Cold drink addiction called a bad habit | CNA
August 21, 2008

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Addiction to cold bottled drinks on hot days is a bad habit in terms of both environmental protection and health, warned an official from the John Tung Foundation yesterday.

Drinking and consuming excessive amounts of bottled cold drinks, particularly purchasing them from convenient stores, will only cause those franchises to consume more electricity in order to boost sales -- which is eventually detrimental to the environment, said Hsu Hui-yu, a foundation official in charge of nutrition and related affairs.

The John Tung Foundation is an anti-smoking group seen as one of the most effective nonprofit lobbying groups in Taiwan.

Hsu quoted tallies from the Ministry of Economic Affairs as indicating that electricity consumed by refrigeration storage facilities in Taiwan's convenient stores constitutes about one-third of all energy consumed by the stores.

The refrigerators in each of the 8,120 convenient stores nationwide consume an average of 51,000 kwhs each month, and as a result, the carbon dioxide that is discharged during the generation of the electricity consumed by all of the convenient stores in Taiwan each month could equal as much as the carbon dioxide taken in by 950,000 full-grown trees, Hsu said.

Aware that sales of cold drinks and dairy products have been one of the culprits of increased energy consumption, many advanced countries have taken measures to reduce electricity consumption by related industries and services, Hsu related.

The United Kingdom is promoting the sale of preserved milk to replace fresh milk, as storage of the latter consumes more energy, Hsu said, adding that most of the soft drinks in Germany, Portugal and Spain are sold and stored at room temperature. He also noted that Wal-Mart Stores in the United States require its suppliers to provide the amount of greenhouse gas emission for each of their products.

The UK's Tesco grocery franchise has promised that all of the over 80,000 products on their stores' shelves will carry tags telling how much carbon dioxide emission is involved in producing and marketing the products, Hsu added.

"For the part of the consumers, they can help reduce energy consumption and carbon dioxide emission simply by drinking fewer cold bottled drinks," Hsu reiterated.

Meanwhile,Wu Chien-lung, a doctor of traditional Chinese medicine with Taipei City Hospital, said he does not think it's smart to consume cold drinks or ice excessively in the summertime.

"Gulping icy drinks probably cools people down and delights them on hot days, but people with weak stomachs could suffer diarrhea, those with weak kidneys could develop dydroncus, some could develop skin rashes, and black eyes and nasal problems could become worse after people drink their fill of cool liquids," Wu said.

Those who are on a diet should refrain from bingeing on cold drinks, as nearly all of those products could affect their metabolism if consumed excessively, he added.

This was the email I received this morning, just when I sat on my chair. And being the ever so cynical, I sent this:

wow. i never thought drinking will be such a SERIOUS business. now i know that drinking alone can lead to global warming.

i guess the only thing that's free on earth right now is to fart (at your own risk).

How wrong was I to say that because I soon got this reply:
Aishah,
Farting is not free you know. The NZ govt is actually taxing local farmers for gas emission by their cows. Everytime their cows fart, they have to pay..

So, nothing is free now? And everything leads to global warming as cows fart were found to pollute the environment more than the traffic. How very scary.

Farmers raise stink over New Zealand 'fart tax'