Georgia students urge Oreo maker, others to protect Okefenokee Swamp

The stark white of an Oreo cookie’s filling comes from titanium dioxide, a valuable mineral found in deposits along Trail Ridge, just east of the Okefenokee Swamp.

That unlikely cookie-swamp connection prompted a consortium of Georgia students to pressure Oreo manufacturer Mondelez, the Chicago-based multinational maker of candies, beverages and snacks, to pledge to never source titanium dioxide from the Okefenokee area because of the threat this mining poses to the swamp.  

“In so doing, Mondelez will show all of Georgia and the world that it is a company worthy of its reputation as a global leader in sustainability,” they wrote.