An Australian soft drink manufacturer says it is taking on the problem of plastics in our oceans one can at a time. For every can sold of its new product, Not Soda, Lo Bros says it will pay for the removal of the equivalent weight of two plastic soft drink bottles from marine environments, with the goal being to clean up to two million plastic bottles from our oceans by 2025.
In a statement, Lo Bros said independent retailers Ritchies and Drakes were the first to get behind the effort, with the new drink featuring “heavily” in up to 130 of the two retailers’ stores across the country, “spearheading a new wave of planet-consciousness that consumers can get behind”. It quoted Ritchies CEO Fred Harrison saying: “Connection to our community has always been front and centre for us. We know this mission is something our customers will be excited to get behind, as are we.”
Through a partnership with Seven Clean Seas, Lo Bros said it would begin the plastics removal exercise in Indonesia’s Batam Island. “Every year, up to 34 billion plastic bottles enter the ocean,” it said. “In Australia, 75 per cent of all beverage aluminium (cans) are collected for recycling. Unlike plastic, which can only be recycled one to three times before degrading and sent to landfill, aluminium is infinitely recyclable.”
Seven Clean Seas co-founder Tom Peacock-Nazil said partnering with Lo Bros Not Soda “will generate tons of positive environmental and social impact while giving the existing soda market the disruptive shove it needs in the right direction”. “Not only is the product designed for recyclability and true circularity given today’s infrastructure, but some of its profit is allocated to cleaning plastic pollution from our oceans.”
Drakes’ general manager of merchandise and marketing, Michael Connolly, said retailers “have a responsibility to be a part of the change for good”. “This is a soda (that) contributes to saving our seas at a time when climate change is a global emergency,” Mr Connolly said.
Lo Bros founder Didi Lo said the initiative “directly addresses the environmental crises being created by the soda industry”.
In its statement, Lo Bros said the onus was on businesses to tackle the issues of plastic pollution, plastic waste and climate change. “In the lead-up to the season of excess, Australians can take meaningful action by purchasing products that make them feel good.” Go to www.lobros.co/pages/notsoda to learn more.
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