THE FOOD WE EAT -- PART 5: BOTTLED WATER

Do you know where that bottled water you're drinking came from? Or what's in it?

You might be surprised.

It may have been stolen by Coca-Cola from a farming village in India. Or from Lake Michigan by Nestle. Or it may contain fertilizers that came from irrigation runoff. Or it may have even come straight from a tap.

All of these things have happened significantly in the relatively short history of bottled drinking water.

It is yet another of the great coups of Corporate America -- along with things like stealing our airwaves and profiting from our health care -- that people have been suckered in to paying premium dollar for water. Without knowing what's in it or where it came from. When your own tap water is, generally, as good or better in quality. (And it costs very little to put a filter on your faucet or use a filtered jug if you want to do a little extra cleansing.)

You've got to hand it to those guys: It's quite a con job. But it's also very dirty business.

And don't forget the use of resources and resulting pollution from those millions of plastic bottles. It just doesn't make good sense, does it?

Plus our bottled water could be a far-off community's water shortage. It could literally be causing hardship.

Shouldn't we know where our water comes from and what's in it? Just like we should with any of our food? If you checked out info on the Internet for even 10 minutes, and then made your voice heard, you'd be making huge strides. (see link below)

It's about helping others as well as ourselves. Do you have the time for that? Would you if it was your crops perishing or your family carrying water great distances to drink and cook with? One in six people on the planet don't have access to enough water.

Use this link to read 10 quick points against bottled water from the non-profit group Corporate Accountability International (and maybe you'll want to get behind their "Think Outside the Bottle" campaign):

http://www.stopcorporateabuse.org/top-ten-reasons-think-outside-bottle

Or watch this excellent, 8-minute video:

http://www.stopcorporateabuse.org/story-of-bottled-water?r=TOTB

Forget about the leafy scene on your bottled water depicting natural springs gushing directly to you. It's a myth. Buy a filter for your tap. Buy a decent refillable bottle from somewhere like Whole Foods (or just use a recycled bottle of your own if you don't care about looking fashionable), and you're set. Money saved, environment helped, corporate scumsuckers not supported.

Take care and keep smiling,
Adrian Zupp

IF YOU FOUND THIS BLOG POST INTERESTING you might like to take a look at CHILD HUNGER -- THE SCOURGE OF THE PLANET.