[greenyes] in defense of glass-choice

[EarthGB@no.address]

I fully appreciate the various difficulties from glass in single stream, or 
other recycling systems.

But this discussion has missed the boat completely on the matter of consumer 
choice (preference).  I for one do not like to buy things--especially 
food/beverage products for human consumption--packaged in plastic, or for 
that matter, in any other overly complex, multi-material packaging.  

It's not just the recyclability aspect.  I believe that glass is an 
impervious material that does not leach anything, or impart its taste, into 
whatever the consumable product is.  In other words, it's a safer food 
product package.  It's getting harder to do, but I hold out for glass 
packaging as much as possible, choosing glass, changing product, or just not 
buying a product anymore if it goes to plastic. 

For instance, I will only buy carbonated mineral water in glass bottles.  Not 
in aluminum cans, which you can't reclose (so part of the water goes flat 
before I can finish it).  And not in PET, because when you open a PET btl 
with carbonated beverage in it, half the carbonation escapes upon opening, 
which also guarantees that about half the product will go flat before I can 
finish it.

The same for other consumables in glass.  If I can get vitamins in glass, I 
choose this over plastic.  By the way, have you noticed that many dietary 
supplement product plastic bottles are only half full of product?  Sometimes 
they'll sell you "two for the price of one" with the 2 btls plastic-wrapped 
together.  I fell for this a couple times, then checked & all the product 
from the 2 btls fit into 1 bottle.  So much for the claim by plastics 
producers that plastic reduces shipping weight/space & therefore saves 
shipping costs/fuel.

I greatly appreciate the companies that still package their products in 
glass, & believe, tho I'm not a scientist, that glass is the pure package.  
There are many postings regularly on this & other lists about the nasties in 
plastics & what they can do to food contents & our health.  I really think 
recycling/waste management planning should take this health aspect into 
account, not just the economics that have been discussed.

Now that I understand the problems caused by glass in single stream 
collections, I've stopped putting my non-redemption glass containers into the 
recycling cart.  The redemption items still go out to the alley in a separate 
bag for "alley entrepreneurs" to easily collect (& believe me, they do).  

I'm a hardcore recycler, so will take the extra trouble to deliver my 
separated other glass to a drop-off.  I understand many people will not take 
this trouble, so believe it's up to us recycling planners to keep working out 
better recovery systems.  If we want to keep the option of glass food 
packaging, then we should keep glass in recycling collections.  Otherwise, we 
help the plastics industry kill off what's left of the glass industry.

My two cents worth.

Gretchen Brewer
Earth Circle
San Diego, CA