Photo: We Believers
Here’s some good news from Elyse Wanshel at the Huffington Post. It seems that there is an alternative to the plastic six-pack rings that endanger sea turtles and other marine life when trash gets into the ocean.
“Saltwater Brewery in Delray Beach, Florida, has created edible six-pack rings that feed, rather than kill, marine life if the rings end up in the ocean and an animal happens to eat it. The rings are created from beer by-products during the brewing process such as barley and wheat and are completely safe for humans and fish to eat. The rings are also 100 percent biodegradable and compostable, which just ups the product’s sustainability game. …
“The only drawback is that edible six-pack rings are more expensive to produce. But the company hopes that customers will be willing to pay a little more in order to help the environment and animal life. …
“The Ocean Conservancy’s 2015 Ocean Trash Index — which enlisted 561,895 volunteers to pick up 16,186,759 pounds of garbage — also offers a few staggering facts. It cites plastic as among the most common trash item ingested by sea turtles in 2015. Volunteers found 57 marine mammals, 440 fish and 22 sharks, skates and sting rays entangled in plastic. The index also explains that littering isn’t the sole culprit for plastic in the ocean. Plastic can also be blown by the wind from a trashcan or dump, end up in a storm drain and then travel through pipes into the ocean. Facts like these makes a concept like edible six-pack rings seem vital.
“ ‘We hope to influence the big guys,’ Chris Goves, Saltwater Brewery’s president, said. ‘And hopefully inspire them to get on board.’ ” More here.
If more breweries join up, the cost to create the rings would go down. Sounds like a worthy idea for a little consumer pressure.
Suzanne's Mom's Blog 
I’m totally down for hugging everyone at Satlwater Brewery!
It’s a new way to get the word out. The problem has been around for years, but not that many people knew what six-pack rings — balloons, too — could do to marine life.
This is a brilliant thing to do!
I hope the big brewers will get on board. I’m sure they would if beer drinkers demanded 6-pack rings that were safe for turtles, etc.
Another very good idea–I’d buy them, just because I hate cutting up the plastic ones every single time!
I didn’t mention this, but of course it’s not just beer that comes in those plastic rings. I’d like to see something like this for soda pop.
This is one of the great initiative to save the Marine Wildlife.
Not widely used yet, but a positive move.