Pacific Spirit Marine Institute
Friday, August 17, 2007
Progress: The very nature of the word gives us a feeling of hope, the patient is making progress. The mission is progressing. The progress of research. In nearly every situation where we use the word progress something good is waiting at the end of the line. Maybe not all things new, should be called progressive.
Remember how wonderful a small ice cold glass bottle of soda tasted on a hot summer day? Pulling an icy wet bottle that had been resting in a chilling cooler made from metal was one of the most pleasant experiences I can recall as a kid. There were actually grids of some sort that kept the bottle from floating up in the icy waters of the soda machine. The bottles were small, they fit in the hand and cooled not only our throats, but our hands as well. Those days are gone.
It turns out glass was a good thing.
Glass can be recycled into infinity. One glass container can be recycled over and over without losing any of its quality or purity.
Arguments for using plastic containers range from safety issues, as falling down with a glass bottle in hand may result in injury to transporting glass requires more fuel. True that glass poses some hazard when broken, we need to weigh the risk benefit of using BPA vs. Glass to contain the products we ingest into our bodies.
Glass is made from sand, soda ash, and lime stone. Once a glass container is manufactured the cost of reincarnating it into another container is even less expensive than making a new glass container.
If you’ve ever taken glass containers to a recycling center you will have noticed that glass is separated by color. Once color is added to glass it cannot be removed. There for the colored glass is segregated by color. Color in glass does not effect its ability to be turned into another colored container.
There are certain types of glass that cannot be recycled. Window panes, light bulbs and some types of ovenware are not easily recycled. These types of glass are manufactured using a different method than food and beverage containers. Be sure to look for the ‘G’ on the glass you use. This means it has already been recycled into the container you are holding and it can be recycled again. Glass is amazing stuff folks.
As we have become more aware of the benefits of recycling, the amount of new plastics products have done nothing but risen. We are recycling more plastic, and yet more and more new plastic is being manufactured. In fact much of the plastic we do recycle is being sent to third world countries. We are simply tossing more weight on the backs of the people that are least capable of withstanding additional stress.
Generating one plastic bottle can generate more than 100 times the toxins emitted into the air and water than making the same container into glass.
Americans alone toss away 2.5 million plastic bottles every hour. That’s more than 22 Billion bottles tossed every year, only by Americans. wow!
For every ton of glass that is recycled 9 gallons of fuel are saved. Recycled glass also requires using up to 32% less energy to reincarnate.
Labels: BPA, Plastic, Recycle
© 2009, Pacific Spirit Marine Institute.
Wholesome Glass: Progress isn’t always better.
