The Coke Side of Life

Living in a country where I can buy bottled water in bulk at any local gas station or grocery, or even simply turn on a faucet in the comfort of my home, I literally have control of clean water at my fingertips. So it's hard for me to grasp the concept that one in five people on the planet don't have access to safe drinking water (that's 20% of the world's population).

Of course, some areas are hit harder than others. A country like India, for example, with a population of over 1.1 billion people (a number that increases by 18 million each year), has very scarce water resources. (*1) So that's why when a major American company like Coca Cola hosts 13 bottling and manufacturing plants within the country, it sparks an international controversy.

Coca Cola "uses about 300 billion liters of water a year," (*2) and only 37% of that water actually goes into the product. The other 63% of the water is used for cleaning bottles, machinery, and other equipment, which later gets discarded as wastewater. (*3) In India, that wastewater is polluting the soil and remaining groundwater around the plant facilities. And in a country where 70% of the people still make livings based on agriculture, it's causing a huge problem not only for the safety and sanitation of the people, but also for their economy.

Many of the state governments in India have challenged the company in the High Court, not only for it's crimes against the land, but also for it's crimes against the people. Scientists have found that coke products sold within the country have traces of DDT and other pesticides. (DDT was outlawed in the United States in 1972, as a direct result of the publicity received from Rachel Carson's book Silent Spring, in which she argued that DDT could cause cancer in humans and was also killing off other forms of wildlife like birds, unbeknownst to the farmers who were using it.) In November 2004, the High Court decreed "that all soft drinks in the state must state the level of pesticides on the product label, in addition to the ingredients." (*4)

The Indian people have been protesting the company's actions for years. "In September 2003, over 500 people marched to the Coca-Cola factory gates and were physically attacked and beaten by police and private security guards." (*5)

So how has Coke responded to the international controversy? In May of 2006, the Chairman and CEO of the company at the time E. Neville Isdell, made a speech to address such issues, and stated "the last thing we would ever do is spend millions of dollars to build a plant that would run itself dry." (*6)

A lot of people are enraged by the company's history of apparent apathy to the issue. Groups like Coke Justice and Killer Coke have been up in arms, trying to organize people to ban the beverage from businesses and college campuses around the world.

But there may be some hope for the company yet. In July of 2008, Muhtar Kent was appointed new Chairman and CEO of Coca-Cola, and since then the company has "pledged to be 100% water neutral by 2020, meaning that it will return as much water to the system as it takes." The wastewater will also be recycled and treated before returned to the ecosystem. (*7) In a speech he made in March of 2009, Kent stated "We can't sit back and watch the water of the world continue to drain into a nonreturnable abyss." (*8) And in November 2009 Kent even made a trip to the Arctic to see the dwindling habitat of the polar bears, an animal that has been the face of Coke for many years.

So should you boycott this bubbly beverage? Hopefully you won't have to, because the company is finally making responsible decisions, but it's still hard to tell this early the game.

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Regardless, you may want to think twice before the next time you pop open a soda of any kind, simply for health reasons. Ever wonder what makes it so bubbly to begin with? Carbonic acid, or H2CO3. That's the same chemical that eventually wears down solid rocks like limestone and creates underground caves. Not to mention the fact that soda generally has a pH around 2.5. That number may just be chemical mumbo-jumbo to most, but considering the fact that "battery acid has a pH of 1 and pure water has a pH level of 7" and that "a pH below 4...will kill most fish," it's not something to be taken lightly. (*9)

It's electric! (boogie woogie, woogie)

Starting in 2011, Chevrolet will be introducing their newest vehicle, an alleged electric car called the Volt. It's advertised as getting up to 40 miles per charge, and after the battery runs out, it's gas engine will create it's own electricity, allowing the Volt to drive for much longer than it's battery life. (*1) Hmm...that sounds somewhat like a hybrid. Nice try Chevy, but Nissan showed you up.

Chevy Volt

The new Nissan Leaf, to start mass production in 2012 (though some will be on the road by the end of this year), is a gas-free, oil-free, completely electric car. No emissions, because it doesn't even have a tailpipe. It has a range of 100 miles per charge...so it's not necessarily the type of car you'd want to take on a road trip, but it's perfect for commuting or just cruisin' around town. The Leaf boasts to be "partially made from recycled material, and is designed to be almost fully recyclable by the end of it's life." (*2) Of course, who knows what percentage "partially" really equates to, but I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt since they're making an effort.

Nissan Leaf

(Note: this picture is a model that they took on tour, the ones for sale won't have the big "zero emissions" decal on the side.)

With a standard home charging unit of 220V, the battery can fully recharge in 4-8 hours. So you can plug it in at night and be ready to go in the morning, just like most people do with their cell phones. The battery is expected to last 5-10 years. The car also uses no energy to idle, so you won't be running down the battery while you wait at stoplights. It's got all the features you'd want on a normal car...heat and a/c, radio, a USB hookup for iPods and MP3 players, etc. Nissan also claims that the Leaf "handles and accelerates like a V6 car and has a top speed of up to 90 mph." (*2)

The Nissan Leaf is priced at $32,780, but with "the federal tax credit of $7,500 the price drops to a very affordable $25,280." (*3) Affordable, that is, if you're not a poor college student buried under an ever increasing mountain of student loans, like myself. (I'm just hoping my poor old '98 Pontiac Sunfire with over 215,000 miles will hang on for just a little bit longer.) But back to the point, the Leaf is basically the same price as any new car nowadays. Plus, you can feel good about owning one. Sure, the power from your car will still probably come from fossil fuel guzzling power plants, but electric is still cleaner than burning gas, and eventually the grid will switch over to more sustainable forms of energy. And there are other benefits: electric cars will reduce dependence on foreign oil, and many states offer additional incentives on top of the federal cut, including things like being able to drive in the carpool lane (even if you're the only one in the car!).

Of course, the one major disadvantage to owning a practical electric car like the Nissan Leaf is knowing that your car will never be as badass as the Tesla Roadster. (What, you didn't know there were electric sports cars?) The Roadster can do zero to 60 in 3.9 seconds, 125 miles per hour, and can run 236 miles on one charge. Plus, it's a convertible. Unfortunately, market price for the Tesla is around $101,500. (*4) So for the majority of us, keep dreaming. In the meantime, go buy yourself an affordable electric car. Or at the very least, get rid of your Hummer.

Tesla Roadster

New Mother Nature

Over the last few years, eco-mania has swept the nation, and businesses from all industries have hopped on the bandwagon, slapping "green" labels on anything that's not nailed down (and some things that are). How can consumers who want to be environmentally friendly tell which companies' products are sincere, and which ones are just a bunch of greenwash to promote sales?

Why have some people started claiming that global warming is out of control and the greenhouse effect will soon make life uninhabitable on earth, while others deny that global warming even exists?

Why does any of it matter?

It matters because we are all global citizens. Though I may be a proud Kentucky girl, the truth is that all of humanity inhabits this one small blue planet; the third rock from the Sun (which isn't even a particularly impressive star when considering the zillions out there in the universe). And even though I may never have been to China before, that doesn't mean that the carbon dioxide emitted from coal-fired power plants in that country don't have any effect on the air I breathe, and vice versa. How do you think ash fall from the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens in Washington state ended up in Oklahoma? Same principle.

When you think about it, our planet is a pretty swell place to live. It's full of beauty and diversity. The Earth is so unique, in fact, that it's the only one known to support life. How bizarre is that? And when something is the only one of it's kind (sort of like Tigger), it is considered to be endangered. Logically, when something is endangered, it needs to be protected...and thus, the birth of the concept for conservation (the word conserve comes from the Latin term "conservare," literally meaning "to protect").

So, is global warming real? Yes and no. "Global warming" is a very misleading phrase that the media latched onto and ran with. I try to abstain from using the expression in general (though it occasionally slips out). Science shows that throughout Earth's history, there are times of global cooling (a.k.a. ice ages, or glaciations) and times of global warming (interglacial periods, like the one we're living in). There have been as many as five major ice ages throughout Earth's history, so it's safe to say our planet has been around the block a few times. It's a process called climate change. So yes, we are in a period of global warming. Is it a human generated effect, as some would have you believe? Of course not. But then again, you can't industrialize an entire civilization, pump greenhouse gases into the atmosphere for over a century, and expect not to have any adverse effects. We're not the cause, but we are contributors, and it's important to realize that.

How do I have any authority on the matter? Well, I'm an environmental science major. This is what I do. I'm working hard to pay my tuition so that I can have the opportunity to learn about these kinds of things. I chose to devote my career to this kind of work because I want my great great grandchildren to be able to enjoy the same quality of life that we all experience today...to be able to know nature first hand, and not have to read about it in a book. That's why I take classes in things like water resources, ecosystem restoration, land planning, forestry, soil science, renewable energy, sustainable food production, and wildlife management.

Okay, enough rambling. What's the purpose of this blog? Simply this: to find the real science behind all the bullshit, and share it with others. I'll be updating quite often to let my readers know what's going on within the environmental movement, and report breaking news from the front lines of the green revolution.

Tune in next time.