Bottles vs. cans

Slate has a great analysis of the environmental impact of bottles vs. cans for your beer. It's another one of those questions answered with "It depends." Aluminum mining has bigger environmental impacts, yet the cans are more often recycled. Bottles are heavier and some municipalities don't recycle green bottles (who knew?) so if they're shipped from long distances they're definitely bad. Here's the short answer:

If your chosen tipple is produced very close to home and your town has a robust recycling program, then glass bottles are probably the way to go. But if your preferred suds are brewed far away, by a company that's even mildly eco-aware, aluminum cans are the wiser choice.

But the analysis is interesting, so read the whole thing.

Labels: beer, eco-booze, packaging