North America

North America is the birthplace of Coca-Cola and home to our Company headquarters. In the United States and Canada, we focus on environmental stewardship and youth development, as well as promoting active lifestyles.

Youth Development

Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation: The Coca-Cola Company and many of our bottling partners fund the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation. The total number of students who have received support since the program's inception in 1986 reached 3,750 in 2007. To date, $32 million in educational scholarships has been awarded to college-bound high school seniors. The scholarship criteria focus on leadership, academics and service. An example of this service in action is a Coca-Cola Scholar who spent two years working for Teach for America after graduating from college.

Active Lifestyles

National Park Service: In 2007, our Company made a five-year, $2.5 million commitment to support outdoor awareness, education and recreation. Our initial commitment supports trail restoration in Yellowstone National Park and several marketing programs of the National Park Foundation.

Water Stewardship

WWF Partnership: The Coca-Cola Company and WWF have partnered to preserve and protect vital watersheds in North America, including Southeastern rivers and streams and the Rio Grande/Rio Bravo of the Chihuahua Desert.

Energy & Climate Protection

Going Green: Our Company announced measures in 2007 to reduce energy consumption at our 2 million square foot headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, by 23 percent and to reduce our water consumption by nearly 15 percent. These efforts are expected to eliminate more than 10,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions each year, which is the equivalent of removing 2,000 cars from the road. We plan to invest approximately $3 million in energy-efficient lighting and air conditioning equipment, rainwater harvesting techniques and advanced irrigation control systems.

Sustainable Packaging

RecycleBank: We continue to expand our alliance with RecycleBank, an innovative curbside collection company. The program currently serves 20 cities throughout New England and is launching in upstate New York. RecycleBank leverages new technology and consumer incentives to substantially increase household recycling participation and rates. Since its launch in 2003, RecycleBank has driven recycling rates in Philadelphia from 15 percent to more than 50 percent, and household participation from 30 percent to 90 percent.

Encouraging Supplier Diversity

Atlanta: During the construction of the new World of Coca-Cola, we partnered with a number of minority and women-owned business enterprises (MWBEs), proactively increasing MWBE spending as a Company. We spent more than 34 percent of our budget with MWBE suppliers, who constructed the attraction and prepared exhibits and shows. That’s significant, but even more important to the overall success of our effort are the long-term ramifications for our suppliers: Following this project, several of our non-MWBE contractors developed long-term relationships with MWBEs that have expanded potential opportunities for both and enabled MWBE suppliers to gain experience and add skill sets they might not have otherwise been able to acquire.

Product Quality

DASANI® Production: The DASANI manufacturing process in North America provides an example of the rigor and routine behind our commitment to quality for all our products. The DASANI illustration allows you to interact with the manufacturing process steps and quality checks required to transform source water into pure, delicious and refreshing DASANI bottled water. In addition, you can examine a typical analysis that compares samples of DASANI to limits defined by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA).