I'm Quitting Diet Coke to Save the World

It's getting around time to green my food and beverages. I've done the research, and now I'm ready to make some changes. I'm going to start with beverages first, because it is a much more finite universe.

A quickie beverage audit reveals what I drink in a week:

• 28,000 Diet Cokes (you think I’m exaggerating but little do you know…)
• A few cups of coffee, brewed at home
• A few glasses of water from the fridge
• One plastic bottle of water, purchased at the gym
• Two cups of tea
• One beer
• One glass of red wine
• Two glasses of San Pellegrino

Yes, I know. Not the most healthy set of beverages in the world. Remarkably unhealthy, in fact, with all of the data coming out about the link between aspartame and metabolic syndrome. And yes, my blood is caramel color and carbonated.

It’s time to green my beverages. First stop: I’m quitting Diet Coke.

There, I said it. I’m going to stop drinking Diet Coke. I’ve drunk 4-6 per day for 10 years, and I’m putting an end to it. Not only should this increase my health, but it should help the environment as well. Why?

No more aluminum cans
In our waste audit, you saw how many aluminum Coke cans we generated in a week. We’ve gotten wonderful at recycling these, but aluminum is still incredibly energy-intensive to mine, produce, and recycle.

Plus, many people still don’t recycle them. In 1999, 44 billion cans and bottles from soft drinks were thrown into landfills. Given the Coca-Cola Co.'s 44 percent market share, that means that 19 billion cans and bottles with Coca-Cola Co.

Water Scarcity
On a global level, the Coca-Cola company is responsible for aggressive policies that are contributing to water scarcity.  Generally, that seems like a silly thing to worry about, since the product they are producing is 99% water, but many people do not know that it takes three times as much water to make soda products as is produced. That’s 6.24 liters of water to make your two-liter bottle of Diet Coke.  Do the math – it doesn’t make sense.

The Corn Crunch
Making high fructose corn syrup is the second largest use of corn in North America; feeding livestock is the largest. But corn prices are going up because more and more of it is being used to product ethanol. Now, the effectiveness of corn-as-fuel can certainly be debated, but drinking regular pop doesn’t help the issue any.

I’ll discuss how I’m going to green the rest of my beverages a bit later. I think I feel a caffeine headache coming on…

Comments

[Allie]

I gave up coffee and made the switch to green tea a little while ago. The headache does go away, but I feel for you on the few bumpy days you have ahead of you. Sometimes, I indulge in bagged tea, but mostly I stick to loose tea. There's hardly any waste. And I still need a little jolt in the morning.

[Mateo]

Good job! Giving up the caffeine is definitely the hardest part, but before you get rid of that great supply of aluminum, check out the pop can solar heater I built with mine!

http://lowerfootprint.blogspot.com/2008/02/pop-can-solar-furnace.html

It really works!

[bravenewleaf]

Mateo - that is truly remarkable. What a fantastic idea! How long did it take you to implement?

[Eva Smart]

I'm with you. I stopped at the first of the year, and my habit was daily and deep. It's been tough, but reducing the waste and not paying Coca Cola feels great, and I know it is toxic to our systems. Best of luck!!!

[N. & J.]

My fiance and I recently gave up soda- it made us sad but it's a better choice in the long run. But coffee let us know how that goes. We only drink it once or twice a week but we are scardy cats about going cold turkey.

http://badhuman.wordpress.com

[Beth aka Fake Plastic Fish]

Congratulations! And as far as the cans go, you're not just saving aluminum but also plastic. Every soda can is lined with a coating of polyethylene to prevent corrosion. So of course, Fake Plastic Fish approves of this move highly!

Hey, I'm updating my blogroll tonight, and you're on it, baby!

[Lu]

You are also helping to save water by discontinuing your support for Coca-Cola products. Coca-Cola owns the bottled water Dasani which they have admitted is only tap water. This means they are sucking from municipal supplies that should be going to the public. That is completely inappropriate.

[greenteen]

I wrote an essay last week on the benefits of recycling and found your blog through the "Green Lunch" plan on earth 911.
I don't remember where I read this, but I think I read once that to process aluminum ore it has to be heated up to very high temperatures and then cooled down with large amounts of water. It might actually have been on your website. I don't remember. :)

[Brave New Leaf]

Beth - yay! Thanks for the ad on your blogroll. How exciting that I've rated. :)

Hey green teen! Yup, you probably read that about aluminum on this blog. That's awesome that you wrote an essay on recycling. Keep up the great work.