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'll glady clarify it.

March 22nd is World Water Day, a day on which we reflect on the importance of water and raise awareness of the many challenges that still exist in water management and use. One of the more invisible challenges is the unnecessary transport of drinking water in all its forms. The transport of soft drinks is precisely a significant part of this. Especially in our country, considering that, according to Eurostat, Belgians are the second-largest soft drink consumers in Europe, with an average of one can of soda per day, totaling more than 1 billion liters annually. The Beverage Industry Environmental Roundtable calculated that the transport of this water accounts for 700 kilotons of CO2 emissions in Belgium alone. And yet, potable tap water comes out of our walls. The world is 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 make enormous progress, I think a climate-neutral future remains a pipe dream.

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