to be disappointed in coca cola

[ToTravelIsToLive]

They have announced they will not ditch single use plastic due to them being light weight and resealable. Every second 20,000 drinks in plastic bottles are purchased so even just ditching their mini plastic bottles for glass or alternative would make a huge difference! They are the global leader so could have set a precedent for others. When we were on holiday in Kenya they only gave out glass and you returned your bottle to the shop for a % of your money back. This was even in the most rural areas! In Germany I always remember seeing vending machines that you returned glass bottles to for € so it is possible.

YABU - I like the convenience of plastic and agree with coca cola

YANBU - I would not be put off / I would be more inclined to buy their products if they were in a more environmentally friendly package.

I'd like them to scrap all the smaller bottles in favour of cans (which do come in different sizes). I'm not sure there's much you can do about the 2l bottles, though.

In Germany you return plastic and glass drinks bottles to the supermarkets, you get a small refund per crate of bottles (a voucher) which you then use at the till to get money off your shopping.

I'm a cynic too jane

I wonder if the addicts on here have ever thought of exactly what they are drinking? Each can of the normal stuff has 8\9 tspoons of sugar, plus caffeine of course ,in it and the diet stuff is more problematic because it has a pile pf artificial sweeteners which are WORSE fgs because aspartarme and it's ilk create allergies, obesity plus diabetes .

For your health and that of your children find a nicer drink

I buy Coke in cans as 2l bottles would go flat before being used up. We mainly drink tap water, and since the sugar tax and the stealth dietisation of various brands of drinks that weren't already contaminated with sweetners*, the cordial we buy is premium brands like Rocks in glass bottles. When out, Coke is often the only non artificially sweetened product, and given the way the market works so many soft drinks including non-fizzy brands like Innocent are owned by them anyway.

I tend to give DS Coke when he's struggling and brewing for autistic meltdown as the quick fix of sugar and hydration helps perk him up and keeps his resilience going until he can have a rest and digest other food.

Consumers buy what is avaliable. A lot of responsibility falls on large companies such as Coke, but market realities mean that unless similar companies like Pepsico change together, they're not going to risk damaging their brands and market share.

• We do not get on with sweetners, they taste sickly both at the time and for hours after, create excessive thirst and give thumping headaches.

@bridgetreilly "I'd like them to scrap all the smaller bottles in favour of cans"
Yes, this would be a good way to reduce the amount of plastic the company is using, and it is much more cost effective from a consumer point of view, as it can be decanted from a larger bottle into a reusable one like the Chilly's bottle I mentioned earlier

@ppeatfruit "I wonder if the addicts on here have ever thought of exactly what they are drinking?"
Thankfully I only drink it occasionally as a treat, so no sign of addiction from me...
To be perfectly honest, the bottle I have beside me has been in the fridge since Hogmanay, and it is most definitely flat now

30 years ago I lived in a developing country and back then you paid a premium for your plastic bottle (like £1 extra) which you got back when you queued and gave your bottle to a worker in the supermarket who gave you a receipt and the value got taken off your shopping. I still don’t understand why we have never done that.

South Australia has had a container deposit scheme since 1977, that’s over 40 years.

The Northern Territory Labour government started the deposit scheme and in their first year 35 million containers had been returned. Coca-Cola, Schweppes and Lion took them to court to stop it in 2013 and won.

Coca-Cola is dehydrating the water from communities around the world and has now dried up the water in some towns and farms in Australia. This has to stop, bottled water and other drinks, besides polluting with plastic bottles is taking water from communities.

@Retroflex a car is the only option for some people. I wouldn’t be able to get my children to school without one.l for example. We could always move to the village where they go to school but then I wouldn’t be able to get to work without one. Any beverage that isn’t water on the other hand is not essential. Food of some sort is though (seeing as people would die without it). You seem to have a really odd understanding of these things (as well as the prevalence of microwaves, I don’t think I know anyone in Britain who has one). An essential is something you couldn’t live your life without, a luxury is something that you categorically do not need.

You really don't know anyone in Britain who has a microwave, @Reginabambina? Seriously? Everyone I know, who's house I've been in, has a microwave. I live in Britain, always have. Or did I mis-read your post?

I'm assuming the microwave comment was a typo and should have read 'I don't know anyone in Britain without one'. I know lots of people without cars, and several who claim to not have a TV (generally turns out they have some/several other form of streaming media but hey ho!). But a microwave? No, not so much! Especially when it's a far cheaper form of cooking than heating up an oven for those on low incomes, £1 ready meals, scrambled eggs, probably cheaper to reheat a cup of tea than boil the kettle tbh.

That would make sense, Dogno.

I refill bottles a lot of the time.
If im out i certainly wouldn't want a heavy un sealable glass bottle though.

@Dogno1 I literally do not have a microwave! I love to cook, my husband wasn't sure about us not having a microwave in the beginning, but he doesn't miss it now. Also, on the subject of boiling a kettle, I have a breville hot water dispenser, much easier with my disability, it boils and pours 1 cup of water directly onto the cup... @Squoozie I don't have one, but I'm imagining it was a typo on Regina's comment.

@Reginabambina a car is a luxury, as you have said, you could move home, or you could use taxis, public transport, walk or cycle... I have a car, its a luxury, I could still get to my hospital appointments using patient transport.
As for "Food of some sort is though" in relation to essentials, none of the foodstuffs I mentioned are essential they're luxury food items... I'm not sure whether you're being deliberately obtuse, or whether you actually don't see the hypocrisy on your choices whilst judging others...

@Squoozie @Dogno1 not a typo. I have seen microwaves abroad in peoples houses (owned one myself when I lived in another country). But I’ve never been to anyone’s house and seen a microwave. I’m sure that there must be someone I work with or something that has one but I’ve never seen one inside a British person’s house or heated a British person say that they have one. There are a couple in the office though which makes sense as people like to warm up there lunch sometimes but having one at home seems pretty redundant given that all houses have ovens/stove tops. Obviously microwaves are useful in that they heath things quicker than other appliances but I’ve never seen one in a domestic setting in this country. I rather began to think that not having them was a British thing similar to keeping your washing machine under the kitchen sink.

Glass bottles seem to be more expensive. I don’t mind coke in a can. But when you’re out and about I don’t like to drink all in one go so the plastic 500ml are good to take with you. The coke cans are 330ml and so are the glass bottles. I wouldn’t want to lug around a glass bottle in my bag and it could also break.

I wanted to buy a pack of coke in glass bottles the other day. But it was a lot more expensive.

On another note, there should be a system where they could collect glass bottles and refill them like they do in other countries rather than recycling them by crushing the glass and making new ones which seem pointless.

@Retroflex did you not read my post. If we move then I will need one to get to work. If I could walk or cycle (too far) or take taxis (that would cost me a couple thousand pounds a month so not an option) or take public transport (none to that village) then I wouldn’t have said that I couldn’t get my children to school without one. The above is all pretty implicit when I say I couldn’t do without one. There is literally no other workable option. You also said that you could extend the luxury coke statement to “all” food. I’m not the one being obtuse here. Nor am I judging anyone or being hypocritical. I had a coke this afternoon myself. I’m merely pointing out that it doesn’t make sense to make coke inconvenient for environmental reasons because coke consumers are unlikely to care about the environment.

So do you now accept that you were mistaken, Regina? I genuinely cannot think of anyone who doesn't have one. They are often built in, like ovens and fridges etc, these days.

@Reginabambina "Any beverage that isn’t water on the other hand is not essential."

What do you think would happen if I gave the little ones water instead of milk given that you believe its "not essential"?

@Twenty2 well obviously I’ve still never seen one but I’m beginning to think it may just be the people I know? I don’t think they’re really the type to reheat food to be honest. I’m definitely mistaken in thinking it was something that all British people didn’t do. Clearly some people do have domestic use microwaves judging from PPs.

@Reginabambina "’m merely pointing out that it doesn’t make sense to make coke inconvenient for environmental reasons because coke consumers are unlikely to care about the environment."

Your statement is ridiculous! Because someone drinks coke occasionally they're unlikely to care about the environment? Give your head a wobble, you're embarrassing yourself now...

@Retroflex er, they’d drink it? Weaned children don’t need to drink milk, there are some that don’t for various reasons. Obviously breastmilk/formula is food for little babies if that is what you mean?

You learn something new every day, eh, Regina?

No surprise that coca cola dont give a shit tbh.

@Retroflex if someone genuinely cares about something they’ll act accordingly. Given the stuff posted upthread even I (willing owning not particularly caring about the environment beyond a mere acknowledgement that it’d be nice if it were cleaner) feel put off buying more in the future. I really doubt that their target customer (the type of people who buy often and a lot) is passionate about environmentalism.

@Reginabambina my two are very little, but I was more thinking about when they are weaning, and milk is recommended along with food...