Coke Florida Celebrates Earth Day with Statewide Sustainability and Conservation Activities

Coca-Cola Beverages Florida, LLC (Coke Florida) recognizes the global celebration of Earth Day 2024 with activities organized throughout its 18-territory market focused on the environmental well-being of communities. The company’s associates accumulated more than 300 volunteer hours, demonstrating an ongoing commitment and responsibility to the environment.

Coke Florida, the family-owned Coca-Cola bottler serving 47 Florida counties from Jacksonville to the Keys, prioritizes sustainability within its operations and community engagement year-round, led by four focus areas: Recycling, Water Stewardship, Resiliency, and Litter and Waste Reduction.

“I am thrilled with the additional work we have done in local communities in honor of Earth Day,” said Erin Black, Vice President, Sustainability, Risk Management and Facilities at Coke Florida. “Coke Florida is a leader in the sustainability space, and our associates look forward to joining the nationwide effort on Earth Day all month long to raise awareness about the duty we all have in being good stewards of the environment.”

During the month of April, Coke Florida partnered with environmentally conscious organizations, including Keep Florida Beautiful affiliates, Busch Gardens® Tampa Bay, and Miami-Dade County, among others. The partnerships enabled Coke Florida associates to volunteer their time supporting educational seminars and performing community cleanups of green spaces and shorelines, such as Trash Bash in Brevard County, St. John’s River Clean Up, Sebring High School Agricultural Department’s orange grove removal and blueberry planting, and the City of Ocala Mayor’s Earth Day Ocala, resulting in thousands of pounds of trash being collected statewide.

Busch Gardens® Tampa Bay collaborated with Coke Florida for its first-ever Conservation Weekend, April 19-21. During the three-day event, the partners created an interactive series of activities to engage and educate park guests. Kids enjoyed painting recycled Coke Florida syrup drums that will be used throughout the park as rain barrels, collecting rainwater and reducing stormwater runoff. Visitors of all ages had the chance to experience new ways of recycling, like Reverse Vending Machine (RVM) technology. Reverse vending lets consumers participate in the recycling process by depositing empty bottles and cans into the unit, which are crushed and sorted by type. Coke Florida then collects, treats, and recycles the materials to make new beverage packages. Participation in Busch Gardens’ Conservation Weekend provided another opportunity to share how adopting everyday conversation-minded practices can positively impact the environment.

Support of the Million Trees Miami-Dade County initiative will culminate Coke Florida’s Earth Day community engagement. The company made an investment that will allow over 75 ten-foot native and Florida-friendly trees to be planted at Hialaeh’s North Pointe Community Center, part of the Miami-Dade County Parks, Recreation, and Open Spaces Department. Coke Florida associates and volunteers will plant the trees on Friday, April 26^th, along with native plants and beautification materials that will complete the tree canopy project at the park. Million Trees Miami-Dade County is on a mission to create and sustain a 30 percent tree canopy over the Miami-Dade County region to assist in the ecological resiliency of the area.

“As the local Coca-Cola bottler, Coke Florida is proud to give back to our local communities while prioritizing sustainability capabilities within our business,” said John Mitchell, Sustainability Manager, Coke Florida. “During April, which also includes global volunteer month, we are extremely excited to make an impact on the movement through volunteerism not just on Earth Day, but every day."

About Coca-Cola Beverages Florida, LLC

Coca-Cola Beverages Florida, LLC (Coke Florida) is a family-owned Coca-Cola bottler with an exclusive sales and distribution territory that serves over 21 million consumers across 47 Florida counties, and includes the major metropolitan markets of Jacksonville, Miami, Orlando, and Tampa. Coke Florida markets, sells, manufactures, distributes, and merchandises over 600 products of The Coca-Cola Company and other partner companies such as Monster Energy. The company is the sixth largest Coca-Cola bottler in the United States. Founded in 2015 and headquartered in Tampa, Florida, Coke Florida is the fourth largest Black-owned business in the United States, one of the largest minority-owned businesses in Florida, and a Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) certified company. In 2023, the company was named a US Best Managed Company, for the second consecutive year, joining an elite group of private companies holding this designation awarded by Deloitte-Private and The Wall Street Journal. To learn more, visit cokeflorida.com.

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“Our associates look forward to joining the nationwide effort on Earth Day to raise awareness about the duty we all have in being good stewards of the environment.” Erin Black, Vice President, Sustainability, Risk Management and Facilities at Coke Florida.