All This For a Bottle of Water?

The Coca-Cola company has a new product out in Japan called ILOHAS. It's being marketed all over the country by the biggest names on TV as the bottle of water for those of us mindful of the environment. Eco-Water. Is the water different? No. But the bottle is.

Everyone is very worried about the affects of our rampant consumerism on the environment, so much so that companies compete for the most eco-friendly way to distribute their much needed products. ILOHAS' bottle uses about half the plastic (it's thinner) than a regular bottle so one can actually crush it down like a wad of suran-wrap or something when they're done. Very eco-friendly!

Wait. Is it? Lets think this through... if Coca-cola was really interested in the environment and not just making money and they seriously thought this the way to go, then why don't they stop selling cola, juice, water and whatever processed garbage they want us to buy in normal (PET) bottles and sell them in this new "invention?" Buying this bottled water is not using less plastic, its more! It is a whole new product with a whole new campaign. If they wanted to use less plastic thereby benefiting the environment, they should go back to glass bottles like they used to. Or, better yet, we could just all drink water or tea out of mugs from the tap (once we get a filter... and then of course that uses plastics and chemicals... darn it, I hate this system) Anywho, we wouldn't be getting so ridiculously fat. But then Coca-Cola would slide out of existence. Aside from the lost jobs, I won't be shedding any tears.

What does this have to do with Christianity or Theology or anything for that matter? How we live and eat, the products we use and the impact that it all has on the society and on God's world should be one of the foremost things in the Christian mind. Am I a tree hugger? Well, yes. You don't see anyone hugging their cola bottles.
Oh, the power of branding. Don't buy into the hype.