This post will be disappointing. There’s no way around it. I needed to be taking a video to show how silly this moment I saw was. I apologize.
Everyone knows about plastic 6-pack rings. They’ve been binding our beverages together since the 60’s. I’m also pretty sure everyone knows they can trap wildlife in them and in some cases these rings can be used to comb the ocean floor. Personally, I try to avoid buying products that use them for those reasons but if I do end up in possession of one, I cut it up into like 50 pieces (better safe than sardine). In researching this post I’m writing (I can’t believe I just referred to it as “research”) I discovered that those rings are actually regulated by law to biodegrade, which is great, that’s a kind of legislature I can really support.
While the effect of 6-pack rings on the environment can be debated, walking around Boston’s Financial District during my lunch break the other day I had a whole new light shed on the subject. There was a delivery truck from some paper supplier parked in front of an office building making a delivery. The boxes were bound by a plastic strap that was the diameter of a paper box and fused together at the ends (see photo for details). I was there to watch a guy walk over the ring, get both feet stuck in it, and trip over his now-bound legs. He did manage to catch himself before he fell face first into the building’s stairs, so no harm was done, but I hope he at least saw the humor in the situation. And if we wasn’t before, maybe he’ll start cutting up 6-pack rings, too.
