Category: Economy

coke greenwashing

whbeebe1 Comment

I supposedly swore off all soda products years ago, both diet and regular (I’d sworn off regular in my 40’s when my weight really began to get out of hand). But the flesh is weak in me, so yesterday, while shopping at a local Publix, I spotted a 20 oz (591 mL for you metric readers) diet Coke in a cooler in the store, and in spite of the outrageous cost of US$2.79 for that bottle of poison, I bought it and drank every last drop in a slightly crazed fashion. When I finished and reason had reasserted itself, I finally observed the bottle and noticed an interesting advertising twist:

Yes, that plastic Coke bottle is 100% recycled! It even has a little green ribbon across the bottom proclaiming its 100% recycling bonafides. Except… if you zoom in a bit and read the fine print on that green ribbon:

Yes, it’s 100% recycled except for the thin plastic label it’s all printed on, and the cap (lawyer weasel words). Reading a bit more says to put the cap back on the bottle and throw it in the recycling bin. So I guess it’s still all good with regards to recycling. This isn’t the first time Coke came in recycled bottles.

I was born and raised in Atlanta, GA, the home of Coca Cola (a.k.a Coke) and was practically weaned on the stuff. Back In The Day, Coke was sold in glass bottles. When you finished your sugared cola you put the empty glass bottle into a rack next to the dispenser (after you put in your hard earned 10¢s into the Coke machine to buy the drink). A truck would come by on a fairly regular basis to resupply the dispenser and pick up all the empties. The empties would go back to the bottling plant where’d they’d get washed and sterilized and then refilled to go back out again. That was real recycling. If the bottle was damaged (broken) then they manufactured another out of glass, including from the broken pieces they could collect. As the years passed, the glass bottles gave way to cans (remember those pull tabs?), then eventually the plastic bottling we’ve all come to know and despise.

So now they want to convince me that after decades (and decades) of generating all this single-use plastic waste, that they’ve somehow Found The Righteous Way and gone back to recycling. Which I call out as bullshit. They could have done this from the beginning, but they didn’t because it wasn’t convenient. And I suspect they’re doing it now because a lot of us aren’t blindly purchasing Coca Cola products any longer like we used to. As I said, I started ramping down my consumption of diet sodas over a decade ago, and went hard core when I retired in January 2020. Every once in a while I’d buy a bottle, or if they were cheap enough, get a six pack from places like Walmart when they were on sale. Otherwise I’m drinking water/ice water, coffee (at breakfast) and my own brewed teas (primarily black). None of the brewed drinks take sugar or artificial sweeteners. I put a little bit of cream in my coffee, which has just enough natural sugar in it to take off the bitter edge. The tea is sweetener free.

Which leads to the other two equally important reasons I avoid sodas: cost and health. I’ve watched the cost of soda grow outrageously high over the years, and I’ve been reading report after report stating that the ingredients aren’t truly fit for human consumption. All sodas are a bad mix of environmental catastrophe, health, and wasteful spending. There is no reason to ever purchase and consume these products, except out of moral weakness like I showed.

food cost comparisons between publix and walmart

whbeebe2 Comments

As a retiree I’ve had to learn to adjust many spending habits I never gave a second thought to when I was working, such as how much food cost and where I shopped for my food. Before retirement I was shopping at Publix. Before Publix and before they closed all their stores in Florida, I was a loyal Albertsons shopper. Now that I’ve retired I pay a lot more attention to how much I pay, and how much quantity I purchased to avoid waste.

Consider these two examples; Silk Soy Milk, Vanilla flavor and Canada Dry Ginger Ale Zero Sugar. Tonight I had to stop by a Publix supermarket that was next to a CVS, because I needed both Silk and a prescription. First the Silk from Publix, followed by how much Walmart charges via its app.

Silk Soy Milk Vanilla Publix price

The price at Publix was $5.55.

Silk Soy Milk Vanilla Walmart app

The price via Walmart, at all Walmarts in my area, is $2.98 for the same item. It costs almost twice as much to purchase the item from Publix.

Now the soda example.

Canada Drive Ginger Ale Zero Sugar Publix

This is a six pack of 16.9 oz/500 ml bottles. A bit pricey for soda if you ask me.

Canada Drive Ginger Ale Zero Sugar Walmart app

Once again, Publix sells the item for nearly twice what you would pay at Walmart.

These are just two examples of the wide diversity between a Walmart grocery and Publix. What makes the comparison even starker is that within a three mile radius of my house there are three Publix supermarkets, while there is but one Walmart Marketplace. The Walmart Marketplace is just a grocery store, every bit as large as the Publix across the street (one of the three within a three mile radius).

All the basics such as butter, cheeses, eggs, coffee and teas all show this incredible price difference. If I didn’t have a Walmart in the area I don’t know what I would do budget wise. I’ve already cut back on a number of items in my diet that I can do without, items I used to purchase without a second thought before I retired. I’m always looking for ways to cut back, either dropping a product all together, or finding cheeper substitutes. The insane cost of animal protean everywhere (beef, poultry and fish) is the primary reason I’ve gone vegetarian, and I’m now looking for ways (finally!) to grow some vegetables in my back garden.

The rising cost of basic food stuffs is what’s making people mad, yours truly included. I’m sick and tired of hearing about how good the economy is, then going to the grocers to buy the next week’s selection of foodstuffs and looking at how high prices are. As appreciative of how inexpensive Walmart is compared to Publix, I still think that food at Walmart is also too expensive as well.

One other unintended benefit comes from the cost of chocolate-based sweets; those costs have gone through the roof, pricing them right out of my budget. Since I can’t afford any of them anymore I’m finally learning to get rid of my sweet tooth. My dentist in particular is appreciative as my last visit continues a years long trend where my teeth only require a light cleaning every six months. With research showing that gingivitis might be a cause of Alzheimers it becomes vital to maintain good dental health by all means possible, especially by cutting back on refined sugars.

One other observation; I can always check the price of any item, especially food items, via the Walmart app. The Publix app does not have pricing and requires you to visit the store. Things that make you go “hmmm…”