Coca-Cola launches innovative new program at major sports venues across state: 'Continuing its partnership'

Coca-Cola Consolidated has made massive strides toward a cleaner future.

The bottler, based out of Charlotte, North Carolina, has implemented a program — Refresh. Recycle. Renew. — that partners with other companies to increase access to recycling and other environmentally friendly practices.

The team-ups thus far have included the Charlotte Hornets' Spectrum Center, where recycling initiatives have been pushed, as well as the Bank of America Stadium and Charlotte Motor Speedway, where recycling bins have been installed, with labels instructing attendees how to correctly dispose of their plastic products.

This display of Earth-consciousness by Coke comes as little surprise, but not without some legitimate side-eyes from consumers. The company has bounced back and forth between preaching sustainability and having questionable practices.

Recently, Coca-Cola as a whole was under fire for attempting to quietly go back on its eco-friendly promises and increasing plastic use. Many refer to actions like this one as greenwashing, or using environmental advocacy as an empty or performative goal.

Still, individual suppliers and bottlers — like the one in Charlotte — continue attempting to rewrite the wrongs of the brand.

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Earlier this year, Coca-Cola Beverages Sri Lanka launched a three-wheeled electric vehicle, designed to manage plastic waste. This endeavor is important, as adequately handling plastic products after use can help them be recycled, and in turn, keep them out of our oceans, making human health, animal life, and the environment cleaner.

Despite this endeavor and Coca-Cola Consolidated's work, the company is the largest branded contributor of plastic pollution in the world, so while their steps toward sustainable practices are positive, the work is far from done.

According to an article by Axios Charlotte, this year, "Coca-Cola Consolidated is continuing its partnership with TreesCharlotte by sponsoring and participating in a tree planting event of more than 130 trees, in Huntersville, North Carolina."

Every step towards sustainability counts, and these moves by Coca-Cola Consolidated are sips in the right direction. If bubbles aren't your jam, there are plenty of green brands you can support instead.