A Bottle of Injury

Walk in any urban American neighborhood and you'll see shattered glass from beer bottles. Many beer drinkers don't mind smashing empty bottles on the ground, or worse, on other people. Not suprisingly, injuries result.

Some beer manufacturers, like Anheuser-Busch, have introduced aluminium bottles, but critics complain that only glass containers perserve the beer's flavor. The aluminium bottles are a huge improvement over the can counterparts and, no doubt, researchers are working on even more advanced designs.

Adding to the debate is the environmental aspect, since glass bottles are more difficult to recycle: you have to put glass in separate containers for safety reasons. Yet aluminium bottles can go in all-purpose recycling bins and get sorted out later.

While the effects of drinking beer is another topic, those people who are beer lovers ought to be more supportive of aluminum bottles. Our neighborhoods, as well as our environment, will be much better off.