Sure, you're "I recycle" cool, but are you, "I recycle 60-year-old glass bottles" cool?
Family-owned Twig's Beverage in Wisconsin is one of the last US soda companies to sell liquid refreshment in returnable glass bottles, per BBC.
Customers return empties to Twig's factory to be washed and refilled, including those that have been passed down through generations for 60 years — like an eco-friendly heirloom.
Boom time for bottling
While recovering from being shot in both legs during the Korean War, founder Floyd "Twig" Hartwig learned of the booming bottling business back home. He sent his paychecks to invest in equipment and opened Twig's bottling plant in 1951. Typical origin story, right?
- Twig's bottles citrus-flavored Sun Drop, a Midwest favorite, among others.
- Hartwig's son Dan now operates the company with his wife and three sons.
- After 75 years, Twig's is the last manufacturer of Sun Drop (now owned by Keurig Dr Pepper) to use returnable glass bottles instead of plastic.
- A 24-bottle case of 12 oz. Sun Drop bottles sells for $37 ($20 deposit), refills are $17. And 16 oz. refills are only available to customers with bottles.
- The company now makes its own line of caffeine-free sodas, including black cherry and the intriguing "rhuberry," and plans to expand across the Midwest.
Twig's is among a surprising number of family-owned soda companies across the US, including Dublin, Spring Grove, and Polar.
Refillable renaissance
While it's among the last of a dying breed of old schoolers still using returnable glass bottles, Twig's serves as a role model for a refillable bottle revival.
A distant or non-existent memory for most Americans, refillable bottles were long the norm. But thanks to cheaper plastic, sales of soda in refillable bottles went from 95% in 1960 to 0.4% in 1998.
But that could change.
- Refillable plastic bottle programs are successful around the world, including Brazil's 90% return rate.
- Coca-Cola aims to increase sales of reusable packaging from 14% to 25% by 2030.
- The Bring Back Refill campaign advocates for policy changes to increase deposit return systems.
- A 10% increase in refillables in the US could reduce ocean-bound plastic bottle pollution by 22% each year.
In the meantime, how about a road trip to Wisconsin?
