Coca-Cola Leads Times Square to Green Future

Lighted Billboards to be Powered by Wind Energy

The 30 iconic billboards of New York City’s Times Square will be powered by wind energy thanks in part to an initiative by Coca-Cola to be more eco-friendly.  After the cola giant signed on to a green energy program for its billboard at 47^th and Broadway, the remaining advertisers at the world’s most famous intersection soon followed suit.

Times Square in New York City is now powered by green energy. Why aren’t you?

The signage operates 24 hours every day and is powerful enough to simulate daylight on the sidewalks below during the darkest hours.  The collective move to renewable green energy will prevent the release of 1,866 metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each year.  The use of clean energy to yearly provide 897,000 kilowatts for Coca-Cola’s sign alone is equivalent to removing 78 cars from the road or powering 38 homes for a year.

The power utility ConEdison offers the Solutions program to customers who opt to have their power generated by renewable sources.  The electricity actually arriving to those customers may or may not come from green sources, however the company increases their commitment to green power generation based upon the power usage of those consumers.  Regardless of whether the actual watts are the result of renewable energy, the net effect is increased investment in the technology and a reduction of carbon accumulating in the atmosphere.

The Times Square sign is just the latest of a number of significant investments in environmentally conscious choices for Coca-Cola.  Among other initiatives are:

• A fleet of 142 hybrid trucks throughout North America that will more than double in 2009. Although the vast majority of those trucks are 33,000 GVW trucks, next year the company plans to deploy 150 trucks in the 55,000 GVW class. The new trucks will be the largest hybrid vehicles on road - up to three times larger than other hybrid delivery trucks.
• An aggressive recycling project to reclaim 100 percent of the cans and bottles the company sells in the United States. A new recycling plant in Spartanburg, NC is expected to open in January 2009 to support the operation.
• The “Global Water Initiative,” a U.N. managed venture, addresses the world’s water management issues. Among their undertakings is the “Water for Schools” program that provides safe water and education about hygiene and sanitation for school kids in places like Western Kenya.
• The “Refrigerants Naturally! Initiative” that teamed up with McDonalds and Unilever to find alternatives for the use of hydro-fluorocarbons in refrigerants and insulation materials. The impact of the effort so far has reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 700,000 tons per year, which is approximately the same as removing 150,000 cars from the road.

The action in Times Square is the latest of Coca-Cola’s “Live Positively” philosophy that’s dedicated to a broad range of consumer-focused efforts.  The impressive year-old enterprise is designed to service customers, consumers and communities.  In addition to being more environmentally responsible, Live Positively assists a variety of student projects, the Special Olympics, national parks and the Polar Bear Support Fund.

What has your company done along the lines of Coca-Cola during the last year to lend assistance to these important issues?