To “Go Green,” Sprite will Replace Green Bottles with Clear Ones

By Yehudit Garmaise

To “go green,” and be more environmentally friendly, Sprite, starting on Aug. 1, will no longer come in its signature green bottles that Coca-Cola has used since launching the drink 61 years ago.

Starting next week, the carbonated lemon-lime drink will come in bottles that are clear, which are better for the environment because undyed plastic is easier to reuse in other products, explained Omar Farha, a chemistry professor at Northwestern University.

“Any time you simplify what’s in the plastics or in the plastic bottle in general, you just enhance the chance of that bottle being recycled and reused,” Professor Farha said.

Sprite’s green plastic was recyclable, but green plastic is more often converted into items that are not recycled again, such as carpets and clothing, the Wall Street Journal reported. 

Sprite’s green color and packaging were meant to communicate that the drink tasted refreshing, Coke representatives said about one of the soda giant’s bestselling drinks.

Now only Sprite’s cans and packaging graphics will remain green.

The familiar Sprite logo also will be redesigned, Coke officials said.

Other Coke products that are sold in green bottles, such as Seagram’s ginger ale; Mello Yello, a citrus soda; and Fresca, a citrus sparkling water, also will appear on shelves in clear plastic bottles in the coming months.

In addition, most of Dasani’s water bottles, which are also manufactured by Coca-Cola, also soon will be made of recycled plastic.