GreenYes Digest V98 #239

GreenYes Mailing List and Newsgroup (greenyes@ucsd.edu)
Fri, 22 Jan 1999 17:25:06 -0500


GreenYes Digest Fri, 13 Nov 98 Volume 98 : Issue 239

Today's Topics:
<GRRN> NOV. 10 & 11 COKE CAMPAIGN UPDATE
End Welfare for Wasting MEDIA OPPORTUNITY
Fwd: Growing National Campaign Challenges Coca-Cola Chairman...
GLOBE Guru lecture
GRRN News Release on Coke - Take It Back! (Washington DC)
PRESS RELEASE: Coke PET Bottles--Profits for Coke, Costs for
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Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1998 09:21:51 -0500 From: "Bill Sheehan" <zerowaste@grrn.org> Subject: <GRRN> NOV. 10 & 11 COKE CAMPAIGN UPDATE

NOVEMBER 10 & 11 Emails on the Coke Take It Back Campaign.=20

[Please email/mail us your plans, news and clippings! If you=20 would like to use our model press release this week, email us=20 at zerowaste@grrn.org. Check out our Coke campaign section=20 on the web at: http://www.grrn.org.]

************************************************** [From CALIFORNIA]

Thanks for all the work that you and the grassroots recycling=20 network have put into the Coke take it back campaign. The=20 San Luis Obispo County Integrated Waste Management=20 Authority will be conducting an advertising blitz on=20 November 15 to encourage our residents to send their plastic=20 Coke bottles back to Coke.=20 With this latest series of advertising we will have come a full=20 circle in that we started the campaign last year on America=20 Recycles Day. During our second year we will be encouraging=20 our citizens to send their Coke bottles not to Coke but back to=20 our elected officials.=20 -- Willam Worrell, Manager, San Luis Obispo Integrated=20 Waste Management Authority

[NOTE: The suggestion that the public send plastic bottles to=20 politicians in the next phase of the Coke Take It Back (post- America Recycles Day) was also made by Susan Silver of=20 Positively Organized Publishers, Inc., Los Angeles.]

************************************************** [From GEORGIA - Atlanta]

A big thank you for attending our coke pledge protest=20 yesterday: Who left the umbrella in the van? CBS affiliate Channel 46 confirmed that the story did not run=20 on the noon news. We were told it is up to the producer as to=20 what stories air. We will probably never know if Coke called=20 Channel 46 [to squash the story]. After the stunning footage of=20 the dirty politics of the switched March 1997 senate hearing=20 was pulled from Georgia Public TV after Coke talked to the=20 Lawmakers program producers, and after listening to Robert=20 McNeill speak with Charlie Rose last evening about corporate=20 ownership of the major TV networks, I have to admit I am=20 suspicious about the "free press".

A 4 foot x 8 foot America Recycles Day pledge card was=20 presented at Coke world headquarters. It read: I, M. Douglas Ivester, pledge that the Coca-Cola Company=20 will honor its 1990 promise to BUY recycled plastic for the 8=20 BILLION plastic soda bottles I sell in the United States. I acknowledge that the America taxpayer and the American=20 public are doing their share for recycling and it is time that=20 the Coca-Cola Company act like a responsible corporate=20 citizen by BUYING RECYCLED.=20 -- Bob Woodall, Georgia Sierra Club & Georgia Container=20 Recycling Network

Joan King, head of Georgia 20/20 Vision, attended the pledge=20 card presentation. She called to express dismay at how she as=20 member of a Coke stockholder family was treated and to=20 suggest that the most promising avenue to get Coke's attention=20 is to organize a stockholders' protest at the annual meeting (in=20 April in Delaware).

************************************************** [From GEORGIA - Athens]

Students for Environmental Awareness at the University of=20 Georgia were made by police, for lack of a permit, to=20 dismantle their prop -- a giant mailbox mounted on a table that=20 passersby would toss plastic bottles into -- before their protest=20 began Tuesday. Longtime Athens activist Ginger Dollar said=20 that she has participated in many similar events at the same=20 location and was never made to take down equipment due to=20 lack of a permit. Undeterred, a dozen students got noontime=20 passersby to address labels and afix them to Coke plastic=20 bottles, which were sent in a large box to UGA alumnus M.=20 Douglas Ivester. =20

************************************************** [From VIRGINIA - email to colleagues]

As you well know, America Recycles day is fast approaching.=20 There is a cool organization that has some very important=20 work going on you might want your members to know about=20 so they might take action. The organization is the Grass Roots=20 Recycling Network (GRRN). ... Since y'all control [those]=20 lists, I thought I'd pass this info on to you first so you can=20 package it to go out to the lists. [press release etc.] -- Fritz Franke, Earth Systems, Inc.

************************************************** [From the CONTAINER RECYCLING INSTITUTE]

Are you appalled that the America Recycles Day website=20 (americarecyclesday.org) is sponsored by and linked to The=20 National Soft Drink Association website, where Coke's trade=20 association attempts to discredit the most successful recycling=20 program in the nation -- beverage container deposit systems?

..... NSDA is the trade association for the two largest users of=20 rigid plastic containers in the nation, neither of which uses=20 recycled content in the estimated 15 billion PET soda bottles=20 they sell each year. It is ludicrous that they would be=20 sponsoring the America Recycles Day website when the=20 theme of ARD is 'buy recycled' and the message to the public=20 is "If you're not buying recycled, you're not really recycling."=20 Coke and Pepsi are not giving their customers the opportunity=20 to buy recycled PET bottles.

If you are, then take these two actions: 1. Sign on to the letter below to ARD executive committee=20 members (who should know better). Email me at cri@igc.org=20 with your title, organization and contact information. 2. Email those same ARD executive committee members=20 directly:

- US Environmental Protection Agency (sponsor) Ms. Fran=20 McPoland, Federal Environmental Executive:=20 mcpoland.fran@epamail.epa.gov=20 - Environmental Defense Fund (exec comm) Dr. Richard=20 Denison, Senior Scientist: richard@edf.org=20 - National Recycling Coalition (exec comm) Mr. Will Ferretti,=20 Executive Director: willf@nrc-recycle.org=20

-- Pat Franklin, Executive Director, Container Recycling=20 Institute

************************************************** [From COLORADO]

We would like to know where to send empty coke bottles back=20 to- as in an address. There is no address in prior messages that=20 I can see. We will encourage folks using the site to do so and=20 the Board would like to send them a package from each of our=20 sites. -- Melanie Trent, Platte Canyon Site Coordinator, Recycle The=20 Park (A nonprofit recycling corporation serving Park County,=20 Colorado)

Mr. Douglas Ivester Chairman and Chief Executive Officer The Coca-Cola Company One Coca-Cola Plaza Atlanta, Georgia 30313 Sec'y: 404-676-4701=20 Coke's Customer Service number: 1-800-571-2653

************************************************** [From GEORGIA]

Please sign me on as an active supporter of the 'Coke-- Take It=20 Back Campaign.' Thanks --- Katherine "Katie" Ryle, RN., Decatur

**************************************************

************************ Bill Sheehan Network Coordinator GrassRoots Recycling Network P.O. Box 49283 Athens GA 30604-9283 Tel: 706-613-7121 Fax: 706-613-7123 zerowaste@grrn.org http://www.grrn.org ************************

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Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1998 09:02:55 -0500 From: Pete Pasterz <Pete.Pasterz@USDWP.MSU.EDU> Subject: End Welfare for Wasting MEDIA OPPORTUNITY

I agree this is a great time to ramp up the national interest in corporate welfare. As to Time's coverage of federal subsidies, I understand that this article was the first in a SERIES, and that federal subsidies are coming up SOON. It will be interesting to see what anti-environment subsides they= focus on.

This is also a great time to write to your local newspaper, to raise the= issue in your local area, especially if your community has a history of welfare to corporations that don't pay off for the community (net increase of jobs,= etc.)

Pete Pasterz, Manager Office of Recycling and Waste Reduction Michigan State University 88 Service Rd. East Lansing, MI 48824 517/432-5917 fax 517/353-9732

Remember, HASTE really does make WASTE!

>>> "Bill Sheehan" <zerowaste@grrn.org> 11/11 11:38 PM >>> Want to do something to end welfare for waste? Time Magazine=20 last week ran a dynamite special story on corporate welfare. Seems=20 they missed forest subsidies, but it is a major story nonetheless,=20 and a major opportunity to spur public discussion. Be good to let=20 Time know that virgin materials are fundamentally in competition=20 with used materials, and that subsidies for the former undermine=20 recycling -- both community programs and tens of thousands of=20 small recycling and reuse businesses. Please share your letter with=20 this list. Thanks in advance!

The GrassRoots Recycling Network's report, End Welfare for Waste,=20 is back on the production line. We will be in touch again regarding=20 the release (in the new year).

--Bill Sheehan

The alert below comes from the Zero Cut campaign.

=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D A message from the 'nocutnews' discussion list =3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D

Friends,

A GREAT MEDIA OPPORTUNITY!!

In the recent issue of TIME is a feature, "What Corporate Welfare Costs You" It is mostly well written, but fails to mention the corporate welfare associated with logging our national forests.

If we could get 15-20 letters into TIME, I'm sure they would print a few. Please take 10 minutes and write a short letter to TIME praising them for their corporate welfare coverage but reminding them of the worst of all corporate welfare--the federal logging program on national forests.

My letter is below for reference. Please let me know when you send TIME your letter. LET'S NOT LET THIS PASS US BY!!!!!

Send Letters to:

email: letters@time.com=20

Mail: Time Magazine Letters Time and Life Building Rockefeller Center New York, NY 10020

fax: 212-522-8949

(Include Full name, Address and Home Phone number)

= =20 = =20 = =20 = =20 = =20 = =20 = =20 = =20 = =20 = =20 = =20 = =20 = =20 = =20 = =20 = =20 = =20 = =20 = =20 = =20 = =20 = =20 = =20 = =20 = =20 = =20 = =20 = =20 = =20 = =20 = =20 = =20 = =20 = =20 = =20 = =20 =20

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Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1998 15:55:58 EST From: JudiGregry@aol.com Subject: Fwd: Growing National Campaign Challenges Coca-Cola Chairman...

This is a multi-part message in MIME format.

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This came over the internet mail and thought I'd pass it along.

Judi Gregory Global Waste Recycling 626-339-9555 phone 626-974-9112 fax

--part0_910904170_boundary Content-ID: <0_910904170@inet_out.mail.aol.com.2> Content-type: message/rfc822 Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Content-disposition: inline

From: AOLNews@aol.com Return-path: <AOLNews@aol.com> Subject: Growing National Campaign Challenges Coca-Cola Chairman... Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1998 07:29:29 EST Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=3DUS-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit

Growing National Campaign Challenges Coca-Cola Chairman Ivester to Cut= Plastic Soda Bottle Waste

Coke - Take It Back!' Say 81 Groups - =20

Make New Bottles with Recycled Plastic

WASHINGTON, Nov. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Coca-Cola's increasing use of plastic soda bottles made without using any recycled plastic wastes resources and pollutes the environment, say organizers of a growing national protest.

"Some things don't go better with Coke, things like plastics recycling,"= Lance King, campaign consultant to the GrassRoots Recycling Network, said today in= a news conference at 11:00 AM outside the U.S. Post Office next to= Washington's Union Station.

"We are here to send Coca-Cola Chairman Ivester a simple message -- take= back your empty plastic soda bottles and use them to make new bottles. Coke uses recycled plastic in other countries, it's time to do it here," King said.

Consumers are sending Coke a message by mailing empty bottles back to Coca- Cola's Chairman and CEO M. Douglas Ivester at One Coca-Cola Plaza, Atlanta,= GA 30313. Just put a mailing label on the bottle addressed to Ivester at One Coca-Cola Plaza in Atlanta, GA 30313 and add a 55 cent stamp on a 20 ounce= or 2 liter bottle. Rinse out the bottle and put the cap back on before mailing.

The Coke -- Take It Back! campaign is growing rapidly, with support from 81 organizations and leaders in 26 states as of November 9. Environmental, consumer, recycling and student groups launched the campaign in= mid-September and have experienced a 4 fold increase in endorsements since then.

"Our campaign is about manufacturer responsibility. Recycling works only if manufacturers like Coke use the materials consumers recycle," Larry Bohlen, director of health and environment for Friends of the Earth in Washington,= DC, said today.

Sunday, November 15, is the 2nd national America Recycles Day. Consumers= are being asked to pledge to "buy recycled." The theme for the day is "If= you're not buying recycled, you're not really recycling."

"We are calling on Coke to take responsibility for its wasteful plastic packaging by making new bottles with recycled material. The company= chairman was issued a challenge on Tuesday, November 10, in Atlanta to take the buy recycled pledge," Bob Woodall of the Georgia Sierra Club said. Woodall delivered a giant 4 foot by 7 foot pledge form to the company headquarters along with representatives of nearly a dozen Georgia-based organizations.

Protests are being conducted in more than a dozen communities around the nation from November 10 to November 15, including:

November 10 in Atlanta and Athens, Georgia =20

November 12-13 in New Orleans =20

November 12 in Washington, DC and Sacramento, CA =20

November 11-13 in Eugene, Oregon =20

November 13 in San Francisco and Oakland, California, and in Bloomington, = =20

Ill.

November 14 in Andover, Massachusetts, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania =20

November 15 in San Luis Obispo, California

"This is a decentralized, grassroots campaign" King said. "We can't keep up with all the activity. Boulder, Colorado, for instance is holding a rally with Coke campaign songs and a march to the post office but postponed due to snow and 40 mile an hour winds on Tuesday."

"One local government sparked interest in the mail back campaign. In San= Luis Obispo County, California, elected officials on the solid waste authority launched a radio and newspaper ad campaign almost a year ago calling on consumers to send back their empty plastic Coke bottles," Rick Best, policy director for Californians Against Waste and chair of the GRRN Steering Committee said today in Sacramento, California.

Coca-Cola sells an estimated 20 million sodas every day in the United States in plastic bottles. In a year's time more than 8 billion plastic Coke= bottles made from more than 600 million pounds of virgin plastic are discarded.

"As quickly as those bottles are tossed away, the plastics industry extracts more non-renewable resources and spews more hazardous emissions to churn out millions of new bottles," Dr. Bill Sheehan, GRRN Network Coordinator said from the organization's national headquarters in Athens, Georgia.

"While certain industries incorporate used plastic soda bottles into a host= of products, 64 percent of all used soda bottles became waste or litter in 1997 -- largely because Coke refuses to 'close the loop' by taking them back and using them again," GRRN's chair Rick Best said.

In Washington, King mailed petitions with thousands of signatures gathered= by volunteers in nearly 2 dozen communities to Coke's headquarters.

"Soft drinks packaged in plastic, particularly in the recently introduced 20 ounce bottles, are adding to the waste stream 10 times faster than the= growth in recycling of soda bottles. We're targeting Coke as the industry leader with 44 percent of the market," King said.

"Cost-effective technologies approved by the U.S. Food and Drug= Administration are available to Coke. It would cost about one tenth of one penny to use 25 percent recycled plastic in a 20 ounce bottle, according to one industry source," King said.

Coca-Cola uses recycled plastic in Coke bottles sold in a number of other countries, where government mandates require it. If Coke refuses to take= the "buy recycled" pledged voluntarily, then calls for government to adopt legislation may grow according to GRRN.

SOURCE GrassRoots Recycling Network =20

CO: Coca-Cola; GrassRoots Recycling Network

ST: District of Columbia

IN: ENV FOD

SU:

11/12/98 07:27 EST http://www.prnewswire.com

To edit your profile, go to keyword <A HREF=3D"aol://1722:NewsProfiles"> NewsProfiles</A>. For all of today's news, go to keyword <A HREF=3D"aol://1722:News">News</A>.

--part0_910904170_boundary--

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Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1998 12:35:49 +0100 From: DAVID WEBBER <globe.europe@village.uunet.be> Subject: GLOBE Guru lecture

A SPECIAL GLOBE =B3GURU=B2 LECTURE

DESERTIFICATION, A SILENT DISASTER

13:00 hours on 26th November 1998

LEO 5 E-3, European Parliament, Brussels

=09 We wish to invite you to a GLOBE Guru lecture by leading Turkish=20 environmentalists, Hayrettin Karaca, President of TEMA, and Nihat=20 G=F6kygit, Vice-President of the same organisation, which is being=20 organised in the context of the preparations for the second conference=20 of the Parties to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification

The Second Conference of the Parties to the Desertification Convention=20 will meet in Dakar, Senegal from November 30 to December 11, 1999. To=20 mark the event and outline the challenge facing Europe, GLOBE has=20 invited Messieurs Karaca and G=F6kygit to give a special GLOBE Guru=20 lecture in the European Parliament.

Desertification is one of the most serious and immediate environmental=20 threats facing us. It is responsible for a catastrophic loss of=20 agricultural land, for the loss of livelihoods and for the destruction=20 of biodiversity. Globally, 250 million people are directly affected by=20 desertification, with an additional one billion at risk.

TEMA is Turkey=B9s largest environmental group. 78% of Turkey=B9s land is=20 affected by soil erosion, and TEMA has made this issue its overriding=20 priority, mobilising all the resources of voluntary action to reverse=20 the trends. Most recently, the organisation launched a major campaign=20 to plant three billion oak trees in Turkey over the next 7 years.

We hope you will be able to join us for this special Guru presentation.

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Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1998 23:32:39 EST From: Wtlivewell@aol.com Subject: GRRN News Release on Coke - Take It Back! (Washington DC)

The following release is for an event in Washington, DC this morning. ****************************************************************************= ** ****

=20 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contacts: Bill Sheehan (706) 613-7121 or Lance King (703) 241-0019 =20 GROWING NATIONAL CAMPAIGN CHALLENGES=20 COCA-COLA CHAIRMAN IVESTER=20 TO CUT PLASTIC SODA BOTTLE WASTE =20 "Coke - Take It Back!" Say 81 Groups - Make New Bottles With Recycled Plastic =20 WASHINGTON, D.C. (NOVEMBER 12, 1998) - Coca-Cola's increasing use of= plastic soda bottles made without using any recycled plastic wastes resources and pollutes the environment, say organizers of a growing national protest. =20 "Some things don't go better with Coke, things like plastics recycling" Lance King, campaign consultant to the GrassRoots Recycling Network, said today. =20 "We are here to send Coca-Cola Chairman Ivester a simple message - take back your empty plastic soda bottles and use them to make new bottles. Coke uses recycled plastic in other countries, it's time to do it here,"= King said. =20 Consumers are sending Coke a message by mailing empty bottles back= to Coca-Cola's Chairman and CEO M. Douglas Ivester at One Coca-Cola Plaza, Atlanta, GA 30313. Just put a mailing label on the bottle addressed to Ivester at One Coca-Cola Plaza in Atlanta, GA 30313 and add a 55 cent stamp= on a 20 ounce or 2 liter bottle. Rinse out the bottle and put the cap back on before mailing. =20 The Coke - Take It Back! campaign is growing rapidly, with support= from 81 organizations and leaders in 26 states as of November 9. Environmental, consumer, recycling and student groups launched the campaign in= mid-September and have experienced a 4 fold increase in endorsements since then. =20 "Our campaign is about manufacturer responsibility. Recycling works only if manufacturers like Coke use the materials consumers recycle," Larry Bohlen, director of health and environment for Friends of the Earth in Washington, DC, said today. =20 - More - =09 GRRN News Release Coke - Take It Back! November 12, 1998 Page 2 =20 Sunday, November 15, is the 2nd national America Recycles Day. Consumers are being asked to pledge to "buy recycled." The theme for the= day is "If you're not buying recycled, you're not really recycling." =20 "We are calling on Coke to take responsibility for its wasteful= plastic packaging by making new bottles with recycled material. The company= chairman was issued a challenge on Tuesday, November 10, in Atlanta to take the buy recycled pledge," Bob Woodall of the Georgia Sierra Club said. Woodall delivered a giant 4 foot by 7 foot pledge form to the company headquarters along with representatives of nearly a dozen Georgia-based organizations. =20 Protests are being conducted in more than a dozen communities around= the nation from November 10 to November 15, including: =20 November 10 in Atlanta and Athens, Georgia November 12-13 in New Orleans November 12 in Washington, DC and Sacramento, CA November 11-13 in Eugene, Oregon November 13 in San Francisco and Oakland, California, and in Bloomington, Ill. November 14 in Andover, Massachusetts, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania November 15 in San Luis Obispo, California =20 "This is a decentralized, grassroots campaign" King said. "We can't= keep up with all the activity. Boulder, Colorado, for instance is holding a= rally with Coke campaign songs and a march to the post office but postponed due to snow and 40 mile an hour winds on Tuesday." =20 "One local government sparked interest in the mail back campaign. In San Luis Obispo County, California, elected officials on the solid waste authority launched a radio and newspaper ad campaign almost a year ago= calling on consumers to send back their empty plastic Coke bottles," Rick Best,= policy director for Californians Against Waste and chair of the GRRN Steering Committee said today in Sacramento, California. =20 Coca-Cola sells an estimated 20 million sodas every day in the United States in plastic bottles. In a year's time more than 8 billion plastic= Coke bottles made from more than 600 million pounds of virgin plastic are discarded. =20 "As quickly as those bottles are tossed away, the plastics industry extracts more non-renewable resources and spews more hazardous emissions to churn out millions of new bottles," Dr. Bill Sheehan, GRRN Network Coordinator said from the organization's national headquarters in Athens, Georgia. =20 GRRN News Release Coke - Take It Back! November 12, 1998 Page 3=09 =20 "While certain industries incorporate used plastic soda bottles into= a host of products, 64 percent of all used soda bottles became waste or litter in 1997 - largely because Coke refuses to 'close the loop' by taking them= back and using them again," GRRN's chair Rick Best said. =20 In Washington, King mailed petitions with thousands of signatures gathered by volunteers in nearly 2 dozen communities to Coke's headquarters. =20 "Soft drinks packaged in plastic, particularly in the recently introduced 20 ounce bottles, are adding to the waste stream 10 times faster than the growth in recycling of soda bottles. We're targeting Coke as the industry leader with 44 percent of the market," King said. =20 "Cost-effective technologies approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration are available to Coke. It would cost about one tenth of one penny to use 25 percent recycled plastic in a 20 ounce bottle, according to one industry source," King said. =20 Coca-Cola uses recycled plastic in Coke bottles sold in a number of other countries, where government mandates require it. If Coke refuses to take the "buy recycled" pledged voluntarily, then calls for government to adopt legislation may grow according to GRRN. =20 ###

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Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1998 12:41:29 -0800 (PST) From: Pat Franklin <cri@igc.org> Subject: PRESS RELEASE: Coke PET Bottles--Profits for Coke, Costs for

Container Recycling Institute 1911 Ft Myer Drive, Suite 900 =B7 Arlington, VA 22209 703/276-9800 fax 703/276-9587 email: cri@igc.org on the web:www.igc.apc.org/cri/

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Pat Franklin 703/276-9800

Plastic 20-ounce Coke Bottle Creates Huge Profits for Coca-Cola and Huge Costs for America=92s Cities

Group calls on Coca-Cola Chairman Ivester to Cut Plastic Bottle Waste=20 by Making new Bottles out of old Bottles

ARLINGTON, DC -- (November 13, 1998) Plastic 16 and 20-ounce soda bottles which were non-existent ten years ago, now make up 14 percent of the soft drink market. But the same plastic bottles that generate huge profits for the Coca-Cola Company and its bottlers create huge costs for cities, according to The Container Recycling Institute (CRI), a nonprofit, education organization that studies container and packaging waste issues.

What is fueling the growth of the 20-ounce no-return plastic bottle? =93The answer is simple,=94 said Pat Franklin, Executive Director of CRI. = =93Profits! The single-serve plastic bottle brings a profit of $5.34 for the bottler and $8.86 per case for the retailer. A bottler has to sell 26 cases of cans for every single case of 20-ounce plastic bottles to make the same dollar= profit.=94

According to CRI, an estimated 10 billion plastic Coke bottles were sold last year in the U.S., more than 6 billion of which were disposed of at taxpayer expense. The group is calling on Mr. M. Doug Ivester, Chairman and CEO of, The Coca-Cola Company, to recycle old bottles into new bottles to reduce the waste going to landfills and incinerators and save municipal governments what CRI estimates is tens of millions of dollars a year in disposal costs.

=93We hope to draw public attention to the waste taxpayers are left to deal with after the world=92s leading soft drink manufacturer pockets the profits from their plastic bottle,=94 said Franklin. Along with the GrassRoots Recycling Network and dozens of other environmental groups and recyclers we are urging the millions of Coke consumers who also recycle, to join the COKE - TAKE=20

- more -

Container Recycling Institute 703/276-9800 fax 703/276-9587

IT BACK! campaign by mailing back their plastic soda bottles to The Coca-Cola Company with this message =93Make new soda bottles out of old soda bottles.=94 =20

Franklin says that the Coca-Cola Company alone could keep about 200 million pounds of soda bottles out of the waste stream next year if they used just 25 percent recycled content in their plastic bottles. =93This would also boost the recycling rate for plastic soda bottles which has dropped every year for the past three years and is now at just 36 percent,=94 she said.

She noted that the plastic soda bottle has made the glass soda bottle an =91antique=92 and has begun to erode aluminum can market share. =93Both= glass bottles and aluminum cans are made with recycled materials,=94 said= Franklin, and we want Coke to make their plastic bottles out of old bottles.=94 Franklin says Coke is using recycled content in their plastic soda bottles in Australia and other countries and says there is no reason they can=92t do it =91here in their own backyard=92.=20

=93The next time you say, =93Coca-Cola=94, just remember that in the one= second it took you to say those two words, 200 plastic Coke bottles were dumped in a landfill somewhere in the USA -- 200 every second, 700,000 every hour, 17 million every day, more than 6 billion every year -- all at taxpayers expense. It=92s =91corporate subsidy=92 and a =91solid waste=92,=94 said= Franklin.

# # # Pat Franklin, Executive Director Container Recycling Institute 1911 Ft Myer Drive, Ste 900 Arlington, VA 22209 tel: 703/276-9800 fax: 276-9587 email: cri@igc.org on the web at www.igc.apc.org/cri/

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Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1998 16:06:00 -0500 From: Megan Fleming <mfleming@crain.com> Subject: subscribe

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Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1998 16:20:00 -0500 From: Megan Fleming <mfleming@crain.com> Subject: Subscribe

subscribe

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Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1998 09:22:25 -0800 From: iuf@ix.netcom.com Subject: Unsubscribe

Unsubscribe

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Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1998 15:21:35 -0500 From: James Kantor <jkantor@pop200.gsfc.nasa.gov> Subject: Washinton Post

I thought the group would like to see this. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/local/longterm/trash/trash1112.htm

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End of GreenYes Digest V98 #239 ******************************