Super Eco

Photo credit: psd, flickr

Would you feel less green guilt drinking from a Dasani bottle if it were made with a touch of PET plastic derived from lab tweaked sugar and molasses? Coca-Cola Co.'s "Team Greenwash," as so many so lovingly call them, is banking on your profitable “yes” … and your thirst for all trends eco.

As if you wouldn’t give a rip that the rest of Coke's new "PlantBottle" is still made of the same old, same old—toxic petroleum-based plastic (70%). Consolation prize: it’s entirely recyclable, or so their flacks claim.

Did we mention that the global cavity supplier recently earned the first-ever Polaris Institute Corporate Greenwashing Award? Let’s all celebrate by sharing a Coke, a smile and swallowing their new “earth friendly" plastic bottle, or is it just more corporate consumer waste stream garbage being masqueraded as "green"?

Just what we need, more drink container trash, partly made from—no kidding—sugar and molasses, two empty calorie ingredients that the world’s biggest sugar-water producer just happens to enjoy unparalleled wholesale prices on. Too predictable.

What’s to applaud? While slightly "greening" Dasani bottles (with Coca-Cola brand sodas and vitaminwater soon to follow) is a bittersweet sip in the right direction, it’s not nearly enough. Did Coke miss the memo that plastic, even when made from so-called "plants," is still—hello!—plastic?

And are we talking bleach-white refined sugar here, the unnatural result of highly chemical industrial processes? The kind that requires bone char (a carbon filter created from purified cow bones) to make it all pretty and white?

What about molasses, the other “natural” ingredient in Coca-Cola’s “PlantBottle”? Technically, the sludge is the waste residue from the toxins used to refine cane sugar. Not much better ... or directly “plant based.” Outside of quick-crash carbs, neither sugar nor its thicker, dirtier cousin supplies much in the way of essential nutrients. And does Coke source either from GMO or organic, sustainable suppliers? How renewable are they? We’re also left to wonder if Coca-Cola's new bottle is biodegradable? Compostable?

Alas, there is one fizzy bubble not to burst here. “PlantBottle”’s sugary, “plant-based” ingredients supposedly reduce its carbon emissions by 25%. Also, the company plans to eventually roll out bottles made from 100% percent recyclable and renewable materials.

When? Coca-Cola's not saying. They’re too busy helping Coke drinkers “Open Happiness” 3 million times a day. Cheers!