Monday was World Water Day, an international observance that grew out of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED). But water is such an increasingly important issue I felt that it deserved more than just one day and my feelings are shared by many.
Tapped is a film about the current state of our global water supply.
Here is a description of the film….
Dollar for dollar, it may be the biggest scam in American history: the bottling of tap water and resale of it as a healthful drink. Stephanie Soechtig (a former producer for 20/20) and the producing team behind WHO KILLED THE ELECTRIC CAR expose the multi-billion dollar bottled water market. This persuasive, intelligent and compelling look begins with a small town in Maine whose water supply is being depleted by Poland Springs, a Nestle brand, before examining deeply troubling elements of corporate practice e, including the scare tactics used to keep Americans from drinking tap water and the environmental impacts, including the enormous amount of cancer-causing plastic used. (U.S., 2009, 79m, video)
To celebrate and honor World Water Day the director and line producer of Tapped have embarked on a “Get off the Bottle” Tour. You can follow them and maybe even meet them if they are coming through your city.
There already is a powerful response to this tour, which just started last Monday. Students at Santa Monica High School in California saw the film and then started a Pledge to Refuse Using Single Use Plastic Bottles, read about it on their school blog. You can bet most of them went home and got a commitment from their parents too.
By the way, one third of all bottled water is just filtered tap water.
You don’t need to see the film to realize how serious this multi-faceted problem is. First is the privatization of water that is happening across the globe. The bottling of water in many communities is literally stealing away the water from residents and farmers. And the HUGE amount of plastic bottles that are used and then disposed are a major problem. This is Annie Leonard’s newest short about this problem, it gets right to the point of how we have been manipulated into buying bottled water and what a mountain (literally) of a problem this has created.
Demand clean safe water and make your own commitment to stop the regular use of buying bottled water, and other beverages too, in plastic bottles. Pick up a reusable container and everyday you will be a part of the solution.
