So, why should only soda come in cans? According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, or USEPA (EPA), statistics estimate that Americans throw out $700 million worth of aluminum cans each year. In 2017, landfills received approximately 2.7 million tons of aluminum, which was 1.7% of all landfills that year- to put that in perspective, it takes close to 68,000 cans to make one ton, meaning that there are 183,600,000,000 aluminum cans thrown into landfills each year by Americans alone.

But, how much waste do plastic bottles cause? According to the Container Recycling Institute, CRI, Americans throw away over 60 million plastic bottles daily, meaning around 21,900,000,000 annually, 161,700,000,000 less than cans. We throw away less plastic bottles because they can be reused and carried with us. Once a can is empty, all its good for anymore is maybe a kid’s art project, but plastic bottles with a cap can be used over and over again as long as the plastic doesn’t get damaged.

So, should only soda come in cans? Research and popular vote say yes, but that won’t stop PepsiCo from trying to sell their iconic water brand, Aquafina, in cans in the near future.

Resources:

https://www.epa.gov/facts-and-figures-about-materials-waste-and-recycling/aluminum-material-specific-data

http://www.yaegerauto.com/article/how-many-cans-does-it-take-to-make-a-pound

http://www.container-recycling.org/index.php/issues/…/275-down-the-drain

https://www.treehugger.com/sustainable-product-design/water-cans-greener-water-bottles-no-and-fact-it-could-be-worse.html