Change happens one person at a time, and sometimes one company at a time. Saltwater Brewery in Delray Beach, Florida, has come up with a brilliant packaging material to keep our ocean clean and free from damaging and sometimes deadly plastic. Six-pack rings made from plastic are possibly the most notorious kind of garbage because of the serious damage they do to marine life through ingestion and entanglement. With this in mind, Saltwater Brewery has cooked up an edible substitute for their six-packs.

This innovative craft beer company took sustainability yet another step forward by making the packaging from their own beer by-products. The barley, wheat and other ingredients are combined for a product that isn't just safe for fish to eat, but even for humans. Of course they don't have to be ingested to break down. They are 100 percent biodegradable and compostable.

Remarkably, the packaging is just as resistant and efficient as plastic, making it perfectly functional and harmless in the environment. The only difference is that it costs a bit more at this point, a factor that Saltwater Brewery hopes its customers will be willing to support for another step toward a healthier environment. If more breweries invest in this type of packaging, the prices could drop in the future, and that's a possibility that Saltwater Brewery is hoping for.

If you join us on a Maui snorkel tour, you'll discover how uncommonly clean our waters are from plastic debris and other trash. Hawaii's land area is miniscule compared to the breadth of the ocean surrounding it, and the population here takes its environmental health seriously, but debris can drift from any landmass to virtually any other landmass on Earth, so even our waters get some of it at times. That's why this innovative packaging choice is so inspiring.

This is the first time a 100 percent edible and biodegradable beer packaging has been implemented in the beer industry. If you want to learn more about this great little company and watch a short, informative video about their packaging, you can check out the community page at www.saltwaterbrewery.com. If you need any assistance with your Maui ocean activities, you'll find our contact information at the bottom of the page. Mahalo!