Fizz Free February Weekly Fact Focus Week 4
Fizz Free February: Weekly Fact Focus Week 4: Environmental Impact of soft drinks Birmingham Public Health Division publichealth@birmingham. gov. uk
The Environmental Impact of Soft Drinks Fizzy drinks pile on the empty carbs and a carbon footprint We know that we are facing a climate emergency and that we all have to take conscious action now to reduce our impact on environment. There are four main ways sugar sweetened soft drinks impact on our environment: § Impact of single-use plastic § Impact of aluminum cans § Impact of sugar production § Impact of soft drink production
Fizz Drink Single Use Plastic Impact on the Environment Reducing your consumption of sugar sweetened fizzy drinks can help save our planet. Fizzy drinks are often sold in plastic bottles that are single use or poorly recycled adding to the UK plastic crisis. § In the UK alone, approximately 13 billion plastic bottles are used each year and only 57% is recycled § Plastic bottles can take up to a millennium (1000 years) to biodegrade, depending on the type of plastic. § Less than 60% of plastic bottles are currently recycled. § Plastic bottles often find their way into our rivers and seas. If this continues to happen at the same rate, then by 2050 the weight of plastic in the sea will outweigh the fish!
The Scale of the Plastic Crisis Reducing your consumption of sugar sweetened fizzy drinks can help save our planet, avoiding single use plastic bottles and straws can make a real difference. Some types of plastic can take up to 1000 years to biodegrade. A fizzy drink in a plastic bottle bought this year may still be here in the year 3020.
Fizzy Drink Aluminium Can Impact on the Environment Aluminium is one of the most abundant metals on earth. It is created from the ore Bauxite that is found mainly in Brazil, India and Australia. Turning the ore into the metal we recognise takes a lot of energy and water, and the open caste mining isn’t great for the environment either. • The good news is that Aluminium recycles really well • It is estimated that about 75% of all the Aluminium made in the US is still in use today.
Fizz Drink Aluminium Can Impact on the Environment Fizzy drinks are often sold in aluminium cans. Although aluminium cans are better for the environment than single use plastic bottles the way they are produced does have a big impact on the environment. § The world's beer and soda consumption uses about 200 billion aluminium cans every year § This is 6, 700 cans every second - enough to go around the planet every 17 hours § It takes more energy to mine and produce aluminium than any other metals • Reducing your consumption of sugar sweetened fizzy drinks can help save our planet. • When you do drink a canned drink make sure to recycle it!
Fizz Drink Sugar Impact on the Environment • Sugar has been described as one of the most environmentally damaging forms of agriculture • Sugarcane is a very water intensive crop and the transformation into sugar creates a lot of waste pollutants, and accounts for over 70% of the worlds sugar production § There are 39 grams of sugar in a 12 oz Coca-Cola can, just under 10 cubes § Each pound of sugar cane produces about 10 -15 cubes § Producing 1 kilogram (2. 2 pounds) of sugar from sugar cane requires 390 gallons of water; sugar beets require 243 gallons of water
Fizz Drinks Manufacturing Impact on the Environment Making soft drinks themselves has an environmental impact. Manufacturing takes extra water, energy and creates waste products that can be damaging to the environment. § It takes about 1 1/3 litres of water to produce a 1 -liter fizzy drink (including the water used in the beverage itself). § As well as the making the soft drink there is an environmental impact from the transport from the factory to the stores.
Fizz Free February is an annual campaign, developed by Southwark in 2018 and taken up by Birmingham in 2020. The idea of the campaign is to get children and adults to give up all fizzy drinks during February in order to reduce their sugar intake, lose weight, save money and keep their teeth. You can find out more about Fizz Free in Birmingham at https: //www. birmingham. gov. uk/fizzfreefebruary 2020
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