Should alcohol in glass bottles be banned // should plastic bottles be mandated?

No, please enlighten me as to how glass bottles break at the BEACH, I'm talking about the sand, not the sidewalk before you get on the beach. I was just at the beach and they didn't allow glass bottles because they might "break" and cut people. I'm pretty sure there's a much better chance a can (which was allowed) could cut someone.

both issues are ones of human irresponsibility. hopefully you're smart enough to figure out which one has greater consequences.

Good points. It's definitely worth considering that glass bottles should be banned. In a few years, we wouldn't even think about the fact that drinks don't come in glass bottles anymore. Glass bottles of Coca Cola are nearly obsolete and no one from America is bothered by it; not to say people don't like the bottles better, just that people don't cause a fuss over it.

breaking glass bottles is fun screw the enviorment

The city that my brother lives in no longer picks up glass for recycling. Apparently there were too many broken glass bottles and people sorting them out kept getting cut, so they just did away with it entirely. So either way, it's going to the landfill for them. =\

A greater incentive for returning unbroken bottles I think would be a great way to keep more bottles intact and recycled. Living in the middle of the US, it seems that any time a 5 or 10 cent return is offered for a glass bottle it is only applicable out on the east coast, west coast, or great lake areas. With that, there really isn't anything I can do with them, and I really wish they'd extend the offer to all across the US. Could change, if only slightly, how polluted the rivers are around here. Can't remember the last time I've went to a river in the area and not seen (broken) bottles along the shore.

One thing that glass bottles offer is more of a collectible appeal, especially for a lot of college kids that keep a collection of empty liquor bottles. I've seen my fair share of collections, and unless it was expensive or a rare find, they're all made out of glass. The plastic is just tossed.

I think companies deciding to utilise either glass or plastic bottles should choose to do so based on their preffered brand image and economic or financial preferances. They are free to use whatever recepticles they see fit. I dont think any law should dictate that. Next someone will be telling me i have to use a bloody plastic fork because my steel one is dangerously sharp.

I think the ultimate fate of the plastic and glass lies with the consumer. When you purchase a glass or plactic bottle or container you own that property. It is then your responsibility to decide what happens to it, not the manufacturer.

If any law needs to be changed it is greater fines for littering. Not mandating who can use what material in their products.

Consumers should be more responsible.

EDIT: Infact no, we do not need GREATER fines for littering, i have seen fines of up to £1,000 which is f***ing rediculous and widlly out of proportion. What we need are more practical and balanced fines but a much better way of enforcing that.

quote KINGX2

But that's a pretty weak argument; you can't ban something just because humans tend to be irresponsible and abuse it.

Agree'd. Thats kind of what i was getting at. Yes Glass can cause injuries and can create litter, but humans have been using glass fluid containers for centuries. You cant just legislate against anything which has some kind of negative attribute.

Its a companies right to manufacture and produce or utilise glass bottles if it fits the brand image and is cost effective. Also glass bottles have their advantages. First of all the concentration of C02 in beer and fizzy drinks can be more tightly controlled as the bottle doesnt expand or contract, and second of all cold glass bottles hold their low temperature better than plastic and no-one likes a warm beer.

I drink BARRS Irn Bru and lemme tell you it tastes better from a glass bottle. It just does. Here in Scotland consumers are reimbursed a few pence for every BARRS glass bottle we recycle aswell. I used to collect them and use the money to get sweets as a kid. Its a kind of local tradition. The company also saves money on production costs. Maybe more incentives like this for alcohol containers would be helpful.



The only time i would swap glass for plastic is inside pubs and nightclubs as some drinkers seem to have a problem with stabbing people or smashing glass into folks eyes. Itsw kinda hard to injure someone with a pastic bottle without at least 20mins and a bottle of lube.