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Our Coke Campaign Goes Global!

Posted by Tisha Brown - 2nd October 2017


For the past few months, we have been campaigning for Coke to stop choking our oceans. Coca Cola are the largest soft drinks company in the world. We estimated that globally they produce 100 billion single use plastic bottles every year, a figure that’s going up and up with a 2% increase since last year.

Plastic bottles are one of the most commonly found items on beach cleans and on the ocean’s surface. Once they are in the environment, they become a hazard for wildlife. Larger pieces of plastic can become an entanglement or choking hazard for animals. These larger plastics break down over time into microplastics which have been found in everything from seafood, sea salt and even our drinking water.

With your help, we have been holding Coca Cola to account. We have sent over  90,000 emails to their European CEO asking that they do more to reduce their plastic footprint.  We have called their offices directly to ask them to stop choking our oceans, posted spoof Coke adverts around the country and even blockaded their London HQ with a sculpture highlighting the problems that ocean plastic pollution create.

 


Greenpeace volunteers subvert Coca-Cola drinks machines.

These actions have lead to Coca Cola GB hiring a new PR company. They have also promised to reduce their plastic footprint in the UK by increasing the amount of recycled plastic that they use in their bottles to 25%. Whilst this sounds like a lot, it’s still not good enough.

Large corporations like Coca Cola have the funds and the resources to come up with different drink delivery systems, use more recycled plastic content and find innovative ways to reduce their plastic footprint.

Ocean plastic pollution is also a global problem. Our oceans know no boundaries. So taking action in the UK is just a small step towards e stopping plastic bottles flowing on our oceans currents to pollute communities and habitats halfway around the world.

As a global multi-billion pound company, Coca Cola must reduce its plastic footprint across it’s entire company. They are responsible for the end life of their products.


Greenpeace volunteers collect plastic on a beach in Mull.

And whilst Coke say they are in the process of working on a global strategy to reduce their plastic packaging, we learned that in 2016 they actually produced a billion more single use plastic bottles!

Our ocean’s can’t stomach any more plastic pollution. That is why we are now taking our Coca Cola campaign global launching it today on 5 continents.

Help us put pressure on Coca Cola to stop choking our oceans by signing our new petition to Coca Cola’s global CEO asking him to help Coke reduce their global footprint. Let’s use global people power to get Coke to stop choking our oceans.


Article Tagged as: Coke, Featured, Oceans, Plastics


About Tisha Brown

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I am a campaigner on the oceans team.