce it, and energy to recycle. Recycling is also a bit messier and the plastic that is recycled cannot be made into beverage containers again. The aluminum can on the other hand can be made into beverage containers repeatedly. Truly recyclable.

Now all Minnesota needs to do is start a ballot petition to get a bottle bill to the voters. You will never get a bottle deposit program going through the legislature. Michigan, the land of the glorious $.10 deposit, did it by petitioning. It just takes a really strong force to push it and beat the manufacturing/ retail lobby.

Answer 2

From an environmental standpoint, aluminum is better for the environment than plastic is. Aluminum can be recycled for a very long time, whereas plastic sometimes just ends up in the landfill--not good. Also, bottled water is not always any better than tap water--maybe even worse. It seems to be that you could get a water filter and filter your own water, keeping it nice and cold in the frig. Then, instead of aluminum maybe try a reuseable water bottle, but clean it out real good. I use one of those military canteens that I have made a macrame holder for. It works great and its quite a conversation starter.

Answer 3

Yes. It is very popular both for economic reasons and environmental reasons to recycle aluminum cans. However, it is quite useless to recycle plastic bottles. It is more expensive to recycle plastic than to create new plastic, so industries do not actually bother with recycling plastic. New plastic is constantly made. However, aluminum can be efficiently recycled so it is truly being recycled, not just simply tossed into a recycling bin to sit there.

Answer 4

Let's break up this question in two parts. You and the environment. From the environmental aspect aluminium is the better choice. But from your perspective, aluminium is a slow poison. Aluminium can and will react with the salts in the water and when you drink water that is toxic with aluminium you are bound to suffer from aluminium poisoning and that is a known cause of parkinson's disease , alzhimers disease and a host of other diseases including bowel, liver and kidney related diseases. Aluminium vessels should never be used for cooking or storing any food or drink.
Likewise even plastic is not as safe. Dioxins are the harmful substances that you consume from plastics esp. when exposed to extreme temp. as in chilling and freezing.
Make your water potable and safe to drink by filtering it. This ensures that suspended particles are removed. Then boil for 20 mts, thus destroying any biological contamination and store in glass bottles, You can always buy bags to carry the waterbottle in. You could also consider using stainless steel flasks for the same purpose.
Another option is to install a reverse osmosis water treatment device. This will give you water as pure as bottled water.

Answer 5

From my understanding, one of our nations largest uses of petroleum is manufacturing & plastics - not fueling our vehicles. While plastics have a recycle value to them the overall impact using them in our environment both coming and going is alarming. If I must choose it would be aluminum.
On a personal level -- I would and do not choose items that come in independent packaging plastic or aluminum when possible. Imho it is a lazy man's waste. I have found it just as easy to provide items for children's activities, school, camping, diapering, cleaning baby bottoms, simply by choosing an alternative method.
It only takes ONE change in your routine to make a difference.
Just think what you can do for our world incorporating many.

Good topic - thanks for bringing it to the table.

Answer 6

recycling an alumninum can is a lot easier than recycling a plastic bottle. It takes a lot of energy to melt down plastics and refine them into something usable again. It actually can only be recycled so many times before it can't be made into something else. It is good to recycle both though. It takes a lot of virgin fossil fuels to produce one plastic jug, container, pop bottle, etc.

Answer 7

Yes aluminum can be recycled infinetely over and over
but all plastics have a deterioration rate that causes them to only be recycled a limited number of times

Answer 8

Aluminum is much cheaper to recycle than plastic, so you could argue it's better for the environment.

Answer 9

Why don't you just switch to a reusable water bottle and fill it with filtered tap water? This is the best option for the environment, and it costs less.

The reason bottled water is wrong for the environment isn't the container it comes in so much as the distances that it must be transported. Boats, planes, train and trucks going all over the world just to have water, water that you can get right at your tap at home.

Answer 10

i go with johnie b, aluminum containers, pans, and others in contact with food or beverages is found medically toxic for food consumption uses. So are some plastic that contain benzene, dioxin, bispinol, etc used as water containers. Best is to use reusable plastic bottles made of polycarbonates.