Corporate Bottled Water Takes the Greenwash to Twitter

“Bottled water is the greenest, healthiest drink on the shelf!” repeats @BottledH20Babe on Twitter over and over and over again. Is she a bot? No, but she is a lame greenwashing tool of the bottled water industry.

Why would someone like this, whose sole purpose is to make inane claims about the earth friendliness of bottled water and argue with anyone who believes differently, be on Twitter in the first place?

Simple. The International Bottled Water Association is getting scared. People around the world are wising up to the fact that bottled water is wasteful and bad for the environment. The bottled water industry has gotten accustomed to making mind-boggling profits, and a movement to reduce bottled water consumption is a threat to their bank balance.

BottledH20Babe, whose Twitter profile links directly to the International Bottled Water Association website, has a single retort to those who tell ‘her’ why drinking water is bad: “It’s better than soda.” Truly deep and thought-provoking. It makes me want to run out and buy a bunch of bottled water right now.

The association’s website, Bottled Water Matters, actually has a petition (!) asking people to tell elected officials that “I, the undersigned, drink bottled water and understand that it is a safe, healthy, high-quality beverage choice. Bottled water is a modern-day choice because of its convenience and good taste.”

Wow, corporate bottled water spooks. You’re really killing us with your breathtaking logic. Luckily the Union of Concerned Scientists has a quick summary of reasons bottled water ISN’T green, and it actually makes sense.

Fossil fuel consumption. Approximately 17 million barrels of oil—enough to run 1 million cars for a whole year—are used to make plastic water bottles, according to the Pacific Institute. The burning of oil and other fossil fuels (which are also used to generate the energy that powers the manufacturing process) emits global warming pollution into the atmosphere.

Water consumption. The growth in bottled water production has increased water extraction in areas near bottling plants, leading to water shortages that affect nearby consumers and farmers. In addition to the millions of gallons of water used in the plastic-making process, two gallons of water are wasted in the purification process for every gallon that goes into the bottles.

Waste. Only about 10 percent of water bottles are recycled, leaving the rest in landfills where it takes thousands of years for the plastic to decompose.

Bottled water is not and never will be green. We don’t need lighter plastics – we need people to wake up to the simple fact that what’s in those disposable bottles is, in many cases, exactly the same as what comes out of their tap.

Link [Bottled Water Dumbassery] + [Union of Concerned Scientists]

Dow Chemical Sponsors Fishing Event in Waterways it Contaminated

We thought Monsanto was the world’s most evil corporation, but wow, Dow Chemical is doing what they can to catch up. The corporation, which has polluted property and poisoned thousands of people since its inception in the 1890s, is not only sponsoring a sports fishing event in a waterway they contaminated, but they reportedly even offered to send the fish that are caught to local food banks. How generous of them!

This weekend, the ‘Walleye Fest’ has been in full swing at Michigan’s Tittabawassee and Saginaw rivers, which are among the region’s most contaminated waterways. Tittabawassee Township Supervisor Rick Hayes, who is overseeing the event, was not even aware of the restrictions on consuming walleye from these waterways when questioned by the Michigan Messenger.

From the Michigan Messenger:

Hayes may be typical of people in the region when it comes to knowledge of fish advisories. A few years ago, Hayes was part of a committee that created a popular unofficial walleye festival hat with the embroidered statement “Dioxins My Ass.” But he may also be partly responsible for some people not knowing about the risks of eating walleye.

According to state officials, Tittabawassee Township has resisted posting needed fish advisory signs in Freeland Festival Park — ground zero for this weekend’s walleye celebration.

Officials say that under an agreement with the state, Dow Chemical, which is responsible for the watershed’s dioxin contamination, promised to pay for fish advisory signs but has balked at fulfilling this agreement and has refused to provide necessary funds. Mary Draves, spokeswoman for Dow Chemical acknowledged that the company has come to an impasse with the DEQ over funding for fish advisory signs.

“I am not aware of anything further that we will be doing on this,” she said.

Dow is in the midst of a controversial process of negotiating its dioxin clean-up responsibilities in the watershed and Michelle Hurd Riddick of the Lone Tree Council said that company should not be allowed to sponsor a walleye festival as it suggests that the river and fish are safe. “I want to ask EPA: ‘Are you going to set back and let the polluter frame the issue around the safety of the fish?’ ”

“Dioxin My Ass”.  Perhaps these people should be tested immediately for high dioxin levels in their blood, because I think it’s already started to affect their IQ. And this weekend, they’re getting even more exposure, as dioxin has been found to be present not just in the water but in the soil at Freeland Park, where many of the weekend’s festivities have been held.

Dow: Poisoning the World Since 1891. They must be so proud.

Link [Michigan Messenger]