Dropping Knowledge on (Un)sustainable Brands

This week, some of the biggest companies in the world are coming together for the Sustainable Brands Conference in San Diego, where companies like Coca-Cola and PepsiCo want to showcase a shining environmental image.
 
On the ground at the conference and online, activists are making sure that these companies can't hide from the fact that by using tar sands fuel to power their tens of thousands of delivery trucks, Coca-Cola and PepsiCo are worsening climate destruction.
 
The first night of the conference, a team of activists made sure that conference participants got the message - literally - by slipping it under their doors. The message reads,
 
"Coke and Pepsi say they're doing something to affect climate change. In fact, they're making it worse."
 
The good news is that the message is getting across -  the Coca-Cola representatives at the conference definitely saw it.  We know because at the conference this week, one of our activists had a conversation with a couple of Coca-Cola executives, including a featured conference speaker.
 
When one of the execs was asked about the flyer under the door and the company's use of tar sands fuel in its delivery vehicles -  his response was:

"I don't even want to go there."

The second Coca-Cola exec had gotten the flyer under his door (see a pic of it here), and in talking with an activist, seemed concerned and even shocked to learn about the impacts of tar sands extraction on the climate, water resources (PDF) and on First Nations whose ancestral home is being ransacked by industrial development.
 
This is exactly why we are pushing Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, as owners of some of the largest vehicle fleets in the country, to take responsibly for their actions and stop using fuel from tar sands. A recent Sierra Club report even outlines for companies how they can step up and do the right thing.
 
So, it's time to keep the pressure on. This won't be the last that Coca-Cola and PepsiCo are hearing about tar sands - and you can help make sure that's the case by taking action here!

-- Rachel Rye Butler, Sierra Club Beyond Oil Campaign