Should carbonated drinks be banned?
By Insiteful
@Insiteful (49)
United States
February 22, 2007 10:35am CST
According the the 2005 annual report from The CocaCola Company, there were about 50 Billion beverage servings (all brands)sold worldwide that year. Assuming that carbonated beverages amounted to half of those sales, that is 25 billion servings.
Assuming eash serving of carbonated drinks releases about 2 grams of CO2 into the atmosphere, that is 50 billion grams of CO2 released every year. That equal 50 millon kilograms, which equals 49,000 tons of CO2 released into the atmosphere every year.
Now, my math may be off, someone please check it, but that is one heck of a CO2 footprint to be living with just to drink a Pepsi!
Sort of makes you think...or it should.
2 responses
@john_essex (199)
•
23 Feb 07
I think there is a small flaw in your reasoning. The CO2 that is put into the drinks is extracted from the atmosphere, so overall there is no net increase in CO2 from the gas put into fizzy drinks.
However, there is the issue of the energy used to produce the drinks, the plastic bottles, the transport and distribution of the drinks and finally the disposal of the waste. Probably the healthiest and most environmentally friendly thing you can do is to drink good old tap water! In the Uk we are lucky as our tap water tastes good and is safe to drink.
I strongly believe that we must take action now to save the planet and I also believe that we can make a difference. Unfortunately, banning carbonated drinks is not the answer.
@Insiteful (49)
• United States
23 Feb 07
My understanding is that the CO2 in beverages is NOT extracted from the atmosphere. It is too expenssive to do it that way. It is created chemically, either through combination, or the breakdown of other compounds. So, it is not naturally occurring, therefore represents a net addtition of CO2 to the atmosphere.
@john_essex (199)
•
24 Feb 07
ok, I'll take your point on board, I thought the CO2 was taken form the atmosphere but I cant find anything to back it up! To put things into perspective, how does the amount of CO2 from drinks compare with the amount of CO2 produced by cars?
@Insiteful (49)
• United States
24 Feb 07
Gasoline powered ICEs are far and away the larger polluter.
I started this discussion to point out that there are many ways to lower our personal carbon signitures without impacting heavily on our lives.
@Insiteful (49)
• United States
24 Feb 07
At this point I would never seriously suggest the carbonated drinks be banned. They are a small part of the picture. YOu are right in pointing to the other major polluters. As I suggested above, this was really just a way to suggest that people can make positive changes in their lives without impacting their lifestyles.
