Here's a great article about a small brewery with a fantastic idea:

[CaliforniaPeggy]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/saltwater-brewery-edible-six-pack-rings-beer-plastic-marine-life_us_573b796ce4b0ef86171c5fe4?

There is also a video that shows how it works, embedded in the story.

An excerpt:

A craft beer company has brewed up a brilliant idea.

Saltwater Brewery in Delray Beach, Florida, has created edible six-pack rings that feed, rather than kill, marine life if the rings end up in the ocean and an animal happens to eat it. The rings are created from beer by-products during the brewing process such as barley and wheat and are completely safe for humans and fish to eat.

The rings are also 100 percent biodegradable and compostable, which just ups the product’s sustainability game.

The brand says that the innovative design is as resistant and efficient as plastic packaging. The only drawback is that edible six-pack rings are more expensive to produce. But the company hopes that customers will be willing to pay a little more in order to help the environment and animal life.

“It’s a big investment for a small brewery created by fisherman, surfers and people that love the sea,” Peter Agardy, head of brand at Saltwater Brewery, said in the below video.

The brand also believes that if more breweries hop on this bandwagon, prices may go down. If more companies invested in the technology, production cost would go down and edible rings would become competitive with plastic ones, saving marine lives ­— which is desperately needed.

[Jackie Wilson Said]

1. Wow,. totally cool

[Cassiopeia]

2. Maybe I'll swing by and see if they give tours after

a day of knocking on doors for Canova this summer.

Thanks for the heads up.

[merrily]

3. Thank you. It is a great idea!

[ShrimpPoboy]

4. I wonder how big the price difference really is

Most small businesses run on razor thin margins but if there were a way to make this more affordable, like tax credits perhaps, I would love to see this become the law.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

5. Thanks, everybody!

If I drank beer, I'd sure drink this one!

I saw this on Facebook, and I really wanted to bring it over. I figured a little good news might be just the thing!

[panader0]

18. C'mon, one or two won't hurt.

[Brother Buzz]

21. Here's the deal: I'll drink the beer and....

let you have the rings to share with the ducks.

[Thespian2]

23. Thanks, CaliforniaPeggy...

it is a great innovative product...Don't drink beer, but will buy some for friends the next time I'm in Pompano...

[global1]

6. The Prices Will Come Way Down If All Current Users Of The Plastic Rings That Don't Biodegrade....

or are made by law to switch to the biodegradable rings.

This could be an easy fix and I hope we get a Senator or two and a House Rep or two to sponsor a bill to make using these biodegradable rings a law.

[blm]

10. exactly…

makes perfect sense

[malaise]

7. Wonderful

Thanks for this

[CaliforniaPeggy]

8. Glad to help, my dear malaise!

[blm]

9. This is wonderful and I am definitely going to steal ….uh…share it. ; )

.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

11. Go ahead and steal it, my dear blm! That's what I did, from Facebook!

[tomm2thumbs]

12. love that - and thanks for posting it

always great to hear folks thinking about things in innovative ways

[dhill926]

13. fantastic...

simple and effective...

[trof]

14. I'll have an India Pale Ale and pass the rings, please.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

15. Coming right up, and enjoy, my dear trof!

Cheers!

[Omaha Steve]

16. Thanks for posting

K&R!

OS

[CaliforniaPeggy]

17. You're very welcome!

[kayakjohnny]

19. Thanks for this, Peggy.

Just one more reason that you're my hands down favorite person on this nutty internet entity. Thanks for all you do to make this a better place.

Which, btw, needs it more than ever right now...

[CaliforniaPeggy]

22. Aw, what a sweetheart you are, my dear kayakjohnny!

Thank you.

[niyad]

20. excellent. I do not drink beer, but will let my suds-loving friends know about this.

hope that the soda makers follow suit.

[silvershadow]

24. What a fantastic idea! Thanks, Peggy, for sharing this one! nt

[valerief]

25. But won't this hurt the oil-based plastics industry? They won't stand for that! nt

[Shankapotomus]

26. What about pests?

Will these yokes attract mice and other pests when beer is in storage?

Having worked in the industry I know a lot of canned beer is left outside of a cooler in stock rooms for long periods of time.

[cwydro]

27. That's great!

I love to read good news like this.

[Recursion]

28. The best ideas seem the most obvious in retrospect

What a brilliant example of out-of-the-box thinking

[Skink]

29. Can you eat them

[KansDem]

33. I think you're on to something!

Buy a six-pack with rings made of snack food like tortilla chips and pretzels! Pop a can and tear off a ring!

One-stop sip and nip!!

[dembotoz]

30. nice but 12 packs come in recycleable cardborad...easy to recycle AND you get more beer

just saying

[IronLionZion]

31. great idea but why use rings at all?

bottles tend to come in recyclable cardboard and cases of cans do as well. Animals can tear through it and it is biodegradable and easier to use.

I'm glad these rings are edible for animals and reusing beer byproducts but there are much simpler solutions.

[Bad Dog]

32. They stopped selling cans in rings over here years ago.

Six packs are sold like this.



Btw, it's sacrilege to sell beer, (good beer anyway,) in cans. Draught or in bottles is the only way.

[Mosby]

34. san tan and four peaks have both switched to cans

Less air in the can, no light, lighter and easy to recycle and can be taken outdoors in parks, stadiums etc. They don't use the traditional ring, each can has full plastic cover so it eliminates the problem of warehouse dust.

[Throd]

35. Cans are superior to bottles in many ways.

It was a sacrilege (to beer snobs) to drink beer from cans. Not so anymore.

[Bad Dog]

38. Bottles, (with a deposit,) are so much better.

My local beer shop charges a deposit on most continental beer, the bottles go back to the brewery and are reused.

Beer tastes so much better when it's in a bottle, (or draught,) not just beer either. Glass bottled coca cola tastes a lot better than tinned. Unfortunately it's more expensive and the bottles aren't reused.

[hamsterjill]

36. Wouldn't it be awesome?

If all other companies followed suit?

I always cut the plastic six-pack rings before putting them into recycle. This brewery's idea is a great one!