I said I was going to spend some time and effort thinking about water, and then I got sick, and thinking about anything other than naptime and nice cozy vegetable soup was just too hard. But good health is visible in the distance and it's time to get back to work. Bear in mind that I'm writing this post with a bottle of raspberry-splash bottled water sitting on my desk. And not just any water, this water is from the Nestle Corporation. So, in a word, I have no credibility at all. Or, to be more positive, there's lots of room for improvement.
The numbers are pretty straightforward. The World Health Organization tells us that 1.7 billion people lack access to clean water. 2 billion people suffer from water-borne diseases each year. This problem is exacerbated when the water supply is privatized, and water-conglomerates install water meters in poor areas. Naturally, access to water is denied when bills aren't paid. (We're used to paying for water, but in most countries, people are accustomed to walking to a communal well and taking water. So, metered water usage is, shall we say, not in the budget for most people in the world.)
And it's not as though the problem happens only somewhere else, to people we can't see. Bottled water companies are actively trying to convince people that bottled water is safer than tap water, when frequently the exact opposite is true. Coke, Pepsi and Nestle are particular culprits here. The Natural Resources Defense Council highlights the example of a water bottle claiming to contain "spring water" when really the water is from an industrial parking lot next to a hazardous waste site. And here, too, these corporations are draining aquifers and even buying up whole water systems.
But here's my whiney thing. I need to drink more water. I want water to be portable, with me when I work out and drive and work. And flavored water tastes better to me. So here's the plan. I'm going to buy a Brita pitcher and filter my water so it tastes better. I'm going to squeeze some lemon juice into it, and I'm going to buy a Nalgene water bottle. For heaven's sake, how hard can it be to use water that doesn't contribute to global decimation? I'll let you know how it goes.
No comments:
Post a Comment