Fwd: Bay Area Groups Join 'Coke Take It Back! Campaign:...

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From: AOLNews@aol.com
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Subject: Bay Area Groups Join 'Coke Take It Back! Campaign:...
Date: Fri, 13 Nov 1998 07:10:54 EST
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Bay Area Groups Join 'Coke Take It Back! Campaign: National Consumer Protest
Targets Waste From Plastic Coke Bottles

Coca-Cola Chairman M. Douglas Ivester Challenged to 'Buy Recycled'

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- A growing national alliance
including 81 environmental, consumer, recycling and student organizations and
leaders is challenging Coca-Cola Chairman M. Douglas Ivester to make new
plastic Coke bottles with recycled plastic. Endorsements of the "Coke -- Take
It Back!" consumer protest will be announced at news conference this morning
in San Francisco and this afternoon in Oakland.

"Coke's plastic bottles are a symbol of wasteful packaging. Coca-Cola
sells an estimate 20 million sodas every day in the United States in plastic
bottle, without using any recycled plastic," Rick Best, policy director for
the Sacramento-based Californians Against Waste and chair of the national
steering committee of the GrassRoots Recycling Network.

WHAT: News conferences announcing endorsements and consumer protest.

Bay area and northern California groups endorsing "Coke -- Take It

Back!" are:

Group City Type & Scope

Earth Island Institute San Francisco National environmental

Californians Against Waste Sacramento Statewide environmental

lobby

Berkeley Ecology Center Berkeley Regional environmental

Ecology Action, Inc. Santa Cruz Local environmental

Urban Ore, Inc. Richmond Total recycling business

Garbage Reincarnation Santa Rosa Recycling

Total Recycling Association Oakland Recycling

Plactory Santa Cruz Plastics Recycling business

Northern Cal. Recycling Assoc.Berkeley Professional/recycling

CRRA Sacramento Statewide recycling assoc.

Zero Waste Institute Watsonville Non-profit policy group

WHEN & San Francisco - 9:30 AM at 5th & Bryant, beneath Coke billboard

WHERE:

Oakland - 12:30 PM at 7901 Oakport, in front of Coke's

northern California headquarters & bottling plant

PROTEST: Consumers are being asked to mail empty plastic Coke bottles to

Coca-Cola Chairman M. Douglas Ivester as a protest, with the

simple message "take it back and use it again!" Events are

planned across the nation November 10 to November 15 as a prelude

to America Recycles Day, Sunday, November 15.

WHY: Coke broke its 1990 promise to use recycled plastic to make new

soda bottles sold in the United States. In 1997, Coke sold more

than 8 million sodas in the United States in plastic bottles made

from 600 million pounds of new, so-called virgin resin.

Coke is being targeted because it is the industry leader with 44 percent
of the market share and has a enormous influence on whether the soft drink
industry reduces its plastic packaging waste.

"Coke's waste prompted the San Luis Obispo County waste management
authority to start a radio and newspaper advertising campaign a year ago,
calling on consumers to mail back their empty plastic bottles to Coca-Cola's
Ivester," Bill Sheehan, GRRN's national network coordinator said from the
organization's headquarters in Athens, Georgia.

"We believe this simple, direct action sends a powerful message that
manufacturer's must take responsibility for their own product and packaging
waste and launched this campaign in September 1998," Sheehan said.

Coke -- Take It Back! is a project of the non-profit GrassRoots Recycling
Network, which advocates policies and practices to achieve zero waste, end
corporate welfare for waste and create sustainable jobs.

SOURCE GrassRoots Recycling Network

CO: Coca-Cola; GrassRoots Recycling Network

ST: Georgia, California

IN: FOD ENV

SU:

11/13/98 07:09 EST http://www.prnewswire.com

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