Tap water has chlorine and fluoride in it -- the latter which was once used to treat hyperthyroidism (by suppressing thyroid activity). Imagine what it does to a healthy thyroid.

Coca Cola at the top of the list? Would like to know what strides they have made that would override complaints such as these: http://www.indiaresource.org/campaigns/coke/index.html

And what about Honest Tea?

@treehugger authors:Stop mention coca cola while talking about green products.

@readers: this company is harming human rights in many ways. don´t miss to read the comment by mark on the linked coca cola post of 2005. mark tells the story of an indian region where hundreds of farmers are out of water since coca cola opens a factory over there and made the groundwater table decline. additionally the factory pollutes the groundwater so it is not drinkable anymore.

students in the usa and europe had banned coca cola out of universities vending machines. every treehugger who is not an elitist ecologist should boycott this company.

Coke??

http://www.alternet.org/story/29337/

I don't think they're saying that Coca Cola is a green company, or that everything they do is good, or that they don't have a BIG human rights problem.

They're just pointing out some of the green things they did. It doesn't negate the rest and we don't live in a binary world.

Same with Wal-Mart: Nobody here is saying that Wal-Mart has not problem and is great, but it doesn't mean that when they do good things it should be ignored. In fact, ignoring steps in the right direction is the best way to make sure that a company will stop going in that direction.

it's one thing to say that coca cola is doing some "green" things and it's another to recommend coca cola as a thirst quenching beverage. what about the high fructose corn syrup and the fact that it's made from genetically modified corn? aside from the corporate side of coke, the drink itself is an unlikely candidate for "green" drinks. why the mention? it doesn't make sense...

--
editor note: Yeah, that sentence should probably amended to exclude coke. I'll contact the person who wrote this post about it.

**
author's note: I hate to be splitting hairs, but the sentence doesn't say anything about quenching your thirst:
"drinks to quench your thirst for beverages that are less harmful to the planet, too."

Yeah, dosn't change the fact that Coke sells low-grade sugar water to kids which rots teeth and causes diabetes!

--
editor note: Totally agree, and I'd never buy any of that stuff or encourage people to drink it. But meanwhile, the company exists and is huge, so having them clean up their act a bit is still better than nothing.

Lars,

Why shouldn't elitist ecologists boycott this company?

Also a shout out to Izze! Nothing but fruit juice and sparkling water, SO refreshing. And they have an excellent give-back program for farm workers who grow and harvest the fruits they use: Project Reach.

www.izze.com/projectreach

None of these drinks are "good for the planet" ... not even tap water when you consider the vast disruptions to the natural watersheds done in the name of municipal water supplies.

If you like iced tea, how hard is it to just make it yourself? Use some filtered tap water. Then there's no shipping costs for the largest component of what you're buying ... the water.

How about we call it "least destructive" things you can drink? ... then continue to argue about GMO corn, HFCS, human rights, carbon neutrality, shipping methods, glass recycling, aluminum mining and all the rest.

**Author's response**
That's a thoughtful, interesting idea. Noted and changed.
-CD

Don't forget Honest Tea!

MMMmmm, carbon neutral green tea! ;-)

Let's see. Plastic, aluminum and glass are what are used as the delivery agent to the consumer. While these are recyclable, the vast majority are not. Furthermore, the total recycling process (at best) is only a bandage solution to the real issue - waste.

The beverage industry is among the worst offenders of "externalizing" the social and environmental costs on to society because they won't accept the responsibility of their design-engineered waste.

The right answer of what to drink: Tap water!

Compare side by side: -embodied energy (no packaging),
-health (no excess sugar for our obese selves, no caffeine, and recommended by all health professionals for health)
-safety (bottled water is less safe)
-efficiency of delivery (hands down) .

The only thing that might compare is unflitered rainwater from your own roof... not so safe or chemical free... hm.

Can anything beat it?

Not that I'm saying it beats tap water, but I think biota (http://www.biotaspringwater.com/) which bottles its water using biodegradable made-from-corn plastic should be on the list.

coca cola has killed, tortured and kidnapped union organizers in colombia. http://www.killercoke.org/crimes.htm

should we not expect self identified tree huggers to care about people in unions? as bogus as voting with your dollar is, consumers can at least stand in solidarity with people who are trying to make a stand for justice and getting KILLED for it

"what about the high fructose corn syrup and the fact that it's made from genetically modified corn?"

The US is the only country I've been in where Coke is made with HFCS instead of sugar.

I agree with Cybele - there's no such thing as a Green drink. There's huge energy wastege in refining aluminium and carting tons of glass bottles round in trucks

Brian, get a filter for your faucet to eliminate the chlorine and fluoride. Easy peasy.

Unfortunayely, flouride can only be removed from tap water through reverse osmosis - which also removes all of the beneficial minerals.

"The same company that brought the world funky soda flavors like Turkey and Gravy"

Oh my god! The worst was brussel sprouts (yes I actually drank it, a sip anyway), it made me want to throw up.