Expose the Reality Behind Bottled Water

Beverage and Bottled Water

Jump to: About the Beverage and Bottled Water Industry; Beverage and Bottled Water Industry Campaigns

Expose the Reality Behind Bottled Water

Today, more than one billion people around the world do not have access safe water to drink, and unless something is done, this problem will only get worse. Corporations are exacerbating the global water crisis by turning water into a profit driven commodity, like oil. One of the most visible examples of this is bottled water.  Bottled water corporations are threatening local control of water supplies in communities across the US and around the world.

Coke, Nestlé and Pepsi are misleading consumers into believing that bottled water is better for you than tap water–but the fact is that bottled water is actually less regulated!

As the senior vice president of Nestle Waters’ Global Marketing and Communications Division puts it: ‘We sell water . . . so we’ve got to be clever.’

“These corporations have spent tens of thousands of dollars to convince us that bottled water is cleaner, healthier and safer than tap water. So, as these corporations profit off our water, they are undermining support for our public water supplies, which could pave the way for corporate privatization of our public water systems.

Companies at the top are the best, at the bottom the worst.

company	overall ranking	environ- ment	human rights	labor	ethics & governance	health & safety
Danone	1 (tie)	n/i	n/i	n/i	D	n/i
Cadburry Schweppes	1 (tie)	C	n/i	n/i	n/i	C
Starbucks	3	C-	C-	F	C	D
PepsiCo	4	F	n/i	C	F	F
CocaCola	5	D	C-	F	F	F
Nestlé	6	F	F	F	F	F

Notes: Rankings proceed from top to bottom with companies at the top as more responsible within the industry and those at the bottom as the less responsible. Letter grades go in this order: A (best),B,C,D,F(worst) with plus (+) and minus (-). The color coding is another corporate responsibility indicator, in the order Green (best), Yellow, Orange, Red (worst). Companies in the green zone are sustainable and working towards creating a greener planet (most industries will not have companies in the green zone as there are no companies that can be considered sustainable in that industry). Companies red zone have poor environmental and social responsibility records and should be avoided if possible. ‘Orange’ companies are not quite as bad as ‘red’ and ‘ yellow’ zone are slightly better than orange. Orange and yellow companies have a ways to go before they can be considered green. http://www.coopamerica.org/programs/responsibleshopper/industry/beverages.cfm#facts

Fast facts about the beverage/bottled water industry

• With more than 60 million bottles of water thrown away each day, and with 20 million barrels of oil used each year to make plastic bottles, the beverage bottled water industry among the most environmentally destructive industries.
• Industrial runoff from bottling facilities include petroleum-based substances that are damaging to the environment, animal life and human health, and many companies have been accused of diverting and selling water out of critical watershed areas.
• The beverage industry had mislead consumers to believe that bottled water is healthier than tap water when in reality bottled water is less regulated than public water sources.
• Moreover, soft drink companies target children and schools in their marketing, with vending machines available in schools throughout the nation.
• Colombian workers at Coca-Cola bottling plants have had their safety threatened and even lost their lives for trying to unionize.
• Take Action stop these abuses and make the industry answer for their actions. Visit Go Green to find tips on how to find sustainable beverages.

No Comments Yet

No comments yet.

Comments RSS TrackBack Identifier URI