Welcome to the another edition of the Salaaz Newsletter! 🌿 We’re on a mission to revolutionize conscious consumerism. In this edition, we’re taking things a step further. Get ready for insights on companies making harmful political moves and spotlight tips that impact us all. Together, we’re not just consumers—we’re changemakers!

Why We Stopped Drinking Coca-Cola, Should You?

It’s hard to ignore the complex and often unsettling reality behind some of the world’s biggest brands. We spoke of Google Chrome last week, this week we will talk about Coca-Cola. On the surface, it's the world’s most recognizable soft drink, a symbol of refreshment, and often nostalgia. But the more you dig, the more you decide its high time to find alternatives.

Israel Occupation: One of the most egregious examples is Coca-Cola's role in supporting Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian land. The company operates a factory in Atarot [1], a settlement in the occupied West Bank built on land stolen from Palestinians. Other corporations such as General Mills and Ben and Jerry’s have chosen to pull out of Atarot, due to pressure from Human Right’s Activists. Despite international pressure and backlash in countries such as Bangladesh [2] Coca-Cola is complicit in perpetuating apartheid and occupation.

Killer Coke: But the issues don’t stop there. Coca-Cola's record on labor rights is equally disturbing. In Colombia, the company has been linked to violent paramilitary groups accused of assassinating and threatening union leaders at Coca-Cola bottling plants [4] [5].

Thirsty for Water, Not Coke: And what about the environment? In India, Coca-Cola was fined $47 million [6] for excessive water usage. Communities in Kerala and Uttar Pradesh have accused the company of draining their water supplies, leading to severe water shortages [7].

Health Propaganda: There’s also Coca-Cola’s role in fuelling the global obesity epidemic. The sugar-packed beverages have been linked to rising rates of diabetes and heart disease worldwide. What’s worse? The company has fought against public health efforts like soda taxes, spending millions to lobby against regulations that would curb sugar consumption [8].

Alternatives: Now you might be wondering, what can I drink instead? Well we got you covered, some alternatives we recommend are:
Jarritos: This a Mexican soda alternative found pretty commonly globally. Best part is, they don’t have any ethical consequences, no political affiliations, and they come in nice glass bottles.
SalaamCola: Craving a similar flavour? SalaamCola is your go-to, they’re regularly available around Canada & USA. And it’s a flavour and look that’ll remind you of a traditional cola, without the moral dilemmas. Find local store in the GTA here
PalestineDrinks: Want a cola product whose job is to spread awareness, and support Palestine, try PalestineDrinks. Although they’re not available in North America now, Salaaz is working to bring international products that are alternatives to products like Coca-cola to you. In the meantime you can find their availability here.

Search Engines: “If You’re Not Paying, You Are The Product”

We want to keep you, our audience informed on how little changes, like where you gather information, can fund apartheids. Everyone knows about Google, but below we’ll show you how they make money off your information, and the other alternatives you may or may not know about.

Google:
Owned by AlphaBet, which signed a $1.2 Billion contract for Project Nimbus with Israel; setting up clouds for the IDF. 80% of Google’s Profit, over $209 billion dollars [9] through ad revenue. Google gathers all of your information ( emails, personal details, history, etc) and serves you very specific adverts [10], and because of Google’s reach and accuracy with relevant ads companies have budgets allocated just for marketing on Google.

Yandex:
Yandex acknowledges collecting information but only after consented by the user [11]. They do not have any known affiliations with any other organizations or governments, however, they much like Google they make 64% of their revenue through advertisements, 21% commerce and 10% digital services.

DuckDuck Go:
DuckDuckGo’s CEO and founder, Gabriel Weinberg, clarified in a Reddit post, that they do not sell user data to anyone. The company’s primary revenue is still based off of advertisement, however, it is localized to your search results. For example if you search “cars”, you will receive ads relevant to cars. [12]

Brave:
You might remember Brave from our last newsletter. This is our personal favourite - we consider it the most private browser. They make their money purely through banners, product sale, subscription fees and VPN services. Brave shares 70% of their revenue with their users in the form of BAT tokens, a crypto currency, and allows for the users to reinvest their crypto back into Brave. [13]

TL;DR - Stay Aware

This week, we’re diving deep into Coca-Cola’s shady practices. From supporting Israel's illegal occupation of Palestinian land to violent labor rights abuses in Colombia, Coca-Cola’s track record isn’t so refreshing. Their environmental damage in India and contributions to the global obesity crisis only add to the pile.

We also break down how popular search engines like Google are profiting off your data and funding political regimes. Ready to swap Google for more ethical alternatives? We’ve got you covered with the deets on DuckDuckGo, and Brave.

Time to rethink your next sip and your next search.