"Who owns water?"

Wednesday, February 18, 2009
10:50 pm WTF.


I'm starting a new segment on my blog called: WTF. I'm not going to spell out what it stands for (What The F--- oh, you figure it out), but basically whenever I see or hear or learn about something that really makes me angry, it's getting put on my WTF list. Today, boys and girls, we're going to talk a little bit about bottled water.

I decided to do a movie review for the environmental magazine we're creating in my Magazine Workshop class, so I just watched "Flow: For The Love of Water" on my ITunes.

Double you.

Tee.

Eff.

Honestly, part of me didn't want to watch it. I did a ton of research for another story I'm doing on "Clean Coal" (want to know the ending? IT DOESN'T EXIST.) that left me pretty sure my children's children will be dealing with some really scary stuff thanks to global warming. And honestly, I still have nightmares about plastic since I read Susan Casey's "Our Ocean's Are Turning Into Plastic, Are We?". Plus, those"Forever in a Landfill" commercials that are on TV all the time have made me feel so guilty I've actually stopped buying bottled water. But, as it turns out, I have another reason not to buy bottled water. Check out the trailer.

I was seriously shaking by the end of the film. At first I thought it was going to be about water conservation, which it is a little, but it's mostly about who has the right to clean, accessible water. The answer should be that we all do, but unfortunately there are these big water corporations who are managing to make a profit by privatizing water in third world countries. It's SO messed up! And it's not even just the third world countries. They're doing it here too. It's disgusting.

You really need to see this film. Companies like Nestle (owners of Poland Spring, Pellegrino, Perrier), Coca-Cola (owners of Dasani - which is tap water, Fuji Water), and Pepsi (Aquafina - also tap water) are depriving people of one of the essential things humans need to survive, so they can make a buck. The World Bank is loaning billions of dollars to the world's poorest countries so that they can build dams they don't need so big water companies like Suez, Vivendi, and Thames Water can profit. Of course, these poor countries end up poorer and can't pay off the debt! It's a vicious cycle.

Sometimes I get fired up about these things, and then I get a little depressed because I think, "What kind of difference can I really make?" During the film, one of the activists repeats Margaret Mead's famous quote and it gave me chills: "Never doubt that a small group of committed, thoughtful citizens can change the world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has."

The saddest part, though?

One statistic in the film says that it would cost thirty billion dollars to give safe water to everyone on the planet.

...We spend 3 times that on bottled water in one year.

What.

The.

Flove,
Tara