The Coca-Cola Company has a history of designing packaging with the world in mind. Drink2Wear t-shirts are made using recycled plastic bottles and feature catchy slogans such as “make your plastic fantastic”.

The Drink2Wear line has been supported by television, radio and print advertising campaigns in a bid to create awareness and to increase the popularity of the brand.

More than 5 million PET bottles from their waste stream are being reused and diverted to create items in the line. The 1 million products sold have made more than $15 million worth of profit.

The company had invested more than $60 million to create the world’s largest plastic-to-plastic bottle recycling plant. This was in part a section of the company’s goal to recycle or reuse 100% of the company’s PET plastic bottles in the America.

The Drink2Wear products are now sold in more than 1500 stores in America and have expanded their products to include notebooks, caps and loungewear.

As the brand Coca-Cola is so large and affects so many individuals we got the thoughts of local people on what they think of Dink2Wear.

Pete, 25, Birmingham

“The idea is there but i bet they keep the extra money. Sure they don’t have to do anything but I still don’t think its enough.”

Kim, 30, Oldbury

“I think the idea is very good and its nice because it reminds shoppers that small steps go a very long way.”

Nicky, 22, Birmingham

“Yeah its good because there helping people and Coca-Cola is well known and lots of people enjoy it. I will make sure I get one of these tops!”

Mark, 19, West Bromwich

“I like the way its preserving the environment, if all companies did this it would have a massive impact on our earth”

So in support of this year’s World Environment Day I shall be discussing in brief a history and this year’s edition of the day. 

The day was created by the United Nations General Assembly back in 1972 and in the same year the United Nations Environment Programme was created. The UNEP uses the day to stimulate awareness of the environment. The event is hosted every year by a different city and usually has a different theme as well.
There are three main reasons for the celebration every year. The first is to give a human face to environmental issues and the second is to empower people. The final reason is that it promotes understanding that communities are crucial to environmental solutions.

Last year’s host was New Zealand and the slogan was “C02-kick the habit towards a low carbon economy”. Activities based around the event spanned over two weeks and an online game was created for the event.

This year Mexico City play hosts to the day, however there will be many event which will be held all over the world in support of the day. I spoke to five local people about the day, in Birmingham City Centre. 

Pete, 26, Sales Assistant

“I never knew about the day if I am honest, but I will try to use less electronical stuff if it makes a difference”.

Kim, 39, Unemployed

“I did know about the day, and every year I try to do something, this year I am trying not using anything electric, if that is possible”

James, 32, Teacher

“I didn’t know to be honest, and it sounds like a lot of hassle.”

Kenny, 20, Student

“Are you taking the mick? I thought it was world doughnut day, If it is environment day as well I wouldn’t care that much, on another day maybe.”

Nicola, 26, Unemployed

“This is a really important day, more people should do things to help the environment”.

Bonnie’s Going Greener for You is a company who are the largest wholesaler of vegetable and herb plants for gardeners in the US. The company have recently released a new range of environmentally friendly gardening products. The two main products are exclusive biodegradable peat pots and jumbo biodegradable fibre pots.  

The exclusive peat pots are made of the same peat moss that is used to supplement garden soils and are 100% biodegradable. The peat encourages healthy root development and is the only pot of its kind that is available. There are three simple steps to these pots which are: remove the label, tear off the bottom of the pot and plant the whole thing.

The peat pots have already prevented more than 100 million pounds of plastic ending up in landfills and the jumbo pots are virtually the same as the peat pots but are larger and made of 100% recycled paper. The recycling facilities the company has reuse and recycle supplies, pots and containers.

Dennis Thomas, the general manager of Bonnie said “We’re dedicated to giving our customers earth-friendly products, but products that perform as well as or better than conventional products.”

I asked Tom a few questions about the company, the products and why he uses them.

Me: Hi Tom, how did you find the company?

Tom: Hello, I found them when I went on holiday, some friends recommended them.

Me: Why do you use their products?

Tom: They are really spot on, and the price is decent too.

Me: What do you make of their new ranges?

Tom: There good, I’ll get some when I go over there next month.

Me: Anything you would like to say to our readers?

Tom: Its good stuff and it ain’t bad for the environment too, so if you’re into this kind of thing, check them out. Thanks.

The stadium was designed by architect Toyo Ito and it can hold 50,000 spectators, it was structured so that they are in the shade throughout.

Is has also been revealed that on days when the stadium is not being used, the government plans on using surplus energy to feed the local grid. It is anyone’s guess how much money this will save, but this is definitely the way forward and hopefully other countries will follow suit.

The company is stating that by 2010 it wants 50% the energy that is used in stores to come from renewable sources. Starbucks plan to do this by incorporating green building standards in all of its new building construction.

Starbucks are still the largest purchaser, roaster and distributor of fair trade coffee in North America (and one of the largest in the world) buying approximately 20 million pounds worth a year.

The company have also been awarded the “LEED Silver Certification for New Construction” for the new LEED state of the art roasting plant, which is based in South Carolina.

This is not where it stops as the company is improving its products as well and making them more environmentally friendly. For the last 10 years they have been trying to reduce the environmental impact of their cups and are now trying to create the 100% recyclable cup. At the moment the company has five main steps that they are working on:

1. Launching the hot and cold recyclable cups by 2012

2. Reduce paper and plastic cup usage by 25%

3. Have recycling available in stores

4. Re-establish ceramic or glassware as a global standard

5. Converting all plastic cup to polypropylene in North and Latin America sometime in 2009

A statement from the company was “Starbucks is solidly behind the green movement … from it LEED roasting facility to it “take the mug pledge”.  Some folks just want / need a “to go ” cup … and Starbucks is working to make that a greener

Muji is Japanese for ‘no brand quality goods’ and this is just what they sell.

There new range of green products includes recycled cardboard picture frames, recycled glass vases and bags made from reused yams with matching t-shirts.

They only have five branches in the UK (not including London), and one of these is in Birmingham town centre. To find out if the people of Birmingham were willing to go green this mother’s day I took it upon myself to go to the town centre and find out.

Lee, student, 24

‘I would give it a go, I think my mom would like it and its doing my bit for the environment’

Jack, shop assistant, 26

‘I don’t think my mom would like that stuff’

Rebecca, unemployed, 32

‘The things in there are too expensive, i have been in there before, if it was cheaper then I would get some things’

James, teacher, 29

‘I do like Muji I have been in there before and I have got stuff its really special stuff that all looks homemade, so I would definitely get my mom something from there.

The first book is about the topic ‘water scarity’ and chronicles the story of how a village gets a new water pump system installed.

This is a great way of getting children involved with issues that they would be otherwise unaware of, whilst keeping them interested.

More than 1000 children in the US will be given the stories to read and Dream Village who have produced the books say that at least 50% of profits will be donated to charity.

The books are available online as e-books and available to buy as print publications aswell.

To get the thoughts from book readers, i asked some people for their thoughts on the new books.

Holly, 20

‘These books are a great idea, i think all schools should have them’

Jane, 39

‘ I can see why they would be useful, but i am not sure if they already have anything like that’

Karl, 24

‘The books look good, i am a teacher and i think that kids could do with things like this to keep them interested’

Emma, 26

‘I think they look good, and if they release others i think its a good cause’

All aspects of recycling have been reduced in amount, and one can expect that the longer this recession precedes, the more communities will be forced to cut back further.

Communities are very important when it comes to recycling and the more they cut back, the more they will have less time and money to do something good for the environment.

Recycling benefits the environment as it conserves raw materials, which will leave more natural resources which is something that is under threat.

I spoke to workers at a local recycling centre in order to get their thoughts on the current state of the recession and whether or not it has affected recycling in the area.

Dave, 18

‘I think it has made a difference, there isn’t alot of people here, just look around were normally packed at this time.’

Michael, 20

‘ I don’t know if its related but I think it has gone down, people are saving stuff and not getting rid of their stuff properly’.

Tony, 31

‘Yeah it definitely has made a change, over the last few months it’s got worse’

Paul, 27

‘I’m not sure, April time is our busiest its normally quieter winter time so that will tell us’

The companies main selling point is that they use only fresh ingredients and they say that their food is metabolically measured which is better for the animals and delivered straight to your door for a good price.

In a time when everyone is concerned with the food they consume, there is also somthing similar for pet foods. The market for pet food is growing, and so are individuals wanting the best for their animals.

Using fresh ingredients seemed an obvious and overdue move, but as it has only recently come about there is bound to be negativity towards the company, so I asked four people at my local pet food store for their thoughts on the company.

Mike, 37, Teacher

‘It sounds like a good idea and it’s not too expensive, so I would definitely give it a go if we had something like that up here’.

Jane, 20, Student

‘This is good because you know your pets eating well; I think I would give it a miss though’.

Ashley, 42, Sales assistant

‘I do not get how people pay for all this, there only animals so they won’t know any different’.

Pete, 61, Retired

‘It’s good because we want to eat healthy so now our pets can too’.