Buy one and get ten free!
Now, that is not something that you can ‘pass’ on. Do I have your utmost attention?
Please don’t press ‘Delete’ yet. I'm trying to be serious.
The Subject is Bottles Of Water?
A report in the National Post newspaper today, quotes a warning from NASA related to global drought; “The water table is dropping all over the world”.
We read about the drought in California, believing that it may be the only place in the world where underground aquifers are drying up, but it is happening throughout the world.
“Twenty-one of the world’s 37 largest aquifers — in locations from India and China to the United States and France — have passed their sustainability tipping points, meaning more water is being removed than replaced from these vital underground reservoirs”.
“Groundwater reserves take thousands of years to accumulate and only slowly recharge with water from snowmelt and rains”.
“The new studies used NASA’s GRACE satellites to take unprecedentedly precise measurements of the groundwater reservoirs hidden beneath the ground. The satellites detected subtle changes in the gravitational pull of the earth’s surface. Water is exceptionally heavy and exerts a greater pull on orbiting spacecraft. As the satellites flew overhead, slight changes in aquifer water levels were charted over a decade, from 2003 to 2013”.
Now, stop for a moment. Think about instant coffee, chocolate, iced tea, condensed milk, etc. What company comes into your mind? Nestle, no doubt.
But what has that got to do with groundwater levels?
(By the way, why aren’t cans of evaporated milk ... empty?) Sorry.
Nestlé is closing in on a lucrative water privatization deal in the state of Oregon. The deal would give Nestlé millions of gallons of some of the cleanest drinking water we have, despite a huge drought. Even worse, Nestlé will only pay one cent per 40 gallons of water. Then, it will sell the same water back to the public for $2.63 per gallon.
Please be reminded that Nestle has been draining aquifers everywhere, using various anonymous brand names, for decades. Interestingly, one Californian well is still being used, even though its’ license expired years ago.
Nestle has a capital of $247 billion US (May, 2015). Bottled water comprises 7% of that, which is nearly $18 billion US.
Why should they be concerned if your lawn is turning brown.
Why should we be concerned if Nescafe instant coffee dries up too.
Nestle fill water bottles from a resource in rural Ontario. It is very good water but when you purchase a bottle in a restaurant or theatre for three dollars it is worth six dollars a litre. Gasoline is currently about $1.20. OK, people want it and can purchase it in 24 bottle packs at about 10 - 15 cents a bottle. Is it proper that Nestle is extracting wealth for their Swiss backers exploiting our water which is a diminishing resource?
ReplyDeletePrecisely, John, you've got it in a nutshell.
DeleteWhy are people buying bottled water in the first place?
Some time ago, I saw a map of Nestle's global water extraction plants, it was horrific. Their name (Nestle) is hidden on most of them.
Personally, I intend to boycott anything with the Nestle name.
Climate change will exacerbate the problem. Living in the great lakes region, our good fortune will not be lost upon those suffering from drought. However will this region protect its water from those who would ravage it as they have their own water sources?
ReplyDeleteI feel sorriest for those whose water supplies are fed by glaciers. The entire northern half of India receives its water supply from the Himalayan mountains. Those glaciers are melting so very fast. When they are gone, the Ganges and four other major rivers will cease to flow.
What then?
The Pope has it right, but the churches should have spoken up sooner, maybe in 2005 when Gore pointed out that global warming is a moral issue!
I have done what I can. I’ve shown the movie on global warming to every class that I have taught since 2005, not that my students were getting the point. (They are fed by Fox news and the deniers; they wanted to prove Gore was wrong.)
I am going to leave the union and devote my full time to climate change activism.
Nancy
I appreciate your reply, Nancy. It, certainly, is of great concern that those in places such as Hollywood, who feel entitled to green lawns, may change the Great lakes into Tiny Lakes, not to mention the plastic bottles that suffercate our oceans. I hope that a change of climate will increase the rains in the Himalayas, or more diligence in the capture of water during the monsoon season.
DeleteI wish you well with your activism. Reduce any dependence on that Nescafe rubbish for a start.
It is exciting that Pope Francis has written such a powerful encyclical about the destruction of our home world. He won't likely influence deniers in America, Europe, China and smaller countries like our own. As long as resource extractors become wealthy exploiting the planet without being inhibited by political (the people) resistance the process will continue.
ReplyDelete