Global Warming CAN Sell More Than Candy – Coke, Too

In my recent blog post, "Can Global Warming Sell More Than Candy?", I lamented that the Reese’s division of Hershey’s candy company is adapting global climate change hype to advertise peanut butter cups despite the total disconnect between candy and global warming.

Imagine my surprise when I pulled up behind this truck at a stop light in Denton, TX.

As reported in “Coke helps reduce pollution with hybrid vehicles” the Coca-Cola Bottling Company of North Texas is now operating 12 hybrid gas-electric vehicles, which the company claims use 32 percent less gas than traditional vehicles.

Coca-Cola seems to have jumped on the bandwagon, portraying its environmental stewardship to remind consumers that drinking their product helps the environment. However, is Coca-Cola really as environmentally responsible as their hybrid trucks make the company appear to be?

An article entitled “Coca-Cola Charged with Groundwater Depletion and Pollution in India” posted at About.com says that India’s Central Pollution Control Board found in 2003 that sludge from Coca-Cola’s Uttar Pradesh factory was contaminated with high levels of cadmium, lead, and chromium and that this sludge was being supplied to tribal farmers as fertilizer. The article also says that the Indian Centre for Science and Environment tested carbonated beverages made by Coca-Cola (and Pepsi) and found a “cocktail of between three to five different pesticides in all samples.”

So, despite Coca-Cola’s hybrid vehicle program, perhaps the company is not serving as the environmental steward they are claiming to be. To get that cola fix you need, perhaps it is time to switch to brew it yourself coca-cola.