No Glee from Environmentalists for Coca-Cola
Posted on April 21, 2011 by AndyLAGreenMachine
reposted from: http://www.earthresource.org:

Some California environmental groups got a last minute invite to an unusual spectacle taking place on Earth Day to launch Coke’s new “plant bottle” packaging for Coca-Cola brand “Dasani” bottled water. The invitation cheers the “exciting packaging advancement” that will allow Coca-Cola to bottle its plain old municipal water without the coke syrup in a bottle that is “made with up to 30 percent plants – and up to 30 percent less petroleum.” “Although our event is taking place this Friday – and we apologize for the short notice – we really would love to see you there. The event is a fashion show featuring models clad in garments made from plants that cover up to 30 percent of their bodies. The show will be hosted by actor and singer Matthew Morrison from FOX TV’s “Glee.” Again, we apologize for the short notice, and we sincerely hope you can fit it into your busy schedule. Please RSVP… “

On behalf of environmentalists in the know about plastic packaging and bottled water, we send our regrets, as follows:

1. We Regret that while many areas of America face drought, your bottling of municipal water uses three times as much water in the process of bottling it as the amount of water that came from the tap to fill the bottle. http://clatl.com/atlanta/tap-water-wears-a-bow-tie-when-its-put-in-a-bottle-and-sold/Content?oid=1271054

2. We Regret that despite your green leaf logo, your “plant bottle” is still just a PET plastic bottle and is not biodegradable or compostable on land or at sea.

3. We Regret that Coca-Cola will not be collecting and recycling their own PET “plant bottles,” and that only approximately 20.9% percent of PET bottles are “recycled” (mostly into lower grade material that is not used in bottles again) in America. The remainder, at over 20 billion bottles, last forever in our landfills or in our environment, including our oceans. We also regret that Coca-Cola failed to achieve it’s own pledge of using at least 10% recycled content in PET bottles and has just announced the shut down of its PET recycling joint venture in South Carolina. http://www.container-recycling.org/

4. We Regret that Coca-Cola is substituting its chemical-laden petroleum plastic bottle with a chemical-laden petroleum and plant plastic bottle.

5. We Regret that estrogenic compounds in your PET “plant bottle” may leach into the water and impair human health and reproduction. http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2009/04/29/2555698.htm http://ehp03.niehs.nih.gov/article/fetchArticle.action?articleURI=info%3Adoi%2F10.1289%2Fehp.1003220

6. We Regret that advertising has tricked people into believing that bottled water is safer when in fact your product has been recalled for contamination and gets a grade of “D” on Environmental Working Group’s evaluation of bottled waters. http://www.ewg.org/bottled-water-2011-search?id=36 http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/pure-cokes-attempt-to-sell-tap-water-backfires-in-cancer-scare-567004.html

7. We Regret that Coca-Cola Corporation has been so slow to properly label the source of the tap water that it bottles. http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2010/04/20

8. We Regret that single servings of water are sold in disposable packaging that will last longer than any of us will be on this planet, and that future generations will have to deal with our waste. http://www.storyofstuff.org/bottledwater/

9. We Regret that you aren’t screening the documentaries “Tapped” and “Bag It!” at your event.

10. We Regret that Matthew Morrison, a beloved singer and actor, is involved with such a green washing sham. We wish he talked with us first. And although we appreciate the promise of 30% clad models, we believe it would be more appropriate for your models to be nude, as in “the emperor has no clothes” because this kind of green washing doesn’t fool us at all.

The undersigned,

Lisa Kaas Boyle, Esq., Plastic Pollution Coalition
Stephanie Barger, Earth Resource Foundation
Beth Terry, My Plastic-free Life
Mark Murray, Californians Against Waste
Rachel Vida, Campaign for Recycling
Daniella Russo, Plastic Pollution Coalition
Sherri Loveland, Orange County Interfaith Coalition for the Environment (OCICE)
Andy Shrader, Grassroots Organizer for Plastic Bag Bans in Los Angeles and Culver City

For more information contact Lisa Boyle at lisa@boyleroom.com 310-422-7988 or Stephanie Barger at stephanie.barger@earthresourc.org or 714-381-6400