The invisible price of soft drink consumption

The invisible CO2 price of soft drink consumption.

Dear Minister Zakia Khattabi, dear entire government and dear business leaders,

Soft drinks are made up of 90% water. Did you know that the transport of soft drinks alone accounts for 700 kilotons of CO2e emissions per year in Belgium alone and that this can be completely avoided? I clarify with pleasure.

March 22 is World Water Day, a day on which we reflect on the importance of water and become aware of the many challenges that still exist in the field of water management and use. One of the more invisible challenges is the unnecessary transport of drinking water in all kinds of forms. The transport of soft drinks is an important part of this. Especially in the Netherlands, when you know that according to Eurostat it appears that Belgians are the second largest consumers of soft drinks in Europe, with an average of one can of soft drinks per day together accounting for more than 1 billion liters per year. The Beverage Industry Environmental Roundtable calculated that the transport of this water accounts for 700 kilotons of CO2 emissions, in Belgium alone. This while drinkable tap water comes out of our walls. The world turned upside down.

Our government's ambition is to reduce CO2 emissions by 55%, so that the European Union can call itself climate neutral by 2050. As long as all soft drinks continue to travel an immense road, I think it will remain a dream of a climate-neutral future.

Local production of soft drinks

It is therefore high time to argue for a future in which soft drink production is decentralized. What do we mean by this? That we don't queue up at a drink dispenser with the carbon footprint of a basketball player, but simply that the production of soft drinks should happen locally, at the time of consumption. That we move away from the big filling lines, and go to tap water and blend flavour (read: a concentrate, some fruit, tea) on the spot. A simple solution with a huge impact.

Many building blocks towards a climate-neutral Belgium are in the hands of the government and companies. This is one that can be easily addressed by consumers and businesses.

Author: Colin Deblonde – Co-founder Dripl