20k identifiable pieces of trash, small sample size. Even if it's good math ~ perhaps its a numbers game of popularity in brands? Coke was 15% Pepsi 10% ... and I'm sure other brands of aluminum can waste we're their proportional share..
Coca-Cola most common source of packaging pollution on UK beaches: study
111–120 of 210 posts
Re: Coca-Cola most common source of packaging pollution on UK beaches: study
#112A lot of discussion on this thread revolves around whose responsibility it is to ensure clean-up of plastic waste (producers or consumers) while ignoring the fact that companies are using a material that lasts 10,000 years for items that are single-use. That should be outright illegal unless there are literally no alternatives.
Re: Coca-Cola most common source of packaging pollution on UK beaches: study
#113Earlier quoted context omitted.
Ban plastic bottles. Make them use glass bottles in a closed cycle where the bottles are constantly cycled and then turned into something else when they can't be cycled... or use aluminum which is recyclable. And let's call out recycling for the sham that it is. Recycling is a lie for plastics, plastics can not be economically recycled. They must be banned and the polluters made to internalize the externality.
Glass bottles weigh about 10 times more than plastic bottles. Enjoy all the extra CO2 from shipping.
I'd say make it a semi-luxury product. A once/twice per month $3.75 - $5.75 pleasure that comes in a glass bottle. The sweet refreshing taste of Coca-Cola should not be an everyday thing (otherwise it becomes an health issue). So you reduce C02 & health impact and maintain profitability.
Re: Coca-Cola most common source of packaging pollution on UK beaches: study
#114Earlier quoted context omitted.
Your thesis is that the main driver for plastic water bottles or to go coffee cups is branding? I don't think that passes the smell test.
Not quite, but it's a low cost convenience that makes people spend on coffee more readily. If they were made to bring their own cup to take coffee out (or some other less polluting method), I bet it would hurt sales significantly.
Most cafes in Australia give a discount (up to 50c) for bringing your reusable cup. It’s very popular and very effective. Of course, disposable cups are still available.
Re: Coca-Cola most common source of packaging pollution on UK beaches: study
#115Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's actually a problem at the moment. After the raise to $0.10 deposit, some people started hauling bottles over from Washington. The way the program is funded depends on less than 100% of bottles being returned. We need something national. And just bottles isn't going to cover it - single use plastic products are cheap enough, and companies have no incentive not to use them, so of course everyone else ends up deali…
Australia has it per state and they have the refund logo printed on the bottle label. Bringing bottles from another state will result in a fine if caught.
In the US machines simply won’t pay for bottles purchased out of state. That’s my experience in Michigan, anyway.
Re: Coca-Cola most common source of packaging pollution on UK beaches: study
#116Just spent 2 weeks on Sabah, Borneo. Even the very remote beaches hours away from large human settlements are littered with plastic bottles and grocery bags. While diving you often see bags floating around. Both, on the surface and below. Ironically even the island hopping boat carried a tray of bottled water for anyone to take. Not sure what % of bottles gets left behind at the end of the day. Maybe a small deposit…
A small deposit is no incentive. Now if it were a significant amount like $.50-$1.00 per bottle you recycle, then you'd have people literally racing to get those bottles. Then just increase the price on the drinks itself by a bit to make up for that, which is also a disincentive to discourage a number of people from buying them in the first place.
In Oregon there are homeless people who ride around in bikes with trailers collecting cans and bottles all day. A couple sacks full is worth $20.
Re: Coca-Cola most common source of packaging pollution on UK beaches: study
#117Good read about how, as far back as the 50's, the beverage industry used the "Keep America Beautiful" campaign to shift blame and responsibility for pollution onto consumers: https://www.chicagotribune.com/opinion/commentary/ct-perspec...
I wouldn't be surprised if the "#trashtag" movement from earlier this year was created and spread by beverage companies.
Re: Coca-Cola most common source of packaging pollution on UK beaches: study
#118The beverage industry knows they have a festering PR problem. I recently got a random poll from the American Beverage Association. They were primarily interested in understanding how people feel about the industry’s sustainability (or lack thereof). The good news is based on some of the questions they asked it sounds like they’re considering bringing back glass containers.
I hope they do, it would be a huge boon to sea glass enthusiasts.
Re: Coca-Cola most common source of packaging pollution on UK beaches: study
#119How about "Litterers most common source of pollution on beaches"?
Re: Coca-Cola most common source of packaging pollution on UK beaches: study
#120The negative externalities of Warren Buffet's fortune are truly cataclysmic for the environment.