Lately, I've seen more and more people carrying around water bottles bearing the name "Ethos". I found this quite ironic. Indeed there is in my view, a certain Ethos surrounding bottled water. Namely an Ethos of unbridled consumerism, corporate control of natural resources, and unchecked exploitation of nature. But surprisingly, this claimed Ethos of this brand was ostensibly one of providing sanitary water to those who do not have it.
But I seriously question whether or not it is worth it. Bottled water is by its very nature endorses the idea that water is a corporate commodity rather than a human right.
Do people really buy bottled water because they sincerely believe that they are helping the poor of the world? If so they are grossly misinformed and mistaken.
One important question they need to ask themselves is how much of the money they spend on "Ethos" water is actually going to go to solving the world water crisis. According to their website every bottle of Ethos purchased will result in $0.05 going to provide water to those in need. This figure doesn't surprise me given the basic realities of running any business or large venture. But all the same, when I looked at a bottle of "Ethos" next to a bottle of "Dasani" in a local store, I found that the prices were $1.85 and $0.95 respectively.
But many people are sure to protest. Isn't it better to give more money to an NGO like the one sponsors by Ethos, than to the Coca Cola company? Maaaybeee!
But I have a better idea.
1. Drink tap water.
2. Or if you are truly and honestly uncomfortable with that buy both a home and a pocket water filter, along with some bisphenol free water bottles to carry.
3. Make a conservative estimate of how much money you've saved.
4. Donate 25%, 50%, or 100% of it to one of the many NGOs in this world that deal with the global water crisis and/or other problems. Or maybe to an environmental group that deals with environmental issues.
Why are people so eager to embrace a product like Ethos? What's next? Will somebody market a Hummer with the promise that some percentage of the proceeds will go to some organization finding solutions for global warming?
But for those of you desperate to buy a product that will help save the earth, you likely will have an interesting new option in the near future. It turns out that some companies trying to make algae fuel commercially viable, are diversifying into food products.
That's right food products made out of algae. With a recession and difficulty getting bank credit they have to start selling something made from their algae in order to build the facilities they need to commercialize algae fuel.
Of course, those of us who grew up on 70's and 80's portraits of ecocide perhaps had the expectation that we'd always have to filter and bottle our water-or perhaps even recycle it from our sweat and urine. That drinking from the taps would be a luxury rather than a form of thrift.
Well, plenty of predictions made in the 70's and 80's turned out to be wrong. So don't worry about mysterious foodstuff marketed as coming from algae (it isn't just a cover for something else!!). Bon appettite!
Say Goodnight Readers!!
But I seriously question whether or not it is worth it. Bottled water is by its very nature endorses the idea that water is a corporate commodity rather than a human right.
Do people really buy bottled water because they sincerely believe that they are helping the poor of the world? If so they are grossly misinformed and mistaken.
One important question they need to ask themselves is how much of the money they spend on "Ethos" water is actually going to go to solving the world water crisis. According to their website every bottle of Ethos purchased will result in $0.05 going to provide water to those in need. This figure doesn't surprise me given the basic realities of running any business or large venture. But all the same, when I looked at a bottle of "Ethos" next to a bottle of "Dasani" in a local store, I found that the prices were $1.85 and $0.95 respectively.
But many people are sure to protest. Isn't it better to give more money to an NGO like the one sponsors by Ethos, than to the Coca Cola company? Maaaybeee!
But I have a better idea.
1. Drink tap water.
2. Or if you are truly and honestly uncomfortable with that buy both a home and a pocket water filter, along with some bisphenol free water bottles to carry.
3. Make a conservative estimate of how much money you've saved.
4. Donate 25%, 50%, or 100% of it to one of the many NGOs in this world that deal with the global water crisis and/or other problems. Or maybe to an environmental group that deals with environmental issues.
Why are people so eager to embrace a product like Ethos? What's next? Will somebody market a Hummer with the promise that some percentage of the proceeds will go to some organization finding solutions for global warming?
But for those of you desperate to buy a product that will help save the earth, you likely will have an interesting new option in the near future. It turns out that some companies trying to make algae fuel commercially viable, are diversifying into food products.
That's right food products made out of algae. With a recession and difficulty getting bank credit they have to start selling something made from their algae in order to build the facilities they need to commercialize algae fuel.
Of course, those of us who grew up on 70's and 80's portraits of ecocide perhaps had the expectation that we'd always have to filter and bottle our water-or perhaps even recycle it from our sweat and urine. That drinking from the taps would be a luxury rather than a form of thrift.
Well, plenty of predictions made in the 70's and 80's turned out to be wrong. So don't worry about mysterious foodstuff marketed as coming from algae (it isn't just a cover for something else!!). Bon appettite!
Say Goodnight Readers!!
No comments:
Post a Comment