In its bid to slam the door on an Australian wide roll out of a cash for containers scheme that’s been so successful in South Australia, Coke has been employing its ‘Three Cs’ – cops, cons, and court action.
Here at Greenpeace, we are using campaigning, community and comedy to up our campaign to achieve a national recycling scheme, or at the very least have New South Wales and Victoria institute their own. Here’s an update:
Coke’s Three Cs, which highlight the corporation’s increasing nervousness that it is on the wrong side of history:
1. C is for ‘court action’
You might remember Coke and a couple of its beverage company mates took the Northern Territory government to court this year and successfully squashed their Cash for Containers scheme. As a result taxpayers were forced to financially support the scheme and pay the 10 cent deposit at a cost of $6 million over six months. The good news is that the scheme got back on track last week after all states and territories united to close the loophole created by Coke’s federal court challenge.
Giving an invoice to Coke for their cost to NT taxpayers
2. C is for ‘cops’
So on Friday three senior reps from the Boomerang Alliance hand-delivered a giant $6 million invoice to Coke’s North Sydney headquarters asking them to pay back taxpayers for the costs of this court action. Coke once again had cops waiting outside, with two paddy wagons and a gaggle of police there just in case… As you can see this rightly got the goat of the head of Clean Up Australia and former Australian of the Year Ian Kiernan AO, now in his 70s.
Coke had cops waiting for Greenpeace and allies at their North Sydney office
3. C is for ‘con’
Coke and the food and beverage industry love to fib about the damage that will be done by national container deposit scheme. A recent federal Senate inquiry report dumped on claims it would destroy jobs in rural and regional Australia identifying the Food and Grocery Council’s “weak methodology and poor data”. We are keeping a close watch on this misinformation campaign and will correct errors where they arise.
Meanwhile we’re pushing our own ‘Three Cs’ to win this important campaign:
1. C is for ‘community
With a recent Newspoll showing that 84 per cent of Australians want a cash for containers scheme, we know the public’s thirst for a national scheme will get us over the line. Greenpeace CEO David Ritter last week kept our conversation going with the community in his piece in ABC’s online outlet The Drum “Why’s there rubbish here Dad? Go ask Coca-Cola”.
2. C is for ‘campaigning’
With the spotlight on the Victorian and NSW Premiers to declare their support for a container deposit scheme, we are stepping up our campaign, talking direct to NSW MPs while parliament is sitting. Right now fifty buses in Sydney and Melbourne are wearing this poster featuring environmental scientist and international model Laura Wells on their behinds.
International plus size model and environmental scientist Laura Wells in an advertising campaign for Greenpeace
Image: (c) twitter / ThePunkRockShop
3. C is for ‘comedy’
When fighting the muscle of Coca-Cola Amatil things sometimes can get a bit intense. This explains our breaking news announcement on Friday that Coke had finally come to its senses and backed an effective Cash for Containers recycling scheme. Check it out, and if you have trouble claiming your deposit from Coke feel free to share the news with your friends: http://www.cokerefunds.org
Greenpeace parody website of Coca-Cola’s rewards scheme
