Surf City brewery creates eco-friendly packaging that is edible for wildlife

The flimsy plastic rings used to hold soda bottles and beer cans together have been known to harm wildlife. In recent years, disturbing photos of land animals and marine life caught between the rings have circulated around the internet, along with pictures of plastic straws wedged inside sea turtles and other creatures.

According to Salty Turtle Beer Company, the new eco-friendly ring holders are made from by-product waste and compostable materials that come from the beer brewing process.

The rings degrade in days, not years, and will not harm wildlife if ingested, a Facebook post states.

Triangle-made documentary highlights the big problem of tiny plastic straws

A relatively new movement is one against plastic straws. Whole Foods, Starbucks, The Carolina Inn in Chapel Hill and dozens of other companies have started implementing new procedures to reduce, or get rid of, plastic straws.

Many restaurants won't bring customers straws unless they ask for them, and manufactures have started selling reusable straws made of silicone, metal or hard plastic. Consumers can help by minimizing their use of plastic overall and by cutting up the plastic rings that come with beer cans and soda bottles before throwing them in the garbage.

Whole Foods will ban plastic straws and offer smaller produce bags