Bottled Water Becomes Target of Environmentalists

09 Nov 2007 @ 00:14 GMT | Permalink | Comments

In just two decades, bottled water has gone from healthful to sinful. And it may soon be relegated to snake oil if consumers wake up to a bitter taste of environmental destruction.

Fiji Water, a trendy choice for capricious celebrities, is tackling climate change and perhaps pre-empting a boycott with comprehensive plans to become "carbon negative." That would, theoretically, reduce its environmental footprint, including greenhouse gas emissions, beyond carbon neutral.

[It is nearly impossible to replenish what has already been taken from the environment. Companies claim "credits" or "carbon credits" by tallying the normative harm they caused and, say, by planting trees elsewhere to make up the for the difference.]

The company's announcement in Los Angeles Wednesday coincided with a New York Times article that makes a case for both the bottled water industry and its detractors.

Michael Brune of the Rainforest Action Network tells The Times:

Bottled water is a business that is fundamentally, inherently and inalterably unconscionable. No side deals to protect forests or combat global warming can offset that reality.

Glenn Prickett of Conservation International sums up the reality this way:

Maybe it would be morally preferable to carry a bottle I filled at the tap, but bottled water is a consumer reality. So rather than operate in a moralistic framework, we’ll use the economy as it exists to make a difference.

But the reality is far worse than Mr. Prickett's view of bottled water economics.

Take BlingH20, for example. Their US$40 bottled water comes in "Limited Edition, corked 750ml, frosted glass bottles, exquisitely handcrafted with Swarovski Crystals."

And there's a market for it. A huge one. The MTV Video Music Awards and the Emmys are just two events that featured BlingH20.

The brutally honest company points out that image-conscious Hollywood celebs flaunt their bottled water. BlingH20 targets the "expanding super-luxury consumer market," it says.

Similarly, self-styled "water sommelier" Michael Mascha has made a new career out of elevating the status of water which, like wine, should be paired with many different dishes.

Mr. Mascha says his own Web site, FineWaters, filled a void for fine water connoisseurs and distributors. He turned to water when he his health condition no longer allowed wine.

Niche-market water is not the only target of protests. Coca-Cola, which makes Dasani, and Pepsi Cola, which makes Aquafina, are being hounded for what some see as theft of municipal water. Both brands are nothing more than purified tap water although some contain flavoring.

"Think Outside the Bottle" campaign, by Corporate Accountability International, is aimed squarely at Coke, Pepsi and Nestlé for "privatizing our water." They say 17 million barrels of oil, enough to fuel a million cars for a year, were used to meet Americans' annual demand for bottled water. In the process, 2.5 million tons of Carbon dioxide were released into the atmosphere.

The backlash against bottled water is growing. Corporate Accountability has held rallies in Seattle, Baltimore and other cities.

And potentially, warns the Branding Blog, the US$15 billion market could come crashing down. Why?

Younger, healthier, environmentally savvy consumers are the heaviest consumers of the product: the very people most likely to be concerned about the environment and to act accordingly are the ones drinking bottled water in the first place.

Posted in Economy | Environment by Dayhawk Kim at 00:14
TAGGED: Shortage | Water