Why hadn't anybody thought of doing this before? (video below)
Typically, there is nothing wrong with capping off a long day with an ice cold beer; and these days, most people know to cut the rings of those plastic six-pack holders before throwing them away.
Why? Because failure to do so could result in the suffering or even death of wildlife--in particular, marine animals. As a matter of fact, approximately 700 marine species are now faced with extinction as a result of the threat that plastic poses to them from entanglement, pollution, and ingestion, reports One Green Planet.
In an effort to redress this problem, the South Florida-based Saltwater Brewery has partnered with the ad agency We Believers, and created a 100 percent biodegradable and compostable version of those plastic rings.
What's more, the new six-pack rings are edible and purport to feed, rather than kill, marine life if the rings somehow end up in the ocean and are ingested by an animal.
The sole drawback — if you can even call it that — is that the environmentally-accountable (and life-saving) design costs more to produce than its potentially-harmful counterparts. However, the company reportedly harbors hope that consumers will be willing to shell out a few extra bucks in order to help both animal life and our environment, reports The Huffington Post.
If the brewery's new rings become commonplace, they could potentially end up costing the same amount as their less expensive predecessors.
“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 company’s promotional video below.
The brewery claims to make its rings out of the wheat and barley byproducts leftover from the brewing process, and the resulting rings are as durable as the plastic variety, and therefore able to hold the weight of a standard six-pack.
"And if nothing is biting, the rings quickly decompose," writes Nathaniel Scharping for Discover.
According to Creativity, the company originally 3-D printed a test batch of 500 of the edible holders in April 2016. Now, Saltwater Brewery plans to up the production to meet its current output of 400,000 cans a month.
Check out the company’s promotional video below: