Corporate Wet Dreams

I have a long list of things I hate. I won’t list them all because I hate long lists. Warm beer, crappy Chinese imports, head banging music, TV commercials that never die and one ply toilet paper are all things that suck to me. But my chief source of ire has to be bottled water. I know that bottled water is all the rage right now; It’s likely that many folks have a bottle within reach  right now, even if it costs roughly $7.50 per gallon, according to a Business Insider column.  Rock stars, famous actors, politicians and, sadly, even some environmentalists are seen swilling the stuff.  In fact, according to the IBWA (International Bottled Water Association) Americans consumed 10 billion gallons or 32 gallons per person in 2013.  Sometime this year, bottled water will exceed sales of soda drinks (Coke, 7 Up, etc.).  Given the long association of soft drinks with diabetes, obesity and bad teeth, this is a welcome development. No one would argue that water isn’t better than “pop”.

Yes, water is life, but why are we so willing to forego tap water for the bottled kind with idyllic sounding brands like Fiji, Arrowhead, Eden Springs or Dasani, or any of the 173 worldwide brands?

The Natural Resources Defense Council visit site issued a 4-year independent review of water sources and determined the following: (1) “25 percent or more of bottled water is really just tap water in a bottle—sometimes treated, sometimes not.”  (Let me note that most states do not require brands to list the source of their water.) (2) “About 22 percent of the brands tested contained, in at least one sample, chemical contaminants at levels above strict state health limits.” 

Let us not forget the bottles: About 3 years ago, I remember a TV infomercial which showed that a stream of water bottles placed end to end would stretch to the moon in 14 days. Further, according to numerous waste management companies we recycle 23 percent of all plastics, including water bottles, each year.  Currently,14 national parks and two cities (San Francisco and Concord) have banned the sale of single use plastic bottles.  What are the energy costs of bottled water? The Pacific Institute link here has reported that bottle production for US consumption required “…more than 17 million barrels of oil EXCLUDING TRANSPORT COSTS” (my emphasis). They also noted that it takes 3 liters of water to make 1 liter of bottled water.

I have found that it is instructive to focus on one brand (Fiji) and one manufacturer (Nestle).

Fiji is the number one selling brand in the US. It is far more expensive than most store brands (largely because it has to be shipped the equivalent of over 5000 miles) but the cost has not deterred sales. Why?  Because Fiji is considered way cool. Fiji has spent millions promoting Fiji spring water as having “life-changing” qualities. And nobody burnishes their green credibility and charity work like Fiji.  They have managed to hydrate climate change meetings, anti-capitalism confabs and the 2008 Democratic Convention.  Obama sips it.  Ditto for Ditty, Paris and Nicole Kidman. Allegedly, the elite Carlyle Hotel in Manhattan fills their dog bowls with Fiji.

The source of Fiji Water is an artesian well in the Yaquina Valley of Vita Levu.  Fiji bottled water was started in 1996 and has been surrounded by controversy ever since.  In 2006, Fiji water posted an ad that said “The label says Fiji because it’s not bottled in Cleveland.”  Cleveland was insulted.  They ran numerous tests and found “Fiji Water contained 6.31 micrograms of arsenic per liter and Cleveland contained none. In 2010 The University of Vermont link here reported that Fiji Water had “high levels of bacteria well above standard plate count (SPC).”

Fiji’s artesian water is not available to locals. The Vermont report also noted “Water supply for locals is unreliable and outbreaks of typhoid and parasitic infections have occurred.”  Arguably, water infrastructure has probably improved since then but in January 2015 The Fiji Health ministry reported 2 dozen typhoid cases in Bus and 17 cases of Dengue Fever in Macuata.

Now let us examine Nestle, who is not only the largest producer of food products worldwide but is also the global leader of bottled waters with 70 brands shipped to the US and Europe (think Perrier, San Pellegrino and Nestle Pure Life).  A good place to start is by viewing the award winning 2013 film documentary entitled “Bottled Life” which was produced by Swiss Journalist Res Gehringer.  He travelled to Pakistan, the initial test market for Nestle Pure Life (now a best seller) which is made from purified groundwater.  He was denied entry into the company plant, but outside the plant the film reveals that nearby groundwater levels had fallen dramatically and the local fountain water appeared to be stinky sludge.  The film notes that in Lagos, Nigeria, slum dwellers spend half of their income on water canisters while the upper class buys Pure Life.

In America, Nestle’s efforts are centered in small rural towns like Fryeburg, Newfield, Shapleigh, McCloud and recently, in Hood River, Oregon. According to a watchdog group called Stop Nestle Waters,link here Nestle employs an army of lawyers and lobbyists to battle local resistance with lawsuits and by funding campaigns of pro-Nestle election candidates.  They have been kicked out of Enumclaw WA and Kennebunk MA.  However, brands like Aquafina, Dasani and Arrowhead are doing just fine, despite the fact their water comes from drought zones in California.

If the growth in bottled water doesn’t frost you, consider the following:  Since 1990 there has been a worldwide effort to privatize water.  Water rights would be transferred to major corporations. Water would cease to be a free and basic human right; it would be secondary to profit.  The idea (backed by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund) is that water in private hands improves effiency and service. However, a 2014 report by the Transnational Institute revealed that “180 cities in 35 countries have regained control of their water to municipalities in the last 15 years.”  The change was prompted by citizen protests on a massive scale.  Stay tuned and chuck your Fiji bottle.