By now, there is a general consensus that plastic bags and plastic six-pack rings are bad for the environment and are a danger to animals. Cardboard packaging that glass bottles are packaged in can be easily recycled so they have a lesser impact on the environment. We have all seen heartbreaking images of a plastic wring stuck around a seagull’s neck or of a turtle’s stomach filled with plastic grocery bags.

This plastic puts marine life in danger causing suffocation, a reduced ability to eat, and even strangulation if the plastic gets stuck around an animal’s neck or mouth.

A main issue with plastic packaging is that when it finds its way into the environment, it is not broken down fast enough. Through animal consumption, plastic finds its way into the stomach of a variety of marine life. This moves its way up trophic levels and the fish that we eat likely have consumed plastic in some form. To a sea turtle, a plastic bag floating in the ocean mimics the way that a jellyfish moves, and looks just as appetizing.

This is having an ever-increasing effect on the environment, as animal life is suffering from this plastic. The Saltwater Brewery located in Florida has begun to produce six-pack rings for beer that are made out of edible material. The packaging is 100 percent plastic-free, compostable, biodegradable and edible, made from material wheat and barley remaining after the brewing process.

This packaging fixes two main issues with traditional plastic rings. First, within hours the material will begin to degrade: substantially decreasing the chance that an animal will become stuck within the rings. Secondly, the packaging is completely biodegradable and edible, so not only will it essentially serve as food for sea creatures, but it is seemingly free from environmental harm.

Although the production price will be higher than for the traditional plastic rings, the Saltwater Brewery believes that if larger breweries employed the same environmentally conscious packaging, the prices would quickly become competitive with plastic. Essentially, if this biodegradable packaging catches on and becomes more widespread, then there is no financial reason why plastic rings would remain a viable alternative. Someday, we can hope to remove plastic packaging from our grocery shelves, starting with a six-pack of beer from the Saltwater Brewery.