‘I will literally stop buying Coca-Cola’

To counter its image as one of the world’s worst plastic polluters, Coca-Cola has made many eco-friendly promises and started some green initiatives at its plants around the world. However, its commitment to these principles seems to go only as far as the next headline or photo opportunity.

Recently, Coca-Cola South Africa came under fire for the death of an owl at its bottling plant in Midrand, The Citizen reported.

What’s happening?

In early October, company officials contacted a pest control company to get rid of an owl inside their factory. It is unclear exactly what species the owl was, but experts speculated that it was likely a barn owl, since that is the more common of the two species active in the area. The pest control professional did not have the expertise to capture and relocate the owl, so she contacted the Owl Rescue Centre next.

“She explained the urgency of the matter to us. All production was stopped and Coca-Cola was losing hundreds of thousands in revenue,” wrote Brendan Murray from the conservation group in his Facebook post about the incident, per the Citizen.

Despite Murray’s best efforts to hurry to the plant, he received another call on the way: The owl was dead. “It’s clear that they don’t have any value for our wildlife. It seems as if they were not prepared to lose more revenue,” Murray said, per the Citizen.

Coca-Cola sent the Citizen a statement that the barn owl died from flying into a glass window and door. However, even if that is true, the question remains whether that happened because the owl was being chased, likely because the company valued restarting production over the life of the animal.

Why is one owl important?

Although the life of one owl is small compared to the massive impact that the company has had on the lives of both humans and wildlife across the planet, this is a microcosm of Coca-Cola’s attitude toward the environment. It might greenwash its products with small green initiatives, but it continues to embrace many harmful environmental practices.

What’s being done about the incident?

Commenters online were outraged over the incident and called for retribution, as quoted by the Citizen.

“Boycott Coca-Cola,” wrote one user. “All their products are bad for us anyway.”

“That’s the last Coke for me,” agreed another.

If the owl itself isn’t reason enough to stop drinking Coca-Cola, then what it represents might be.

“Ironically, the owl was probably inside their plant doing pest control of its own,” said one commenter.

“I will literally stop buying Coca-Cola not only because of this owl, but because the owl in situ means there are rats,” said another user.

The National Council of Societies for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is also conducting an investigation.

“This is the third or fourth time we’ve had issues with Coca-Cola. They are a serial problem,” said Murray, per the Citizen.

Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don’t miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.