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.

The students have not received a response, despite targeting Mondelez board member Ertharin Cousin, graduate of the University of Georgia School of Law and an advocate for sustainable food supply who founded and led the nonprofit Food Systems for the Future Institute.

Students ignored

That’s par for the course so far. Formed in February, 2025, the Georgia Student Swamp Coalition has also sent letters to Home Depot, which sells paint and other products containing titanium dioxide; Rayonier and Toledo Manufacturing, which own land along Trail Ridge; and Chemours, a mining company. None have acknowledged the letters. 

In September, 2025, the Georgia Student Swamp Coalition wrote to Sonny Perdue, chancellor of the University of Georgia system, to praise him for his support of the Okefenokee and urge him to do more. 

“We are writing to express our sincere gratitude for your leadership on this issue, particularly your April 17th letter to Interior Secretary Burgum, in which you urged the Trump administration to continue pursuing World Heritage Site designation for the Okefenokee Swamp, and to request that you help enact enduring protections for the Okefenokee from the threat of mining.”

With many of the coalition’s students enrolled in universities in the Georgia system that Perdue heads, they wanted to meet with Perdue to advocate in person for support of legislation to protect Trail Ridge. But through an assistant, he declined. 

Schools represented in the consortium include Emory University, Emory University School of Law, University of Georgia, Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgia State University, Georgia Southern, Kennesaw State University, Columbus State University, North Georgia College, and the Coastal College of Georgia. Students from The Galloway School in Atlanta and Summerour Middle School in Norcross have also participated. 

The consortium was formed early last year after Josh Marks, president of the advocacy group Georgians for the Okefenokee, spoke to students in an environmental law practicum at  the University of Georgia.  Marks recounted his work to help prevent DuPont from mining near the swamp in the late 1990s and how an at-the-time ongoing threat reappeared in 2018 with Alabama-based Twin Pines Minerals’ effort to obtain a mining permit. 

A personal connection

Mackenzi Hallmark, a master’s student in the Odom School of Ecology, was riveted.

“This struck a chord with me because I have a very personal connection to the Okefenokee,” Hallmark said. “So after class he mentioned he was trying to get this Georgia student swamp coalition off the ground. And I was like, I’m in. Sign me up.”

By late June last year, Twin Pines had struck a deal with conservation groups to drop its mining plan and protect 600 acres along Trail Ridge. But that didn’t end the student coalition’s work. It’s still trying to promote the protection of the entirety of Trail Ridge, the land formed by ancient sand dunes that creates a natural dam to the east of the largest blackwater swamp in North America.  

Hallmark has family roots in Ware County, home of the swamp. She grew up visiting her grandfather and driving the dirt roads around the Okefenokee with him. He taught her to imitate a call that baby gators make to their mothers, a kind of swallowed chirp she can still do. 

“I have all these vivid memories, like visiting the swamp and him making the call, and alligators would come to the surface,” she said.

She wants companies like Mondelez to step up and respond. 

“Ideally, I understand that, like the white filling of the Oreo is very tied to the brand recognition,” she said. “But at the same time these companies have the power to figure out other ways of going about the goals that they’re trying to reach that don’t cause such environmental harm.

“But also, I think it would mean so much to people for these companies to demonstrate corporate responsibility and to be leaders in environmental stewardship. I mean it, they have the resources to figure out another way. So I think that we’re asking them to pursue other ways, using the resources that they have, using the privilege of the resources that they have.”

The coalition includes about 15 students from 10 universities. “We’re tiny but mighty,” Hallmark said. 

Moreover, they represent young people. That’s important to member Logan Zimmerman, an environmental science major who hopes to become a water chemist and environmental activist after he graduates from the College of Coastal Georgia in May. Part of his connection to the swamp is through camping and canoeing trips sponsored by Chemours, one of the targets of the letter writing campaign. 

“The letters organized by the Georgia Student Swamp Coalition demonstrate that concern about the Okefenokee extends beyond environmental organizations to include students across Georgia,” he said. “These letters show companies and decision‑makers that students are informed, engaged, and paying attention to how corporate actions affect protected natural resources.

“Overall, the effort has helped increase visibility and public pressure, reinforcing that protection of the Okefenokee is a long‑term priority for the next generation.”