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Reuse and recycle used soda bottles and cans to rein in the amount of reusable waste entering landfills. Your efforts will also lessen the need for the energy-intensive production of plastic and glass bottles and aluminum cans made from virgin materials.

How to recycle used soda bottles and cans

The existence of recycling programs and facilities in your community with play a big part in how you go about recycling your empties. The most common options include:

• Curbside pick-up programs: If your community offers a curbside recycling program, use it. Nationwide, there are 9,000 curbside recycling programs and 500 recovered material facilities. Check with your local government or sanitation department to find recycling facilities available to you. Just be sure to follow their guidelines when preparing your weekly bin. Some require you to sort glass by color to maintain the quality of cullet.
• Drop-off centers: If you don't receive curbside recycling, seek out a local recycling drop-off center, which you can find through Earth 911.
• Bottle returns: Cart your spent cola cans and root beer bottles to a redemption center and/or return them directly to a retail store for a deposit refund. A handful of states have Bottle Bills, also known as beverage container deposit laws, that complement curbside and other recycling programs.
• Multi-unit dwelling recycling program: If you live in an apartment or condo building without a designated area to dispose of recyclable items, be proactive and speak with your building's owner or superintendent about shoring up recycling efforts. And why not offer him or her a refreshing six-pack of natural soda to sweeten the deal?

How to reuse empty soda cans and bottles

Feeling crafty after that glass of ginger ale? Whether you prefer diet or regular, root beer or cream soda, giving a second life (functional or purely decorative) to spent bottles and cans in a creative fashion is a great green way to spruce up your home or apartment. Mosey on over to our craft idea picks for some inspiration:

• Aluminous Publishing
• DIY Network
• About.com
• Thrifty Fun
• Make-Stuff

Uncertain what to do with that pesky case of aluminum empties from the Memorial Day barbecue? Give them a second life as objects d'art. Tesscar Aluminum Craft offers detailed plans on how to construct your own Dr. Pepper butterfly or Tab Monster Truck. Also, check out the dizzying array of products made from recycled aluminum and PET soda bottles.

Recycling and reusing used soda bottles and cans helps you go green because…

• By recycling, you ensure that aluminum cans and plastic bottles are steered clear of landfills. One billion pounds of PET bottles and 51.5 billion aluminum cans (two thirds containing soft drinks and juices) were recovered in 2004.[1]
• The amount of energy and resources used to create aluminum cans and plastic bottles from recycled materials is less than the amount needed to create cans and bottles from virgin materials. Less energy means less pollution.

When not served from a fountain, soda is predominately packaged in and consumed from plastic bottles and aluminum cans. Aside from the taste debate (Do cans or PET bottles make for better-tasting soda?) there are also ecological considerations to ponder. Aluminum cans, plastic bottles, and old-fashioned glass bottles have their environmental benefits and drawbacks.

Pop bottles

Like aluminum, PET is composed from a natural source, oil-derived petroleum. Petroleum is a non-sustainable resource whose extraction and production has caused major environmental damage to soil, surface and ground waters, and local ecosystems, and contributes to global warming. However, in terms of overall detrimental eco-impact, the aluminum can trumps the plastic bottle. Despite requiring more petroleum, PET bottles require less energy to produce and are subject to a less complex supply chain than aluminum cans. And because a bottle can hold more liquid than a can, a single two-liter bottle of soda is responsible for around half the greenhouse gas emissions as that of 5.6 cans of soda. Aluminum cans are also heavier to transport, requiring more fuel.[2]

Plastic soda bottles are not biodegradable. When they end up as trash in landfills, they stay there for up to 700 years before beginning to decompose.[3] Recycling plastics also saves energy. One recycled plastic bottle conserves enough energy to power a light bulb for up to three hours.[4]

Soda cans

The process of converting bauxite (the source of aluminum that makes up 8 percent of the earth's crust) into aluminum is an energy-consuming one—requiring roughly 7.5 kilowatt hours for each pound of virgin aluminum. Open-cast mining of bauxite also leads to deforestation and destruction of ecosystems. On the plus side, aluminum is 100 percent recyclable, and creating new cans from old ones requires only 5 percent of the energy needed to produce virgin aluminum. In the United States, around 35 percent of aluminum products contain recycled aluminum.[5]

Although it's thought to have a heavier burden on the environment, soda sold in aluminum cans is more popular than PET-bottled pop. In 1999, 65 billion canned soft drinks were sold compared to 24 million units of plastic bottled soda.[6] Aluminum soft drink and beer cans accounted for 1.4 million tons of waste in 2005; 0.7 million tons were recovered for recycling.[7] Although aluminum cans represent only 1.4 percent of the total waste stream by weight, they contribute to 14 percent of the emissions embodied in 1 ton of landfill-bound waste.[6] The recycling of a single soda can saves enough energy to run a computer for up to three hours.[8]

Glass bottles of old

And for you old-fashioned soda sippers, a brief word about soft drinks in glass bottles: Compared to aluminum, the production of glass bottles is simpler and uses less energy. On the negative side, glass bottles are heavier than lightweight aluminum and plastic bottles and are more costly to transport. This means more fossil fuels are consumed and more pollution is generated.

Glossary

• cullet: Recycled glass that is crushed and refined at a recovered material facility. It is then sold to glass manufacturers and combined with sand, soda ash, and limestone to create new glass products.
• PET (polyethylene terephthalate): Plastic polymer in the polyester family, mainly derived from petroleum and used by the chemical industry for bottles, textiles, and industrial moldings. Has a resin code of #1 for plastics recycling. One of the main plastics used by the beverage industry for plastic bottles for retail sale.

External links

• BottlesAndCans.com
• The Association of Postconsumer Plastic Recyclers
• Dontdrinksoda.com - How Soda Affects the Environment
• Grassroots Recycling Network - Aluminum Can Waste: Bigger Impact Than Plastic Bottle Waste
• National Recycling Coalition - Top 10 Reasons to Recycle
• New York City's Apartment Building Recycling Initiative to improve recycling in multi-unit dwellings.
• Salon.com - Ask Pablo: Should I buy soda in plastic bottles or aluminum cans?