I think we're missing the point here.
I think we need to remember that single-use glass bottles are not a green
alternative. Glass recycling is a sham. Even when glass is recycled into
new glass, it is at very minimal energy savings (perhaps none, after
transport). The glass being collected in our deposit/return program is
being crushed, commingled, and shipped over the rocky mountains to be
turned into fibreglass (there's plenty of silica sand in Alberta for
fibreglass). The glass from our curbside programs is being crushed
commingled and dumped in construction sites. I personally *never* put glass
in my curbside collection container, and counsel all my friends to do the
same. What little single-use glass comes into my life goes out in the garbage.
Even though Bill Sh. exaggerates the prevalence of refilled beer glass in
Canada (in BC it's well under 25%), one can still avoid single-use glass
beer bottles here in Canada, thank God, -- and it is a real pain in the
neck to visit relatives in the USA and have to choose between aluminum and
single-use glass.
I spent more time than I wanted to just this morning, picking up shards of
a glass beverage container from a roadside, where I would shortly be riding
my bicycle. Even bottle bills don't collect 100% of the containers, and I
would rather have people who insist on choosing single-use containers drink
beer from a single-use plastic bottle than from a single-use glass bottle.
Helen Spiegelman
3570 West 22nd Avenue
Vancouver, British Columbia
CANADA
604/731-8464
604/731-8463 (fax)