PepsiCo is the latest company to embrace environmental transparency— this time, by measuring the carbon footprint of a half-gallon carton of Tropicana orange juice.
After calculating emissions from running factories, transporting juice cartons, and growing oranges, the company figured out that 3.75 pounds of carbon dioxide are released for every half-gallon of orange juice. Tropicana now plans on working with growers and researchers at the University of Florida to figure out ways to grow oranges using less carbon.
PepsiCo also plans on releasing carbon footprint numbers for Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, and Gatorade, but whether the data will go on product packaging is still up in the air.
The company hopes that its carbon footprint information will help it prepare for potential government mandates and uncertain energy prices.