Old San Francisco Coke Sign

by Mitch Shindelbower

Title

Old San Francisco Coke Sign

Artist

Mitch Shindelbower

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Photograph

Description

Old San Francisco Coke Sign. The Coca-Cola Company has officially �flipped the switch� on its newly refurbished, historic Coca-Cola sign located in downtown San Francisco at 701 Bryant Street. The relighting also coincided with several environmental initiatives that Coca-Cola is currently rolling out around the Bay Area.

Viewed by thousands of people who cross the Bay Bridge every day, the new sign�s high efficiency lighting provides the same level of brightness as the previous sign, but with enhanced reliability and greater energy efficiency. With this new sign,Coca-Cola has furthered its corporate commitment to environmental sustainability by converting obsolete technology to a state-of-the-art LED display that is now 80% more energy efficient than the original sign and has offset 100 percent of the electricity used by the sign through the purchase of Green-e Energy certified 100% wind Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs).

In this endeavor, Coca-Cola collaborated with Sterling Planet, the nation's leading retail provider of renewable energy, carbon offsets, and energy efficiency "White Tags", who provides energy solutions that benefit current and future generations with cleaner air and reduced carbon emissions. Sterling Planet's supply of Green-E certified wind energy and Coca-Cola's commitment to sustainability displaces the generation of conventional electricity therefore reducing carbon emissions that would otherwise enter the atmosphere.

The new display was engineered and assembled by YESCO, a leading manufacturer and supplier of electronic displays in the United States. During the replacement process, 90% of the metal materials and wiring from the previous sign faces were recycled. Sign elements that could not be recycled such as the neon fixtures were disposed of in accordance with EPA guidelines.

�We have heard from many Bay Area residents about their love for this iconic sign and we are honored that it has become such a beloved San Francisco landmark,� said Bea Perez, Senior Vice President, Integrated Marketing, Coca-Cola North America. �The new sign reaffirms our commitment to maintain a positive presence in the community by championing energy management and sustainability initiatives.�

A Coca-Cola sign has been on display alongside the southbound lanes of the Bay Bridge for more than 70 years. The new 70-foot-by-30-foot sign is roughly the same size and appearance as the previous sign. The new sign also features the familiar Spenserian script of the Coca-Cola logo on both the north and south faces of the display.

Along with new sign, Coca-Cola is also introducing PlantBottle�, a 100 percent recyclable PET bottle made partially from plants, which reduces Coca-Cola�s dependency on petroleum. For select markets in the Western United States, including San Francisco, Seattle and Los Angeles, PlantBottle packaging will be used for certain sparkling beverage brands and DASANI water in several sizes starting in January.

In addition, Coca-Cola Enterprises, the bottling partner serving the San Francisco area, launched a recycling program at the San Leandro bottling facility in January 2009. As of November 2009, this facility is recovering and recycling the equivalent of 95 percent of packaging material used at the plant (up from 61 percent in Nov. 2008) with the goal of achieving 100 percent. The program was launched as part of a goal to recover 500 million pounds of recyclables by 2010. Photos at 50.

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July 2nd, 2013

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