How to Be a Conscious Eater

communities. Although drinking from aluminum cans is gen-

erally considered quite safe, it’s the BPA plastic lining of many

canned products that is raising some concerns. BPA, an indus-

trial chemical officially called bisphenol A, is used as a barrier

for acidic foods—like tomatoes, soda, and beer, to name a

few—where the liquid could react with the aluminum.

Aluminum is the most commonly recycled material of all,

so props on that front, but glass still wins because of how it’s

made (melting silica sand, soda ash, and limestone, which

are more easily available than environmentally destruc-

tive bauxite) and the fact that, of the three, it has the lowest

total carbon footprint. Admittedly, that’s based on a life-cycle

assessment done by a glass manufacturer, but nonetheless,

Slate has reported that it takes about twice the energy to make

an aluminum can as it does an equivalent glass bottle. For the

most complete picture of their respective environmental foot-

prints, consider too whether the producer used any recycled

materials. Although glass is less likely to be recycled in the for-

mal sense, anecdotally it’s more likely than aluminum to get

reused (rolling pin, art project, place to store stewed tomatoes).

And if we heed the motto of waste management—“Reduce,

Reuse, Recycle”—we know that reusing is more environmen-

tally responsible than recycling. Worth considering before you

crush another can of sparkling water.

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