A staggering 2.8 million people support Greenpeace worldwide—it’s clear that we want the planet to exist in its fundamental natural glory.

Last week, Greenpeace released a commercial directed at Coke and its traditional holiday advertising campaign. The one-minute reel culminates in highlighting Coke’s choking contribution of 110 billion plastic bottles a year.

Let’s get real though—it’s not just about Coke. It’s about something much bigger, something we’re all accountable to; the relationship we have with corporations. Specifically, doing business with companies that contribute to the environmental crisis we are facing.

Coke isn’t evil, it is solely responding to the demands consumers create. This means we have the power to change things. The onus is on the dollar bill pulled from the very pockets we place our hands in; the onus is on us.

What is happening to our planet is the cumulative response to excessive and irresponsible consumerism. North Americans are liable and on the hook.

The race against environmental destruction depends, in part, by the items we are choosing to purchase—through this, we shift the momentum.

To understand how things come to be on our bodies, in our possession, and at our tables forecasts greater expectations. The transparency of where our purchases end up after their use—offers us the chance to see what we are doing wrong. And more importantly what we can do right.

The Greenpeace commercial asks us to start the conversation. It challenges us to get informed and make demands from the companies we finance.

“You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” ~ (not) Mahatma Gandhi

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Relephant:

This is what one sip of soda does to your body.

Instead of Plastic, This!

12 Things you might want to read while sipping your Fiji bottled water.

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Author: Kristen Dobson
Image: YouTube
Editor: Catherine Monkman
Copy Editor: Lieselle Davidson
Social Editor: Waylon Lewis