Do You Really Need Fiji Water More Than Fijians Do?
September 30, 2008 · Print This Article
Fiji water seems to have replaced Evian in the status-symbol category, becoming an accessory seen in the arms of the same type of people who constantly carry tiny dogs. You know, the Paris Hilton set. It’s marketed as a super-fresh, great-tasting bottled water that’s far superior to what comes out of your tap. But, wake-up call: at least you have clean water coming out of your tap. That’s more than Fijians have.
Yes, that’s right: as a money-hungry corporation (big surprise) drills into the artesian aquifer in this remote South Pacific island, bottles it up (with plastic bottles imported from China) and sends it across the world to areas where people already have clean water to drink, native Fijians have to make do with dirty, polluted water.
From willisays:
In looking for examples of good clean water programs, I came accross the Humanitarian Services division of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Over the last 5 years, they’ve done clean water projects in 34 countries. More about that later.
Here’s where the two stories converge. One of those projects is in Fiji. The village Navunimono gets it’s water from a river polluted by cattle grazing, runoff and other stuff. Humanitarian Services helped the village construct 3 water tanks and now they have clean water.
I’m happy they have clean water now but the story points out problems around the world. What did the military dictator of Fiji do about the water problem? What about the American company taking clean water from another part of the island chain?
This is a great example of how entitled and self-absorbed much of the Western world has become – especially America. We’re more than happy to consume away at the expense of other people. Most of us are born into privilege compared to the citizens of third world countries, yet it’s never enough. We have to tear basic human rights like clean water out of the hands of the less fortunate so that we can enjoy ridiculous excesses like imported water in plastic bottles.
Link [willisays]
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so basically i should feel like shit for drinking bottled water. if you enviro-douchbags took one look at the evil corporate banner advertising space at the top of your website, you would see that this anti-fiji brand water article is accompanied by an advertisement for Fiji water and a link to http://www.FIJIwater.com, sponsored by google. morons. this is why you can’t be taken seriously. i, for one, have repeatedly clicked that link to help you generate ad revenue
First off, I came by this site by StumbleUpon. Whilst the article was a bit short, you summed up your thoughts, and were coherent in your message, hence earning my commendation.
In regards to the bottled water issue, I’ve never worried about it. I didn’t even know there was ’status-style’ bottled water. However, I live in an area of the world where clean water is constantly available, our tap water is cleaner than the bottled, and we drink it with little to no filtration.
In regards to ‘think’, your logic is flawed. You most likely won’t be back, but… Google AdSense takes key words from the article, and then searches them, finds a suitable site, and then displays that in the ad space, assuming that those who are reading the article will be interested in the ad, as they are closely related. You are also misconstruing the message presented in this article. I see this article more as a warning against accepting the marketing of a company and accepting their word at face value. Especially in this day and age, many companies are ‘greenwashing’ (we’ve had to devise a term for their trickery; pathetic indeed) leading naive consumers to use their products. It is absurd.
If you think that the author of this article is malignant in her intent, then that is your misunderstanding. She is merely saying that before you drink that bottle of water, pause and think to yourself, “Is it really as wonderful as they say? Are their other options?”.