Pick It Up, Clean It Up, Sea Change!

On Sept. 25, Coca-Cola system associates will again have the opportunity to participate in the International Coastal Cleanup, the largest single-day volunteer effort to help protect the world's waterways.

Last year, nearly 42,000 Coca-Cola system associates, their families and friends in 32 markets around the world participated in Ocean Conservancy's International Coastal Cleanup (ICC). They contributed nearly 265,000 hours of volunteer time. This year, we hope to boost associate participation by banding together with bottling partners, customers and consumers to provide hands-on support for this important global initiative.

"The Coca-Cola Company and our bottling partners are committed to helping create healthy environments in the communities we serve, and sponsoring and actively participating in the International Coastal Cleanup is one way we demonstrate that dedication," said Jeff Seabright, Vice President, Environment and Water Resources. "Every year, we are inspired by this event and encouraged to continue to improve our sustainable packaging strategy. The ICC is an event that brings together global communities like ours, not only on the shorelines but in meetings and conversations that focus on finding solutions."

The ICC engages people to remove trash and debris from the world's beaches and waterways, identify the sources of the debris, and change the behaviors that cause pollution. During last year's cleanup, nearly 500,000 volunteers picked up 7.4 million pounds of debris from beaches, lakes, rivers and other waterways in 108 countries around the world and 45 U.S. states.

Volunteers removed and recorded more than 10 million individual pieces of trash -- more than 25 percent of which were beverage-related, including plastic, glass and aluminum cans, caps and lids. Ocean Conservancy uses the information to produce the world's only annual country-by-country, state-by-state index of the problem of marine debris.

The ICC is the Company's primary litter abatement partnership. We have supported the ICC since 1995 and have been the lead sponsor since 2005. In addition to the numerous hours associates have given to support this annual global effort, The Coca-Cola Foundation launched a multi-year partnership with Ocean Conservancy in 2008 through a $1 million pledge. We also provide in-kind support through promotional, marketing and strategic campaigns to heighten awareness of the ICC.

"Our relationship with Ocean Conservancy has evolved from a sponsorship to a true partnership," adds April Crow, Sustainable Packaging Manager. "They look at marine litter from a global perspective, with affiliates around the world coordinating local cleanups every September. And in addition to cleaning up debris, they record data to provide a snapshot of what's on our shorelines and then put together a top 10 list. Unfortunately, beverage containers always make the list, so it's important for us to play an active role in helping to understand where marine litter is coming from so that we can help change consumer behavior."

Participating in Ocean Conservancy's 25th Anniversary "Pick It Up, Clean It Up, Sea Change!" ICC campaign directly supports two areas of our Live Positively commitments -- Sustainable Packaging and Water Stewardship -- and presents a great opportunity to come together with family and friends to take part in a community event with local and global impact. The Coca-Cola system is working to advance a global sustainable packaging strategy aimed at preventing waste over the life of our packaging. This global effort provides an opportunity for us to raise awareness about the importance of preventing litter and show our commitment to keeping our waters free of debris.

"Having the support of a global company like The Coca-Cola Company is important to building awareness about the problem of marine debris and finding solutions to this serious problem," said Vikki Spruill, President and CEO, Ocean Conservancy. "From product design to disposal, we all have a role to play in keeping our ocean clean and eliminating marine debris. We are celebrating our 25-year Sea Change for the ocean with The Coca-Cola Company this September."