My whole reason for writing on and researching this topic is because earlier this year my little brother's best friend was diagnosed with Burkitt's Lymphoma cancer. It is a very rare type of lymphoma that is mostly found in young children of Africa. Timmy was an extremely healthy and active fourteen year old until one day he and his parents found a large knot on his neck. They went to have it tested and found out that it was cancer. My family knows Timmy through many years of playing baseball on my dad's travel team and a very close friendship between him and my brother and this was a complete devastation for us all. I remember the day that Timmy's family found out about the cancer. I saw his mom and it amazed me at how confident she was that God was going to get us all through this ordeal. I have made sure to not let that slip my mind. God can get us through anything and I know he will get Timmy through this very hard time. It has become my brother, the baseball team, and myself job to find ways to raise money for Timmy's chemo treatments. As a baseball team, we had always collected plastic bottle caps to give to cancer patients for free chemo treatments. I thought that would be a great way to support Timmy...until I researched it. I quickly found out that it was an Internet hoax. We were all a little devastated that our quick fix to help Timmy wasn't a fix at all. After putting our heads together, we have found many other ways to help Timmy and his family with medical expenses and have raise thousands of dollars in the last few months but it still continued to bother me that people were showing up to hospitals with thousands of plastic bottle caps in hopes of being able to receive chemo treatments and only getting rejected. I really think that it is possible for a soda company to fund cancer patients in some way by the return and recycling of plastic bottle caps. It would not only help the cancer patients, but it would also increase sales and popularity with soda companies and help to keep the environment "green".
I think that the Coca Cola Company should fund cancer associations and cancer research through the return and recycling of plastic bottle caps because it would not only help to fund cancer patients but it would also financially help the Coca Cola Company. It would also be an interactive way for the population to assist in the cleaning of the environment. “Last year, the average American used 167 water bottles, but only recycled 38” (Brita). In most cases, it only cost pennies to make a single plastic bottle cap and bottle but when you multiply that times the amount of plastic bottles and caps that Coca Cola produces they could save millions of dollars by simply recycling plastic bottle caps even while funding cancer research
The Coca Cola Company does not annually fund a program, or in this case, a cancer society or form of cancer research. They have sporadically assisted in funding and sponsoring different forms of health associations but none of them have been annually supported. By annually supporting a cancer associations or form of cancer research, the Coca Cola Company will boost their popularity with the public especially those who need assistance with cancer funding and those who are environmentally friendly. It is obvious that the Coca Cola Company has the funds to annually support cancer assistance, but they are not taking action in helping. “The Atlanta-based beverage giant posted a net income of 6.82 billion dollars and earnings of $2.93 a share in 2010” (Biz). Based on their popularity and support the Coca Cola Company is more than capable of funding cancer patients in many different forms.
While it can be understood that bottle cap recycling and cancer funding could have a down side, it has the opportunity to solve many more problems than it would create. This could lead to the obsessive drinking and purchasing of Coca Cola products which themselves are unhealthy and can lead to cancer and loss of funding. If this was to become a problem, the purchasers do have the option of purchasing and consuming a brand of water or an electrolyte beverage that is made by the Coca Cola Company, which could reduce obesity and increase the health of the consumer. Some may say that this idea would only make the Coca Cola Company more popular than other companies that may not have the funding to do this type of thing. Although this may happen, in the end it would spark the soda industry into a race for popularity and would increase industrial and economical competition.
People may argue that some individuals may take advantage of direct funding and use it for things other than cancer treatments or they may have plenty of their own funds to pay for the treatments and not need free assistance. It could also have a very positive side, such as helping to clean up the environment, saving many lives, and boosting the economy. Funding cancer patients through the return and recycling of bottle caps could give many people the chance to live and have a much more successful recovery by giving them the opportunity to have chemo treatments. “The prices of traditional chemotherapy drugs tend to range from $300 to $800 for about an eight-week course of treatment (ehow)” and that does not include the prices of other medical treatments such as housing, food, gas, and other expenses. Most cancer patients under go multiple rounds of chemo and even with insurance assistance, prices become outranges. Although there is a chance that negative issues may occur, it is more possible that funding cancer associations and cancer research through the return and recycling of plastic bottle caps would solve more problems than it would ever create.
I think it would be an all around beneficial action if a soda company, such as Coca-Cola, would fund cancer research and treatments through return and recycling of plastic bottle caps. Personally, it would mean a lot to me considering funding cancer treatments for a close family friend has so greatly impacted my life. Although there is a possibility that the return and recycling of plastic bottle caps for cancer funding could cause some problems, I believe that it could really make a positive difference in many peoples lives.
I think it would be an all around beneficial action if a soda company, such as Coca-Cola, would fund cancer research and treatments through return and recycling of plastic bottle caps. Personally, it would mean a lot to me considering funding cancer treatments for a close family friend has so greatly impacted my life. Although there is a possibility that the return and recycling of plastic bottle caps for cancer funding could cause some problems, I believe that it could really make a positive difference in many peoples lives.
