Are aluminum drink cans better than plastic water bottles?

Are you wondering if you should buy drinks that are packed in aluminum cans or in PET bottles?

It depends on which country you are from and how the recycling rate is like for the packaging involved.  Recycling agents in Malaysia would rather take aluminium cans over plastic as one lorry load of aluminium cans earns more than one lorry load of PET bottles.

I read this article posted on July 20, 2019 by TAPP Water:

Glass vs plastic vs aluminium – what is the most sustainable choice?

This is what it reported:

% recovered for recycling in USA
Glass 80%
ALUMINIUM 45%
PLASTIC (PET) 9.5%

Though the recycling rate in reported is 80% for glass bottle, in Malaysia I am not able to find recycling agents for them.

If you read the report, "Disposable Drinking Bottles- Plastic vs. Glass vs. Aluminum" from Macquarie University in Australia website, the recycling rate is different:

Average Amount Currently Recycled reported in Australia
GLASS 50%
ALUMINIUM 50%
PLASTIC (PET) 60%

Maybe it is easier to make a decision based on your views from this report extracted from the report posted at TAPP Water:

Time to decompose
Glass bottle 1 million years*
Single use plastic 400 years
Carton Never**
Aluminium can 100-400 years

Decomposition residue
Glass bottle - Glass
Single use plastic - Microplastics
Carton - Some microplastics
Aluminium can - Metal scrap

How do you stop microplastics from polluting the environment?  Based on this, I would rather choose aluminium over PET bottles.

If you still cannot make up your own mind on it, read what "The Aluminum Association" has to say about it.

Extracted:
"Nearly 75 percent of all aluminum ever produced is still in use today.

Infinitely recyclable and highly durable, nearly 75 percent of all aluminum ever produced is still in use today. Aluminum is 100 percent recyclable and retains its properties indefinitely. Aluminum is one of the only materials in the consumer disposal stream that more than pays for the cost of its own collection."

Note: Though carton is reported not to decompose and there are microplastics residue when they decomposed, if you google "Tetrapak gets recycled into roof sheets" you can read about their efforts with with local charity in Thailand to turn recycled cartons into roofing sheets to provide emergency shelter for people in need.

See how Tetrapak  is recycled in India to benefit the public.


Tetrapak is working on raising awareness that their cartons can be recycled.  I think that children in school should be taught during their art and craft class lessons on how they can extract paper out of cartons as shown in this video.

What happens to the TetraPak cartons you recycled?

Are you wondering what happen to the TetraPak cartons that you had diligently put out for recycling?

In Thailand, under the Green Roof project, with the support of local charity, Tetra Pak turn recycled cartons into roofing sheets to provide emergency shelter for people in need.

See how TetraPak cartons are collected in India and made into benches to be placed at public parks and school.


You can learn to do it on a small scale by watching this video.

Old clothing? Give it a second life.

If old clothing can have a say in how they should be used, this will be its autobiography.



Other than donating your old clothing, what else can you do on a personal level with clothes that you or your family members no longer wear?  Maybe reading this book, "The Upcycled T-Shirt: 28 Easy-to-Make Projects That Save the Planet Clothing, Accessories, Home Decor & Gifts" will give you some ideas.

When price of oil drops...

When price of oil drops, not everyone will be rejoicing.

Let's take a look at the plastics recycling industry.  Plastics are made from oil.  When oil price slumps, it is cheaper for manufacturers to buy freshly made plastic.  We will see less used plastic material being collected for recycling. 

So, all the more reasons for us to consider using less plastic in our product or packaging. If you need some help, read this book, "Plastic-Free: How I Kicked the Plastic Habit and How You Can Too", by Beth Terry. 

Can we start a Zero Waste Community?

Can we start a Zero Waste Community in Malaysia?  If you are wondering what that is, this is how it is being done in USA.

Trash to play with

The kids of Cateura live in homes built on slum. So, how could they possibly consider starting an orchestra if they can't afford the musical instrument required? If you think that they are hopeless dreamers, then you ought to check out what they have achieved at Landfill Harmonic. They have created music with trash. What can you create with yours?

Slim and well adorned? Clear them out!

Slim and well adorned.

That's what they are always eyeing.  To them the next one is always better with a lot more to play with! When will they stop groping for the next one that comes along?

Yeap!  Mobile phones! The latest model wins hands down again.

So, what did you do with the older models?

How about selling and donating part of the payment to a charitable organization?  Mark Bowles makes it possible for Americans to do just that with his ecoATM, as long as they are willing to have their license and thumb print scanned.  A great way to verify ownership and prevent sales of stolen mobile phones.

So, what do they do with the gadgets collected by ecoATM?  75 percent of the devices are sold to refurbishers while the rest go to e-waste recyclers.  What a great way to reduce e-waste and re-use what are still applicable.

OK, let's check out what this machine, which won the Popular Science's , “The Best of What’s New Award" in 2010, is all about.

Plastic waste? An issue to sit on.

Plastic bottle waste is going to be an issue of the past if we can keep coming up with ideas to utilize them.  Here is one from Studio Nuy van Noort to sit on and start thinking.

Talk green? Try Gangnam lah.