Never a res publica to fall in argument , America is one of the few countries to resist the metric organisation . We stubbornly assess distance in miles and exercising weight in pound . So what ’s with those two - liter bottle of soda ?
First , a clarification : Soda is far from the only substance we measure in metric units . Heck , it ’s not even the only potable . Wine , liquor , and bottled water are sold by the ml . The healthcare playing area is all about metrical units , too , from cholesterin point to prescription , over - the - counter , and add-on dosages . We ladder 5 - kilometer races , ride on 215 - millimetre tires , and use 8 - millimetre camera , or at least we used to .
In most other things , wedeterminedly clingto our imperial measurement . Attempts to convince Americans to link up the rest of the metric - mensurate world have been met with great resistance .
Ken Butcher of the National Institute of Science and Technology has been working with the authorities ’s tiny Metric Program for class . Speaking to Mental Floss back in 2013 , Butcher explained that we ’re so entrenched in our direction of doing thing that switching measurement system now would be both chaotic and expensive .
" If we were go to start a new nation all with the metric system , it would be easy , " hesaid . " But when you have to go in and change almost everything that touches people ’s everyday life and their physical and genial experience , their education , and then you take that away from them — it can be chilling . "
Here and there , though , when it ’s commodious , we have been willing to budge . The soda bottle is a dear example . Until 1970 , all diffuse drink in the U.S. were trade in fluid ounces and Imperial gallon , mostly in glass bottles . Then the formative polythene terephthalate ( PET ) bottle come along , and soft drink makers decide it was fourth dimension for a product redesign .
The redesign process co-occur with two fundamental factor : a curtly - survive wave ofgovernment interestin going metric , and the burgeon environmental movement .
The folk at PepsiCo decide tomeld all threeinto its exciting new watercraft : a lightweight , cheesy , recyclable , metrical nursing bottle , with built - in V so it could stomach up on supermarket shelf . Two cubic decimetre : the soda sizing of the time to come .
The two - liter bottle took off . The rest of the soft drink world had no selection but to get on plank . And voila : liter of dope for all .
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