redbull cans are ruining the enviroment

by penney sohanger
(victoria)

Not people or cars, just the cans

Not people or cars, just the cans

These red bull cans are wrecking EVERYTHING!

I hate them for ruining the local stream as all the youths in my town drink this horrible liquid.

BAN ALL RED BULL!!

peace,

penney sohanger

Barry's Response - Really? Worse than any other drink that comes in a disposable container? Is there not a refundable deposit on those cans? Should it be increased? It's nearly 30 years for some containers.

I'm glad you're concerned.

Search this site for more information now.

They're saying Red Bull cans are ruining the environment.

On the surface, it's almost poetic: a shiny cylinder with wings thrown into a stream by someone who thought recycling wasn't important, suddenly becomes a villain. But let's ask - is it really the can that ruins the world, or the culture of endless consumption?

Aluminum cans are tricky from a scientific perspective. One the one hand, they're infinitely recyclable. However, making aluminum requires bauxite mining, tons of electricity (often coal), and smelters that release sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and fine particulates. Downwind of a smelter, you don't need an air quality model to know your lungs are on the line - but an advanced one like ADMS 6 or CALPUFF could show you where the plume goes, how it disperses, and what concentrations build up.

This isn't just physics; it's meteorology.

What's the funny twist? Recycling an aluminum can saves you 95% of the energy it would take to make a new one. If people return it, the villain can become a hero.

Maybe Red Bull isn't the problem...Maybe we're to blame.

Here's where it gets a little feisty. People will say: The real problem isn't litter, it's industrial global emissions. Stop picking on my drink. Others say, "Ban energy drinks, tax them like cigarettes, and the problem goes away." Some responsible thinkers might ask: "Why punish everyone for the laziness of a few?" The earth is a place we borrowed from someone else - don't trash His streams." Or simply, "Let's raise the deposit fee and make people value what they toss."

This kind of free thinking means not settling for one answer. We should have fun with the concepts of recycling: maybe set up the system so kids scan their can with an app, track its reincarnation, earn bragging rights. There would be a digital counter on every Red Bull ad car showing how many cans the company actually recycles. Global leaderboard with countries competing for least cans wasted.

Let me try something bold:

I like to help industries look beyond environmental compliance, and into responsibility, into innovation. Every molecule in the air tells a story, and the story can still change.

It's not just Red Bull, Coke, or Bud Light. It's how we link short-term habits to long-term air and water systems. Cans in the stream? They corrode, leach aluminum ions into water, and harm aquatic life. But upstream - sometimes literally - is the power plant that burns coal to smelt the next batch. One system, one cycle: air quality, water pollution, human health. That's the real conversation - ecology education, human effects.

Yes, sometimes we should laugh at ourselves. Cans aren't demons. Maybe it's a mirror, showing how we scatter little wings of trash everywhere, hoping someone will pick them up.

I have a question for you, reader

Are Red Bull cans really destroying the environment - or are they just a convenient symbol? Let me know what you think in the comments. Let's debate. Fill me in if I'm wrong. Tell me about your weirdest recycling story. Because the environment isn't just out there. Right here, in this conversation. Below.

Comments for redbull cans are ruining the enviroment

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starstarstarstar 		Red Bull is just part of the problem
by: Gerry aka KOTO

Aloha Penney:

I can understand the Red Bull problem, but I think it is the people that buy this over rated drink. They should be fined for leaving the cans behind. Red Bull should also pay for advertising on how and why their customers should dispose of the empty cans, or charge a deposit and then you will have people picking up the cans for the refund.

Penney, It is nice that you have a interest in taking care of our Earth. It would also be great if, while you're getting your local papers, radio and TV stations, along with talking to City Hall, to do something about this problem.

Also, check around your neighborhood and look into the storm drain sewers, like those near your shopping centers. Many people have no idea what such a drain is for. It is to take the rain water off of our roads so we don't have floods and it takes the rain water into our natural waterways, such as creeks, streams, rivers, lakes, or ocean. If you see trash, cigarette butts, or things other than water in them, you should see if your town will start stenciling them with environmental awareness messages.

You will be doing a great service to your neighborhood and helping Mother Nature at the same time.

Good luck Penney, your on the right track

Barry's Response - Thanks Gerry. Your commitment to this problem is exemplary, refreshing and spot on, Gerry. I like the idea of stenciling storm drains. Storm drains and skies are cousins: both carry away what humans leave behind, and both demonstrate how small actions can add up. A tossed can in a storm drain is like a puff of smoke in the sky. It might seem inconsequential, but it adds up over millions of people, and suddenly rivers, lakes, and skies are full of trash.

Red Bull isn't the only culprit, you're right. The energy drink industry is just the mascot for a much bigger problem: disposable culture. If fines and deposits change behavior, then maybe meteorology can help: pressure systems shift when a strong enough force acts on them. People are the same.

It's poetic to see a Red Bull can roll into a storm drain. Despite the slogan, it gives our waterways aluminum. The ad campaign should be "Red Bull gives you wings... and your local trout gills a workout."

Yes, stencils on storm drains, city hall talks, and maybe even a cheeky ad from Red Bull could help. Penney is on the right track, you're right. You make the track clearer.

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