posted
I always heard this as a kid: You should cut apart those plastic six-pack rings before throwing them away, or else birds and/or fish get caught and die. Any truth?
Posts: 1 | From: Seattle, WA | Registered: Aug 2006
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posted
I never heard the bird one, just the fish. I always did it just in case. I remeber I even got some out the top of the trash @ an old job of mine just to cute them I would think plastic bags being more of a hazard? Maybe getting stuck on the beak/bill?
-------------------- "Fate is like a strange, unpopular resturant, filled with odd waiters who bring you things you never ask for and don't always like."-Lemony Snicket Posts: 1119 | From: Bronx, NY | Registered: Dec 2005
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posted
That would have to be a bird with a big neck to be killed with the ring.
I have read and seen picture of animals dieing for the rings. I caused by young animals getting the ring caught around their neck. Then as the grown the ring slowly chokes them to death.
My comement on cutting the ring has not changed at all over the years. If you are the type of person willing to take the time cut those rings to save the animial. You are also the type to properly dispose of the rings in the garbage. Where is will be taken to a land fill and these animals will not have be bothered by it. The person that is to lazy to dispose of there trash properly is also the type of person that does not wish to be bothered with cutting rings and will not.
Posts: 597 | From: Bellingham, WA | Registered: Nov 2005
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quote: My comement on cutting the ring has not changed at all over the years. If you are the type of person willing to take the time cut those rings to save the animial. You are also the type to properly dispose of the rings in the garbage. Where is will be taken to a land fill and these animals will not have be bothered by it. The person that is to lazy to dispose of there trash properly is also the type of person that does not wish to be bothered with cutting rings and will not.
Trash doesn't magically disappear after being "properly disposed of". You can drop your trash in a public garbage can on the beach, and it may be knocked over or raided by animals, so the can rings end up in the water where it is a hazard to animals. Even trash put in your own can in your own yard can end up in places you don't expect.
posted
Birds can be killed by the rings - ducks, cormorants, gulls have all died from entangling. The same danger (if not more so) comes from plastic bags and monofilament line.
If you properly dispose of the rings, you do not necessarily have to cut them apart. However, it also does not take much effort to cut them.
James Powell
Posts: 588 | From: Michigan | Registered: Jan 2003
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posted
Another thing to consider is that a 6 pack ring doesn't have just the 6 large holes. It also has quite a few smaller holes in between the larger rings. Plus, the material can be quite stretchy before breaking.
From what I remember hearing, part of the bird risk is they get their neck in one hole then attempt to use thier legs to free themselves and get further tangled. I think another risk is choaking, but I don't see how cutting rings open would help.
Now, I do have a bit of a question. I remember as a kid we went on a semi-behind the scenes tour of Sea World. At one point while at a water fowl exhibit (flamingos I think), she took out a fully cut up six pack ring setup and told us the risks they pose (pointing out the small holes to us too).
Well, another thing she pointed out is that some six pack rings were being made with a material that would cause them to break down in direct sunlight. These rings would be marked with a little "diamond" stamped on it (I would call it a rhombus, but I guess they called it a diamond because a kid would actually know that word). Anyways, does anybody know 1) if and how that actually works, and 2) if it does work, how long does it take to break down?
Posts: 11 | From: Tucson, Arizona | Registered: Aug 2005
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posted
By far the greatest danger discarded six-pack rings pose to wildlife is not animals getting caught in them, but animals (particularly marine life) ingesting them.
quote: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- My comement on cutting the ring has not changed at all over the years. If you are the type of person willing to take the time cut those rings to save the animial. You are also the type to properly dispose of the rings in the garbage. Where is will be taken to a land fill and these animals will not have be bothered by it. The person that is to lazy to dispose of there trash properly is also the type of person that does not wish to be bothered with cutting rings and will not. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trash doesn't magically disappear after being "properly disposed of". You can drop your trash in a public garbage can on the beach, and it may be knocked over or raided by animals, so the can rings end up in the water where it is a hazard to animals. Even trash put in your own can in your own yard can end up in places you don't expect. _________________________________________________
And landfills are swarming with birds, searching for food leftovers.
-------------------- "Ladies and gentlemen, this is what is commonly known as money. It comes in all sizes, colours, and denominations - like people." Posts: 997 | From: Maidstone, UK | Registered: Jun 2006
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Joe Bentley
Ding Dong! Merrily on High Definition TV
posted
quote:Originally posted by Spam & Cookies-mmm: Trash doesn't magically disappear after being "properly disposed of".
Thank you. One of my pet peeves with the enviromental movement is acting as if a bunch of trash piled up in a landfill is somehow different from the exact same amount of trash spread out over a wider area.
As far as I'm concerned litter is a social asthetics problem, not an enviromental one.
We're a planet people, kind of a closed system.
-------------------- "Existence has no pattern save what we imagine after staring at it for too long." - Rorschach, The Watchmen Posts: 8929 | From: Norfolk, Virginia | Registered: Jun 2002
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posted
A local taxidermist here has several specimens mounted with fishing line, cassette tape, 6-pack rings etc. That was the way they were found so he mounted them that way as a warning.
I got so cross yesterday at a segment on "Funniest Animals" showing a skunk with its head jammed in a yoghurt carton. It wasn't funny - that animal may have died as a result.
posted
I can attest that this is true, as I have on two occasions found birds that had died this way.
They nibble at the ring, which may get stuck over their head, with one side between the upper and lower half (feel free to inform me of the proper names) of the bill and the other side around their neck. Put a rubber band around your head, passing through your mouth and you'll get the picture. This makes them unable to eat and they starve to death, as well as getting infections from the constant friction of the ring. It's not pretty.
As a result of this, those rings are no longer used here (at least I think so, it was a long time since I saw one), instead the cans are packed into cardboard boxes.
quote:Thank you. One of my pet peeves with the enviromental movement is acting as if a bunch of trash piled up in a landfill is somehow different from the exact same amount of trash spread out over a wider area.
But at least it's covered up in a landfill so that animals don't get to it.
Edit: If you do the rubber band experiment I mentioned, feel free to post photos.
-------------------- /Troberg Posts: 4360 | From: Borlänge, Sweden | Registered: Nov 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Joe Bentley: One of my pet peeves with the enviromental movement is acting as if a bunch of trash piled up in a landfill is somehow different from the exact same amount of trash spread out over a wider area.
So, Joe, a pile of trash in a landfill is no different from that same pile in, say, your backyard?
Edited to add this link I found to an article in "The Straight Dope" about six-pack rings and marine wildlife.
-------------------- "Argument is an intellectual process. Contradiction is just the automatic gainsaying of any statement the other person makes!"
"No it isn't." Posts: 171 | From: Massachusetts | Registered: Feb 2006
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posted
That is very true and all the rings should be cut before being placed in the garbage. Afterall... birds LOVE the garbage dumps. I never throw them out without cutting them.
Posts: 21 | From: San Jose, CA | Registered: Jul 2006
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quote:Thank you. One of my pet peeves with the enviromental movement is acting as if a bunch of trash piled up in a landfill is somehow different from the exact same amount of trash spread out over a wider area.
But at least it's covered up in a landfill so that animals don't get to it.
Ah, but it's not always covered up. Landfills are divided into cells, so a section or two of the landfill is being filled. So at any given time there can be an open cell, and believe me, if you've ever visited a landfill (and I mean drove up to the top of the mountain), there is trash flying all over the place (along with birds picking through what's uncovered). You can't really assume everything is covered up.
-------------------- "Oh, now we're going to start judging each other on things we've done?? Real fair!" Posts: 1114 | From: Cincinnati, OH | Registered: Oct 2005
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posted
You can tell the landfills before you even get to them. There's hordes of seagulls everywhere.
I saw a young loon once with a six-pack ring over it's head and through one arm (wing). It wasn't able to straighten completely while swimming. I doubt it lived long.
It'd be far better if they just stopped manufacturing the rings. But humans are creating tons of trash at an alarming rate. The rings for beverages is only a very small amount of the life-threatening trash we expose wildlife to. We aren't very good tenants/caretakers, are we?
-------------------- Explore, enjoy and protect the planet --- AAMAH Posts: 8532 | From: Michigan | Registered: Mar 2000
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A tide of plastic debris has spread throughout the world's oceans, posing a lethal hazard to wildlife, even more than 1,000 miles from the nearest city.
These plastic bags were found in the stomach of a whale and a video of what six-pack-rings can do to a terrapin.
-------------------- Brosandi. Hendumst í hringi Höldumst í hendur Allur heimurinn óskýr Nema þú stendur Posts: 694 | From: York, UK | Registered: Jul 2006
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