Bottled Water - Report

2010 – Coca-Cola Company

 

 

WHEREAS, the relative quality and social, energy, and environmental impacts of bottled water in comparison to tap water have become a major public issue;

 

·         A June 20, 2008 New York Times article “Bottles Bottles Everywhere, Amid the Drops We Drink” notes that a New York City Council decision to stop purchasing bottled water was “part of a nationwide movement against the growth in consumption of bottled water.”

·         A September 10, 2008 Los Angeles Times article “Grace Restaurant to Stop Serving Bottled Water” noted that, “The environmental cost of bottled water is becoming an increasingly hot-button issue as the race for the White House pivots around renewable energy versus off-shore drilling.”

·         These concerns have spurred action by public policy makers and other industry players:

·         On July 10, 2009, the U.S. House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigation, part of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, convened a hearing on gaps in government oversight and industry practices regarding product labeling and quality testing disclosure for bottled water products;

·         At this hearing, a focal point was a Government Accountability Office (GAO) study requested by Congress which found that “the information provided to consumers by bottlers [about bottled water quality testing and sourcing] is less than what EPA requires of public water systems,” and that “consumers may benefit from such additional information”;

·         In conjunction with this hearing, members of Congress escalated this inquiry by contacting major U.S. water bottlers, including our Company, formally requesting information regarding water quality controls, breaches in water quality and the names and locations of each company’s water sources;

·         An October 17, 2008 New York Times editorial “Water and What Else” stated that public water supplies’ water quality  reports “are not always as helpful as they should be…but at least they are readily available, and the same details should be publicly available for bottled water…for the extra cost and the promise of added purity…consumers should be able to see certified data that prove it”;

·         Coca-Cola’s major competitors, Pepsi and Nestle, have changed the labels of tap-water-based brands Aquafina and Pure Life to clearly indicate at the point of sale that their water is sourced from public water utilities, while Coca-Cola has failed to take similar action;

 

Although the company has reduced the weight of Dasani brand water bottles and has taken other steps to reduce energy use, studies show bottled water consumes much more energy than tap water. A 2009 study published in Environmental Research Letters found that bottled water uses as much as 2000 times the energy of tap water;

 

RESOLVED: Shareholders ask the company to publish a report, at reasonable expense and excluding proprietary information, discussing policy options to respond to the public concerns described above regarding bottled water, including, but not limited to, the options of providing additional information to consumers, or further modifying the production, delivery or sale of bottled water products so as to minimize environmental and energy impacts.