Bottle/Can Sand Art Design Highlights Beverage Container Waste

The Container Recycling Institute (CRI) this week created its second annual one-day beverage container sand art installation at Hermosa Beach Pier, at a time of declining U.S. recycling rates and amid a rising tide of concern over the growing amount of litter that reaches our oceans.

Out of the average of 839 bottles, cans and cartons that each American uses annually, only 32% -- 263 -- get recycled. The rest get littered/wasted.

Curbside recycling (blue bins) helps, but it’s not as effective as returning your beverage containers to certified redemption locations, where you can get back the deposit you paid when you purchased the beverage. Container deposit laws, including California's, provide many benefits:

--Dramatic reductions in litter and marine debris

--Reductions in energy use and greenhouse gas emissions due to fewer containers that need to be made from virgin (previously unused) materials

--Additional jobs in recycling

--More high-quality scrap for manufacturers

--Extra income for consumers, charities and community groups

Look online for your closest redemption site to recycle your containers. For more information about CRI, a nonprofit international recycling authority, visit http://www.container-recycling.org.