Whats worst for the environment, plastic or glass?

Question

Companies are constantly replacing their glass products with plastic. Like Martinellis apple juice, they have recently converted so im thinking of boycotting plastic as much as possible. Yuck!

Answer 1

I looked this up and it appears to be plastic which truly surprises me. Check these sites.

http://daily.sightline.org/daily_score/b...

http://www.northwestern.edu/fm/operation...

http://www.grinningplanet.com/2005/10-18...

http://www.greendaily.com/2008/02/29/pla...

Answer 2

glass is better. it  is made of better things unlike plastic...petroleum? YUCK!!!

Answer 3

plastic is worse, as it is a chemical compound that is petroleum based.

Answer 4

If they are recycled, then neither one is that bad.  The problem is that glass is costlier to produce and recycle.  In addition, since glass weighs more, it costs more to ship.  With fuel costs as they are, I'm surprised anyone is still using glass.

If you try to completely boycott plastic, you will end up living like a neanderthal.  We use plastic in almost everything these days.

Answer 5

^ too true.

I try to use glass for storage because plastic is porous and can retain things like flavor and smell.  

Glass also does not come from petroleum, which makes me more inclined to buy it and reuse it.

Answer 6

Plastic....  it is petroleum based, so the making of plastic contains the involvement of harmful exhausts; shipping filled bottles of anything is costly. Water bottles make the smallest sense overall. the purity of the bottled water is not far from tap water. Plus, a filter can be bought to improve the taste of tap water. If plastic end up in a land fill, it is very slow to decompose, wasting space. Furthermore, plastic, once its dyed, cannot be changed to any other color other than the color it was originally dyed so many companies will refuse to use any other plastics. (think of the briight orange Tide detergent containers. Thats the only color they can use.)

bottom line, plastic sux, and yeah, it makes things taste funny sometimes too. ;)

sorry for rambling.

Answer 7

My recommendation is to boycott the use or single use beverage containers and to try alternative approaches. I take one of those plastic water bottles and then refil and add low calorie flavoring sticks. By doing this, I avoid disposal of dozens of containers during a single week.  Anyway, buy bulk and resuse large containers for your needs.  I bought one of those cool thick pomegranate glass drink bottles with a wide opening and now use it for my morning hot chocolate all week.  REUSE, REUSE, REUSE...