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Nestlé’s Attempt To Completely Privatize (Steal) Water In Oregon Put To A Stop: “Our Water, Our Future”
The average North American uses 100 gallons of water per day. It is practically impossible in today’s society to avoid using excessive amounts of water; behind each purchase you make there is a hidden cost, such as the 650 gallons of water required to produce a generic cotton t-shirt, or the 139 gallons to make a single 16-ounce cup of coffee (source). The production of water bottles uses 17 million barrels of oil and 2.5 million tons of carbon dioxide annually, and it takes three times the amount of water to make the bottle as it does to fill it (source). Bottled water sales continue to rise, despite the fact that production is terrible for the environment and North Americans can get the same quality of water for free from their taps (read more about this scam here). In 2014, Americans purchased $18.82 billion worth of bottled water and in 2015 sales increased by 7.9%. As we approach a global water crisis, which is inevitable as the population rises, more bottled water companies are upping their production. It seems that corporations are viewing this as an investment opportunity rather than a global issue. Then, as fresh water becomes scarcer or we hit ‘peak water,’ bottled water companies will be able to put a premium on water as demand rises.
How Nestlé is monopolizing the bottled water industry
Nestlé has been increasing its acquisitions of water plants and upping its production of bottled water all over North America. The corporate giant extracts water from 50 springs throughout the United States. This has caused an increase in the amount of wild fires and droughts all over the nation. On top of this, Nestlé is doing so at an incredibly cheap cost. Nestlé extracts millions of litres of water per day from plants all over North America, some of which hit that daily target on their own. Not long ago, the former CEO of Nestlé, Peter Brabeck, stated rather clearly in an interview for a documentary called We Feed The World, that he believes water should not be a public right and that it should be something only the wealthy have access to. In 2007, Brabeck received a Black Planet Award, which is an award given to people who contribute to the destruction of the planet. Brabeck, through Nestlé, was accused of proliferating contaminated baby food, monopolizing water resources, and tolerating child labour. You can read more about that story in an article we wrote about it a few years ago, here.
Philosophers stone – selected views from the boat http://philosophers-stone.co.uk
Source: http://www.philosophers-stone.co.uk/?p=13903
