Is drinking from an aluminum can better for the environment than from a plastic bottle? Assume I recycle both after drinking. Could be soda or anything else. I mainly ask because of the new bans in some areas of bottled water. They have canned sparkling water now too, which I don%26#039;t mind substituting in place of regular bottled water. But am I helping the earth by drinking from the aluminum can instead of the plastic bottle?

Best Answer - Chosen by Voters

What a tricky question! In my opinion it would be best to drink from an aluminum can if it is recycled; however just slightly better than drinking from a plastic bottle that%26#039;s recycled.

The reason I think the aluminum would be better is that it is not a petroleum based product. Yes, it does require energy to both manufacture and recycle it, but not all energy comes from oil. Yet with a plastic bottle, it takes oil to make it, energy to produce it, and energy to recycle. Recycling is also a bit messier and the plastic that is recycled cannot be made into beverage containers again. The aluminum can on the other hand can be made into beverage containers repeatedly. Truly recyclable.

Now all Minnesota needs to do is start a ballot petition to get a bottle bill to the voters. You will never get a bottle deposit program going through the legislature. Michigan, the land of the glorious $.10 deposit, did it by petitioning. It just takes a really strong force to push it and beat the manufacturing/ retail lobby. 100% 1 Vote

Other Answers (16)

• Let%26#039;s break up this question in two parts. You and the environment. From the environmental aspect aluminium is the better choice. But from your perspective, aluminium is a slow poison. Aluminium can and will react with the salts in the water and when you drink water that is toxic with aluminium you are bound to suffer from aluminium poisoning and that is a known cause of parkinson%26#039;s disease , alzhimers disease and a host of other diseases including bowel, liver and kidney related diseases. Aluminium vessels should never be used for cooking or storing any food or drink.
  Likewise even plastic is not as safe. Dioxins are the harmful substances that you consume from plastics esp. when exposed to extreme temp. as in chilling and freezing.
  Make your water potable and safe to drink by filtering it. This ensures that suspended particles are removed. Then boil for 20 mts, thus destroying any biological contamination and store in glass bottles, You can always buy bags to carry the waterbottle in. You could also consider using stainless steel flasks for the same purpose.
  Another option is to install a reverse osmosis water treatment device. This will give you water as pure as bottled water. 0% 0 Votes
• Why not go all the way with your %26quot;greenisms%26quot; and drink from the nearest creek or river? 0% 0 Votes
• Look at it this way...Alunimun wat ever somes from a mineral that is going short. Plastic is like it says it doesnt matter as long as u recycle 0% 0 Votes
• Well worry about your self as aluminum is bad in contact with acids. 0% 0 Votes
• if you find an answer let me know id think the bottle would be better ..but I%26#039;m not for sure either... 0% 0 Votes
• i go with johnie b, aluminum containers, pans, and others in contact with food or beverages is found medically toxic for food consumption uses. So are some plastic that contain benzene, dioxin, bispinol, etc used as water containers. Best is to use reusable plastic bottles made of polycarbonates. 0% 0 Votes
• Aluminum is much cheaper to recycle than plastic, so you could argue it%26#039;s better for the environment. 0% 0 Votes
• How about a glass of water? Or a re-usable water bottle? Re-use is the best use. 0% 0 Votes
• recycling an alumninum can is a lot easier than recycling a plastic bottle. It takes a lot of energy to melt down plastics and refine them into something usable again. It actually can only be recycled so many times before it can%26#039;t be made into something else. It is good to recycle both though. It takes a lot of virgin fossil fuels to produce one plastic jug, container, pop bottle, etc.