CHICAGO, April 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Destruction of the rainforest sends vast amounts of greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere - about as much as all the CO2 emitted by the U.S. every year - and it is accelerating at a rapid pace.(1,2) To help stem the devastation, Tropicana, a division of PepsiCo, has partnered with Cool Earth, an international trust dedicated to protecting the rainforest to offer consumers the opportunity to rescue the rainforest - and it starts with just one carton of orange juice.

Through 2009, specially marked packages of Tropicana Pure Premium(R) and Trop50(TM) products will carry a code that consumers can enter online at www.tropicanarainforest.com. For each code entered, 100 square feet of rainforest will be saved. Once registered, consumers can enter additional codes with each purchase and increase the area of rainforest they have rescued. There is no limit to how many codes a consumer can enter and Web visitors can register individually or as a group. Through the technology provided by Google Maps, those who register can watch the area of rainforest being saved by Cool Earth grow.

"We are proud to support Cool Earth and its mission to save the endangered rainforest and help reduce the impact of climate change," said Neil Campbell, president of Tropicana, a division of PepsiCo. "We believe in doing our part to make the planet better and this campaign makes it easy for our consumers to join us in helping to preserve the natural environment. We hope that this campaign can trigger a movement with an extraordinary impact."

Central to the Tropicana initiative is Peru's Ashaninka Corridor, along an arc of deforestation that is being routinely cleared and burned. With Tropicana's help, Cool Earth will secure threatened rainforest by putting it in a local trust, and work toward protecting it around the clock. Cool Earth employs locals, helps fund community-based livelihood and makes sure the rainforest is managed sustainably, generating a good income for the local economy. Tropicana has already protected 5,000 acres of endangered rainforest in the Amazon, which ensures that carbon stays where it belongs.

"Having Tropicana as the first U.S. company to get behind our mission is an important milestone in seeing our vision come to life," said Matthew Owen, executive director of Cool Earth. "We hope the 'Rescue the Rainforest' initiative spreads across the country, thereby enabling us to make a significant impact on protecting the rainforest and its invaluable resources."

Rainforests are being cleared at an alarming rate. On average, an area roughly the size of Los Angeles disappears every month(3). The destruction of rainforest is a major source of greenhouse gases and a driver of climate change(3). In addition, the Amazon is home to indigenous people, a wealth of natural products, and vital habitats for many exotic plants & animal species. The time to address this growing issue is now.

To help rescue the rainforest, or to learn more about Tropicana's "Rescue the Rainforest" initiative, visit www.tropicanarainforest.com. Tropicana packages carrying the code are: 12-ounce, 64-ounce, 89-ounce and 128-ounce Tropicana Pure Premium(R) orange juice, as well as the 59-ounce package of the new Trop50(TM) orange juice beverage. Codes can be entered online through 12/31/09.

For more information about this promotion and Tropicana's environmental initiatives, please visit:
http://newsroom.mbooth.com/Tropicana/CoolEarth-NewsRelease.html

About Tropicana’s Sustainability Mission
Tropicana is committed to using natural resources in a responsible manner and has made sustainability part of its mission. The company has a long history of decreasing its impact on the environment through efforts such as turning discarded orange peels into cattle feed and using renewable energy. In a first for any consumer brand in North America, Tropicana had the carbon footprint of its 64-ounce Tropicana Pure Premium orange juice certified with the Carbon Trust, providing the information needed to find opportunities to reduce carbon emissions. The company also launched a recycling initiative with Waste Management and carton suppliers, working toward increasing the number of cities accepting cartons for recycling.

About Cool Earth
Cool Earth was founded in 2007 by Johan Eliasch, one of the world's most successful businessmen and UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown's Special Representative on Deforestation and Clean Energy, and Frank Field, a longtime Member of Parliament. It began when Field learned of Eliasch's purchase of 400,000 acres of Amazonian rainforest in order to protect it from destruction. Together, they created Cool Earth, an international trust to protect the rainforest, which acts as the Earth's lungs. The organization's goal is to allow companies, individuals, families, schools, and churches to "own" and protect part of the world's rainforests. To date, Cool Earth has protected 40,000 acres of endangered rainforest and has garnered the support of such public figures as former Prime Minister Tony Blair and actor Ricky Gervais.

To learn more about Cool Earth, visit www.coolearth.org.

About PepsiCo
PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP) is one of the world's largest food and beverage companies, with 2007 annual revenues of more than $39 billion. The company employs approximately 185,000 people worldwide, and its products are sold in approximately 200 countries. Its principal businesses include: Frito-Lay snacks, Pepsi-Cola beverages, Gatorade sports drinks, Tropicana juices and Quaker foods. The PepsiCo portfolio includes 18 brands that generate $1 billion or more each in annual retail sales. PepsiCo's commitment to sustainable growth, defined as Performance with Purpose, is focused on generating healthy financial returns while giving back to communities the company serves. This includes meeting consumer needs for a spectrum of convenient foods and beverages, reducing the company's impact on the environment through water, energy and packaging initiatives, and supporting its employees through a diverse and inclusive culture that recruits and retains world-class talent. As a member of the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index (DJSI World) and the Dow Jones Sustainability North America Index (DJSI North America), PepsiCo is a recognized leader in sustainability. For more information, please visit www.pepsico.com.

(1) The Eliasch Review. Climate Change: Financing Global Forests. 2008. http://www.occ.gov.uk/activities/eliasch.htm and IPCC (2007) AR4 Synthesis Report. www.ipcc.ch
(2) Moutinho and Schwartzman; Tropical Deforestation and Climate Change. 2005. Amazon Institute for Environmental Research Chapter 10. http://www.edf.org/documents/4930_TropicalDeforestation_and_ClimateChange.pdf
(3) IPCC (2007) Working Group 1, Chapter 7; Couplings Between the Changes in the Climate System and Biochemistry. www.ipcc.ch and the Eliasch Review, Financing Global Forests, 2008.

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