Thinking Outside the Bottle…
Today I’m posting about the Think Outside the Bottle campaign, run by Corporate Accountability International.
Many people are unaware of the environmental and social justice issues associated with bottled water. The manufacture, bottling, and transport of water bottles consumed 17 million barrels of oil in the US last year, enough to fuel 1 million cars for one year. Up to 40% of all bottled water on the market comes from public water systems, sold back to consumers at 1000x the price of tap.
Taking the volumes of water from public systems also strains them - think of Atlanta and the Southeast’s problems with water shortages now. Dasani is bottled in the Southeast, and Coca Cola has not reduced their bottling capacity since the drought began. Furthermore, “spring water” often comes from reservoirs and groundwater used by existing communities.
Nestle, especially, has a horrible record of making shady deals with public officials - claiming that they’ll bring in jobs, tax revenue, etc - getting them access to these resources, often against the will of local residents. In some cases, Nestle has so far exceeded their allowed extraction that they completely drained the groundwater resources, as in San Jerardo, California, and now supplies residents with 25-gallon bottles of water each week. This is their only water - nothing comes out of their tap anymore. In Florida, Nestle flies in water from Tampa to replace what they’ve extracted from the Zephyrhills springs. It’s simply unbelievable, and it’s all done because these corporations can make a profit from selling us something that’s necessary for human life - water.
Water should be a public trust, something that citizens, not corporations, have control over. If you agree, please take action and sign the pledge to “Think Outside the Bottle.” By taking this pledge, you’re saying that you will opt for tap water over bottled water, and will support the efforts of local officials who are working toward stronger, safer public water systems at home and abroad. You can sign the pledge here.
Tell everyone you know! This is a way for us to get the ball rolling to protect public water - do your part!
Amber Collett is a Community Organizer for Green Corps., providing field support for today’s critical environmental campaigns.
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by thomas23
