Isn't water just an amazing thing? We all need it to survive yet it has become this massive part of consumer culture and isn't really seen as a necessity, at least not to Americans.
It used to be, pre-privatization of every single resource on Earth ("they" haven't gotten to air yet, but I wouldn't be surprised if some day you pay tax on breathing), water was a given. You couldn't really deny people access to water. There was of course no guarantee that the water you were consuming would be clean, but then, there was a lot less fuss over waterborne diseases too. Anyway, the government didn't have the ability to charge people for water per se, and you certainly didn't buy bottle water, except maybe as a luxury. With the combination of health crazes which dictate varying amounts of water we should each consume every day (I've heard anywhere from 4-12 glasses) and the need for increased showering/bathing via social standards of bodily cleanliness, the increasing awareness of chemicals in our water supplies, the increasing awareness of sewage and other polluted water sources, we're all buying bottled water. Or paying city taxes to have water transported to us. Or building our wells on private property to ensure we have running water which comes with a unique set of government mandated standards (we certainly don't want to use lead pipes, right?)
In countries like South Africa, water has been an increasing issue. Poor communities unable to afford to have water transported to their homes, have called on rights established by their government to allow them at least an amount of water necessary for survival. Thus far, and this may have changed in recent times, they have been unsuccessful in actually securing the rights their constitution supposedly offers them. In China, estimates of drying up and polluted water sources (rivers) are ever increasingly an issue particularly considering a growing population and of course, a growing manufacturing sector. In the US there have been plenty of issues in terms of irrigation flowing to the South West. There have been a number of concerns about the man made water channels carrying water for agricultural practices throughout the nation, the impact of this on the environment and the availability or amount of water able to be allocated to regions that are seeing increased population and urbanization. But I am getting away with myself...
My concern is with bottled water. In the US, we buy bottled water for around $2 a pint. yes folks, we buy water. In a recyclable but damaging plastic bottle. Then we toss it and get a new one. In more recent times there have been moves to nalgene (although after the toxic plastic issues, probably much less so), or sigg bottles to stop purchasing plastic bottles, these are refillable. They assume you have a source of water that you can fill your bottle with. It's much easier here in the states, you can usually use the water from your faucet, or a public drinking fountain. Yet people still buy bottled water because it is convenient: what if you forget your sigg bottle? I'd be interested to see if more bottled water or soda is purchased annual for on the spot consumption. I can some what understand soda, it's not exactly something you can get at home. There is also a larger and growing selection of bottled waters, some from the US, others from around the world (France, Fiji, etc...) Why exactly are we importing water from other countries? On a bottle of Fiji water, one of it's selling points is "one of the last clean water supplies on Earth... bottled at the source." Bottled at the source? Are there 100,000 Fijians out there holding bottles in some aquifer for $1 a day?Speaking of aquifers, there are several that I know of in the Americas. One is in Cortland, NY another on the boarder region of Argentina, Brazil, Uraguay, and Paraguay which spans a space larger than Texas and California combined (you may know this region as a recent target of the US for "terrorist" activity- coincidence?)
The sad part about water is that it is a commodity and not consider a necessity anymore. This happened during the rapid privatization of former government subsidized resources between the 1970s and now. Oh capitalism, you marvelous creature you. Other reasons this period of history has effected water as a highly contested resource include pollution, industrialization, urbanization, technological advances in farming techniques... the list goes on. Yet we fail to be all that angry about it. After all, most of us take water for granted in the US. We don't have to fight to have a faucet in most of the nation (although there are increasing areas where water has become an extreme issue due to the housing market downflux, natural disaster areas, etc...) We don't fight for it, and we are willing to pay to have it immediately available for our consumption even if we don't need it that availably. This is a whole different issue, perhaps another blog, consumer culture. Distribution of resources globally is sadly lopsided to the point where only what are considered "environmental extremists" and human rights activists in the US seem concerned about water and many others aren't aware of any issue with water at all. I would guess many of the "developing" nations around the world don't see this the same way, many of whom have been fighting for the right to have water since well before I was even born.
I don't have a solution to this... the best one I can think of is to always use your sigg or nalgene bottle and refill it, not from another bottle of water but from a faucet. Bottled water, like plastic bags, is a menace. No government should allow any corporation to sell people water for basic needs. It should be available for our necessities. Why not tax people with pools?! Isn't that an extreme abuse of what is left of the world's natural resources?! Why not ban public fountains?! I have many answers to these questions, but again, no solutions. I challenge you to this however: try going 24 hours without the use of water at all and let me know what you noticed. I am certain you would reconsider that bottle of Poland Spring the next time you are at your local convenience store.
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