FROM: Lance King
DATE: August 30, 1999
RE: "Think before you drink Coca-Cola" headlines New York Times ad today
The GrassRoots Recycling Network is running the fifth in a series of paid ads
in the Coke campaign today. In the new ad, the headline "Think before you
drink Coca-Cola" is intended to focus attention on why Coke's wasteful
plastic packaging concerns everyone. Check it out!
Coca-Cola's public response to the Working Assets action alert last month and
the GRRN ads this month is an attempt to change the subject. Coke cannot
refute the fact that PET soda bottle recycling rates have fallen four years
in a row. When 2 of every 3 plastic Coke bottles are wasted, no wonder the
company wants to change the subject.
The fact that Coke stopped using recycled-plastic bottles and then introduced
the wasteful 20-ounce single-serving bottle are major reasons for the
downturn in PET soda bottle recycling rates. Coke used more virgin plastic
in its bottles in 1998 than the entire amount of PET soda bottles recycled in
the United States. No wonder the waste problem keeps getting worse.
For all of you who have supported the Coke campaign launched by GRRN in April
1997, now is the time to keep up the pressure on Coca-Cola. Encourage your
organization, friends and family to call Coke CEO Douglas Ivester at (800)
571-2653. Tell him to take responsibility for Coke's plastic bottle waste by
using recycled-plastic bottles!