Megan Hall: Welcome to Possibly, where we take on huge problems like the future of our planet and break them down into small questions with unexpected answers. I’m Megan Hall. 

Summer is the perfect season to kick back and crack open a cold one. But, when you’re trying to pick the perfect beer, do you ever wonder whether it’s better to drink it from a bottle or a can?

We had Isha Chawla and Fatima Husain from our Possibly Team look into this. Welcome, Isha and Fatima! 

Isha Chawla: Hi, Megan! 

Fatima Husain: Hello! 

Megan Hall: So, what does the science say about the difference between bottles and cans?  

Isha Chawla: To find out, we started by talking to Jennifer Brinton of Grey Sail Brewing, in Westerly, Rhode Island. She says Grey Sail doesn’t just brew their beer, they package it too.  

Jennifer Brinton: We were always the packaging brewery. We started with that model.

Isha Chawla: Jennifer says they split their brew about equally between kegs and aluminum cans.

Fatima Husain: In fact, nearly all of the craft breweries in RI sell their beer in cans.

Megan Hall: Why is that?

Isha Chawla: Well, Jennifer says if someone’s taking their beer on a hike or to an outdoor cookout, it’s safer to carry it in a can. 

Jennifer Brinton: It’s a lot easier for us to pick up a can that’s left behind crushed or stepped on or whatever, than it is to pick a broken glass.

Megan Hall: Okay, so that helps with trash and littering, but what about greenhouse gas emissions? Does it take more energy to make an aluminum can or a glass bottle?

Isha Chawla: Some researchers in the UK had that exact same question. They found that the emissions associated with making enough glass to hold a liter of beer were about 1.5 times the emissions used to make an aluminum can for the same amount of liquid.  

Megan: So, cans win again. What about recycling? 

Fatima Husain: Well, in a side-by-side comparison, it takes more energy to recycle glass than it does to recycle aluminum.

Isha Chawla: And, in the US, glass doesn’t get recycled as much as aluminum does. 

Megan: So, when I drink out of an aluminum can, how much of that aluminum is new, and how much of it is recycled? 

Fatima Husain: To find out, we reached out to Ball Manufacturing — the company that makes cans for many different beer companies, and they told us that their cans are made of around 70% recycled aluminum.

Megan Hall: Another win for cans! What about the emissions that come from delivering them from breweries to stores? 

Fatima Husain: Jennifer from Grey Sail Brewing says it’s definitely cheaper to transport cans

Jennifer Brinton: because it’s so much more lightweight on the shipping end cans are always more cost-effective than bottles

Isha Chawla: And that translates to fewer emissions too. Because aluminum cans are so much lighter than glass bottles, and they take up less space, trucks can carry more of them per trip. 

Fatima Husain: And that means it takes more gas to distribute the same amount of beer if it’s in glass bottles. The emissions associated with transporting glass bottles get worse the further the beer has to travel.   

Isha Chawla: Glass bottles also need more packaging, because they’re so fragile. 

Megan Hall: Ok, but what about those plastic rings that connect the cans? Don’t they harm marine life?

Isha Chawla: Yeah, they can, but there is an easy answer. Take a pair of scissors and cut the six-pack pack holders so they don’t have any rings. It’s those circles of plastic that catch and suffocate marine life.  

Fatima Husain: And there are also some innovative solutions out there. Grey Sail Brewing already uses hard plastic tops to keep cans together.  

Isha Chawla: Some companies are even making biodegradable rings.

Megan Hall: So, it sounds like I should drink my beer out of a can? 

Fatima Husain: Yes, but, actually, the best option is to skip the packaging altogether and drink from the tap — but that only works if you have access to a keg. 

Isha Chawla: So, if that’s not an option, you can opt for cans. 

Fatima Husain: But most importantly: buy local! Especially if you’re drinking from bottles, because it takes significantly more emissions to truck them around. 

Megan Hall: Great! Thanks, Isha and Fatima! 

That’s it for today. For more information, or to ask a question about the way you recycle, use energy, or make any other choice that affects the planet, go to the public’s radio dot org slash possibly. 

Possibly is a co-production of the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society and the Public’s Radio.

RI breweries that package in cans:

Newport Craft

Ravenous Brewing

Gray Sail Brewing

Isle Brewers

Proclamation Ale Company

Fool Proof Brewing

Tilted Barn Brewery

Revival Brewing

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