The Coca-Cola Co. distributed this "I'm from Earth" shirt to more than 15,000 athletes, coaches and other team officials participating in the Olympic Games. The production of each shirt recycled roughly five plastic bottles.

Coca-Cola Provides Olympic Athletes with Sustainable Apparel

Aug 25, 2008, ET

For the 2008 Olympic Games and 2008 Paralympic Games, recently held in Bejing, China, The Coca-Cola Co. revealed its eco-friendly position by providing all 22,000 athletes, coaches and other team officials — as well as all Coca-Cola staff working at the Games — with items from its new line of sustainable apparel. “The Olympic Games have provided us exciting opportunities to help raise global awareness about the importance of environmental stewardship, while seeking to inspire action in all the communities we serve,” says David G. Brooks, general manager, 2008 Olympic Project Group, Coca-Cola (China) Beverages Ltd. “Our goal is simple: to give more than we take.”

Coca-Cola’s eco-friendly T-shirts and visors are made from a blend of cotton and recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET), a material commonly used to make plastic bottles. Both items were printed with the statement, “I’m from Earth,” which relays the messages of conserving environmental resources as well as unity for the Games. The T-shirt backs feature a design of five Coca-Cola contour bottle silhouettes indicating the number of PET bottles recycled to make each shirt. One PET bottle was used in manufacturing the visors given to the Paralympians.

More than 200,000 plastic bottles — roughly 6 tons —  were reclaimed from the manufacturing of the Olympic recycled T-shirts and visors. — H.H.

Coca-Cola Provides Olympic Athletes with Sustainable Apparel

Aug 25, 2008, ET