Idiots at work

OK .  This has been sticking in my craw for a while now.  I read an article last week detailing how the Coca-Cola corporation is using renewable sources to manufacture their bottles.  They are going green.  “Fantastic!,” I thought to myself.  And then I kept reading.  In order to cut their carbon footprint, they have developed a way to transform plant material into PET plastic.  Outstanding.  I’m still on board.

One of the plants they are using is sugarcane.

Hold it – hold it just one damn moment.  Now, I am all for greening up the planet.  But using sugarcane to make a bottle that is going to be filled with yummy goodness suspended in high fructose corn syrup?  You have got to be kidding.  Well, I actually didn’t use the word kidding, but you get my drift.

Let it sink in, my friends.  Using SUGARCANE – a plant which produces…wait for it…SUGAR for their bottles beggars belief.  High fructose corn syrup is one of the most insidiously detrimental additives we have.  It’s cheap, yes, but it causes all sorts of health problems and is a key factor in the rise of obesity in our country  – and really, you just shouldn’t put that shit in your body, period.

Here’s a thought….why not put the sugar from the sugarcane plant in the coke?  Return the classic carbonated cola to it’s true state and then use the byproduct from the plant to help  planet with a nice, eco-friendly  bottle?

I’m sure there are all sorts of sound reasons why this wouldn’t happen; cost, time, pencil-pushing bureaucratic flow chart hypothesis….  Who knows.  There’s a good reason I’m not numbered in the ranks of big business. But doesn’t it make sense?  Doesn’t it?

On a related note, Pepsi is selling their “thowback” soda at the moment.  It’s packed with real, pure, honest to goodness delicious white sugar.  And yes, I did a happy dance in the aisle at the grocery store when I found it.