Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I'm going to have to depart from the majority on this issue, and not because I'm a "shill for Coke" or anything like that...

I agree with the posters who say that the litterers are at fault, not Coke.

The (extremely minor) vandalism of the vending machines (and vandalism it is - or at least would be where I live, but I don't know Australian law - due to it being "defacing" - although frankly I bet it would not get prosecuted even if the sign hangers got caught) is not the way to go here as it would have to become a titanic, world-wide movement before it could rise to the level of Coke's awareness. The only people who the signs will inconvenience are those who own the vending machines themselves.

As for mailing crushed coke cans... Seriously?

It sounds to me like those who knee-jerk hate all big corporations aren't thinking things through. Those corporations (generally) got big for a reason - by doing the right things and satisfying their markets. Yes, you can cite cronyistic counter-examples but that doesn't alter the general principle. Although I prefer to cowtow to neither, if my only choices were to do so to a corporation or a government then I'd choose "corporation" every time because they have to satisfy ME in order to get my custom; they can't just force me via the letter of the law.

All this is neither here nor there. You will follow your ethics and morals as you best see fit, as is proper. But please reserve your ire for the actual offenders here, and don't assume the Corporation is automatically the bad guy just because they're gigantic.

Food for thought: I occasionally drink Coke Zero (because I'm overweight and should really stay away from all sugary drinks, regardless of brand), but even if I did not consume any of their products ever, I have a rock-solid "aquaponics-oriented" reason for liking at least part of the Coca Cola organization: They give me free food-grade HDPE plastic barrels, in sizes ranging from 15 to 55 gallons, as many as I want and as often as I want. Not only that, they know WHY I want them (I explained the whole "aquaponics" thing to the guys in the QA Lab and the Syrup Room), and they think the whole idea is cool. They also consistently seem thrilled to help. GRANTED this may be because (not coincidentally) they also happen to be Texans, given where I'm talking about, and we generally live up to our reputation for being friendly.

So... I don't work for Coke, never have, and I hardly consume their products, but it is going to take a lot more than a dead bird and a policy of resistence to coercive recycling laws (emphasis please on "coercive", not "recycling") to make me change my opinion of them.

Yes Shelgeyr... the "litterers" are at fault... but a simple deposit refund scheme has been proven to go a long way towards addressing.. and modifying the behaviour of "littering"...

And it's really not a huge imposition on the company... and they could have "done the right thing"... and "satisfied their market"...

But choose instead to play shifty sam, slippery solicitor, ideological legal games... to avoid a very simple... (and once previously done) scheme.. which if they had actually research the "mode" of their customers.. and adopted the scheme.. even embraced it and made it their own.. marketing wise....

Would have seen wide public acclaim....

Frankly.. I think it's about the dumbest corporate marketing move ever....

The use of plastics was to save freight costs. That is it. Everything came in glass... relish, lotions, and beverages... and, at the time it seemed like a good idea.

Using plastics-- which are indeed highly useful, but utilize precious petroleum, needs to be curtailed for where it matters.
Medical applications, some food safety, and we here are big fans of PVC... for our pipes.

After that, re-usable glass, or plastics that are re-usable, instead of disposable, is not a pipe dream. It has been done, and it can make a difference. Little changes have made a huge impact.

Those stupid disposable lighters... There are perfectly lovely re-fill-able lighters. Instead, we are killing birds and fish because the stupid things end up in the 'flotsam piles' drifting around our oceans. That is dumb.

I always liked Coke. I liked Dr. Pepper more... but it is a Coke product.Still... for the impact on my environment? I don't like it that much. Coke and other food and beverage 'manufacturers' have refused to stop using GMO corn and corn syrups as sweeteners... so, I've been on the 'ban' for that bit of absurdity. Trying to make the product so sweet that it is more addictive??? That is enough.

This activism is known as "Guerrilla Marketing". Browncoats used it to promote Firefly... and badger Fox Studios...
The utilization of the 'brand' as a means to impact both sales and send the message is a viable tool.

One tiny correction, dancinhrblady, if I understood you correctly: Dr. Pepper (my preference as well), is NOT a Coke product, and in fact Dr. Pepper has sued Coke on more than one occasion.

Dr. Pepper is owned by the Dr Pepper Snapple Group.

For my purposes this is a moot point because in here in the DFW area, the Dr. Pepper bottling plant (basically across the street from where Texas Stadium used to stand in Irving) is extremely antiquated and cannot keep up with production demands. Therefore, on occasion, when their orders lead to necessary overruns, they contract out to the Coca Cola plant in Fort Worth, and ship them all the ingredients. So while on one hand they are fierce competitors, on the other they also have a client/vendor relationship with Coke making Dr. Pepper on an (I'm given to understand) as-needed contract basis. I'm not privy to the details (I don't work for either company).

No way all I drink is coke. Coke need not worry, I drink enough of it.

Then again, Helo, you live in a state where the bottle tax was turned down, and had never been enacted. I could not imagine what would happen here in California if it went away. Millions of transients would have to find something else to scavenge...

That brings up a point. I don't think that the bottle at has prevented people from littering, the $1,000 ticket for littering maybe. But it has made it so that if a transient sees a plastic bottle laying around, he or she is certainly going to pick it up and take it, with all the other bottles they pulled out of the trash, to a recycling center.

This!

Shelgeyr, SuperVeg, this is the reason for the "tax", They may not be directly to blame for the littering, but they are directly to blame for stopping something that could improve the situation drastically, as listed above, they are not only hurting the environment, but also hurting the poorest of the poor with thier profit grabbing tactics.

Taxes are stupid, they only line the pocket of the state/ or government. It does nothing to help the environment. Texas has some of the cleanest roads I have ever seen, let a cop see you littering, and I think the minimum ticket is 500 bucks, it can go way up from there.

I remember travelling accross the Nullabor in 92/93 and distinctly rember the amount of trash on the road on the WA side of the border. I recon I could have filled my trailor and paid for the petrol, the number of bottles I could have returned for deposit on the SA side. Utter disgust!!

On my recent trip though, the litter was just as bad either side of the border.

Maybe on the first instance they had just had road side clean up??

If it wasn't for Mr cokes clear plastic bottles, I would never have got an understanding on how the bell siphon works. Cut the top off a bottle and watched. Helped show off how it worked to a few non believers as well.

He also provides 2l bottles for me to bottle home brew in. Have never had one botle explode in almost 20 years of bottling. Still have some original bottles used back in 94. They have discoloured, but still going strong.

Another few months and peeps will have forgotten all about it and CCA profit will not have even taken a dip. Just wish knobs would use the rubbish bins and not drop shit where they are. In my area, they love smashing glass around the kids playground and playing ovals. Need to blame McDonalds for all their rubbish around now they opened a shop nearby.

That's why the whole "litigation solves all problems" thing just doesn't work. You can't prove who threw what where. You can't prove conclusively who dropped what exact bottle. We do know where they come from. We do understand that the litter is a by-product of their business and their products, that's causing the problem.

No one needs to be sued, Coke and Co need to leave the legislation alone and not fight it.. An enormous majority of people were in favour of it, it provides incentive for people to not only NOT littler, but to actively pick up litter by putting a $ value on it.

Coke isn't an easy target, it's the only target.

We do Ok here.
Compliments to Soda Stream (Dry Ginger ale @approx .42c per litre). No worries about throwing out heaps of plastic. The hardest part was getting the kids to refill the bottle after use - haha - that changed when they couldnt have a fizzy . Any of the cordials work well also, so you are not bound to buying specific flavours.

We do a lot of beach driving and are constantly stopping to pick up plastic junk - even OIL DRUMS. Our guys are getting a great education in garbage disposal Why is it that people can find the room to take it in but not out again.

It is such a shame that multi million dollar companies have no conscience.
Im thinking a brew kit and still may be our next purchases

I have been boycotting Coke and Nestle for years now, since they make just about everything it is not an easy task.

Ginger Beer and Cordials are so easy to make and ginger grows quite nicely under my lime tree so it isn't that much of an effort.

We used to collect discarded bottles as kids in the UK, not a bad way to supplement your pocket money. Deposits might not stop some people throwing the bottles away but they sure encourage other people to pick them up. Having said that I often find 5 and 10 cent coins lying on the ground and no one seems to want to pick those up.

Recycling just doesn't seem to be very important to people, we have a recycling bin in our work kitchen and it gets exactly the same contents of the waste bin, unless you can recycle tea bags.

I don’t buy the products ( I do use their waste)
to litter or not to litter is an individual thing
that's why I don’t do clean up Australia because I don’t dirty it in the first place.

not sure how a bird can eat a can?
people make a mess
how can a corp. be responsible for ignorant behaviour of individuals, maybe they should just deliver their product in a container so big you can’t dump it.
what’s really needed is for people to do the right thing.

should we boycott all fish, meat vegetable products because they come in a container?
do we have to go get our own containers and pick or pour our products?

what about the poor guy who can’t feed his family this week because some interfering make others do what I want person stuck an out of order notice on his vending machine
will you go help him by paying his now overdue mortgage?

hurting innocent individuals for an ideal, is not a very good solution for an supposedly enlightened society.

It's not an ideal at all, it's a real problem, and for all these people saying "yeah but it's not cokes fault", do you have another way to deal with this?

Saying yeah but it's everyone else's problem and you have to make people stop littering DOESN'T WORK... Here is a method proven to work, it was in place and working, Coke and Co decided to fight it in court to stop it without offering any other solution.