Municipal Legislature:
Federation of Canadian Municipalities
A Victory for Public Water
At an annual meeting held March 7th, 2009 in Victoria, B.C., the Federation of Canadian Municipalities asked all Canadian cities and towns to phase out the sale and purchase of bottled water on municipal property. The statement was voted on by the Federation’s board of trustees, sending an important message in support of municipal water sources and their value to Canadian communities. The notice came with a recommendation that all municipalities continue to put pressure on provincial and federal legislatures to provide “first-rate municipal tap water” to all Canadians.
Read the press release: http://www.fcm.ca/english/view.asp?x=1083
City of Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
Charlottetown Bans the Bottle
In April 2007, the city of Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island banned the use of bottled water in all municipal buildings and city council board meetings. Charlottetown was the first Canadian city to pass such legislature, setting a historic example for the whole country. Charlottetown wants to send a message to the people of P.E.I that their tap water is safe to drink and to encourage other cities to follow suit. Their example has lead to similar movements across the country.
Learn more: http://www.theguardian.pe.ca/index.cfm?sid=26101&sc=98
City of London, Ontario
London’s City Council Gives Plastic Water Bottles the Boot
In August of 2008, the city of London, Ontario banned the sale and use of water bottles in city owned buildings, arenas, and community centers. The ban passed through city council with an overwhelming 15-3 majority and was phased into law over a period of several months.
Learn more: http://www.iclei.org/index.php?id=8715
City of St. John’s, Newfoundland
The Power of Collective Action
In June of 2008, St. John’s city council banned the use of water bottles at City Hall and at all municipal functions. The vote came after a letter drafted by Oxfam Canada on behalf of the Canadian Union of Public Officials, Council of Canadians, the Sierra Club, and a half-dozen other citizen’s groups, which argued that bottled water represents a step toward water privatization and undermines public confidence in municipal systems. The move was a first for the province and has been praised by public water advocacy groups around the country.
Learn more: http://cupe.ca/privwatchmayjune08/Activists-score-St-J
City of Vancouver, B.C.
Vancouver Wants All City Events to Be Bottle-Free
In April of 2009, Vancouver became the latest municipality to ban on the use of water bottles by municipal staff and at all council functions. The largest Canadian city to take such action, Vancouver intends to extend the ban, eventually removing plastic water bottles from city concession stands. The move is meant to reduce emissions, environmental costs, and solid waste in the Vancouver area. The city is recommending that events organizers within the city take similar action.
Learn more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2009/04/23/bc-vancouver-bottled-water.html
Kennebunk, Maine
York County, Maine Says No to Nestlé
In the summer of 2008, Nestlé subsidiary, Poland Springs was denied pumping rights in York County, Maine in an unprecedented victory for community action. Nestlé was planning to begin operations that would pump 250,000 gallons of water per day from district-owned lands outside of the community of Wells, Maine. The final decision was left to a four-member council known as the Kennebunk, Kennebunk Port, and Wells Water District Trustees, a municipal water utility. Opposition to the movement was lead by a citizens action group comprised of local anti-bottled-water activists and other concerned citizens, including members of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Kennebunk. Over 100 protestors attended the June 30th meeting and were successful in postponing the deal an eventually “tabling” the proposed agreement on July 17th 2008.
Learn more: http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/06/26/9901
http://www.seacoastonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080724/NEWS/807240417/-1/NEWS01&sfad=1
Town of Bundanoon, Australia
Small Town, Big Decision
On Jun 9th, 2009, the little town of Bundanoon, Australia made history after a local city council meeting where the town voted 354 to 2 to ban the sale of bottled water within municipal limits. Bundanoon is first town in the world to take this step. Residents had grown increasingly disenchanted with a Sydney-based beverage manufacturer that had been pressuring the town to accept a local water-buying contract, which most residents opposed. According to the New York Times, “Residents were furious over the prospect of an outsider taking their water, trucking it up to Sydney for processing, and then selling it back to them.” This outrage spurred the movement to ban bottled water entirely.
There are ten businesses in Bundanoon that profit from the sale of bottled water and all volunteered to remove it from their shelves. In return, the town pledged to provide refillable steel canteens to each store for sale. Residents will be able to fill their bottles at municipal fountains or access filtered tap water at local stores for a small fee.
The ban represented the largest turnout of residents to a city hall vote in the town’s history. Of the two dissenting voters, one, a local parent, was concerned that banning bottled water will lead to an increase in sugary beverage consumption, and the other, Geoff Parker, is the director of the Austrailasian Bottled Water Institute, a group that represents the nation’s bottled water manufacturers. Mr. Parker has expressed great displeasure with the ruling.
Learn more: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/07/09/world/AP-AS-Australia-Bottled-Water-Ban.html?_r=1
City of Flagstaff, Arizona
Water Pumping is Unsustainable, Flagstaff Tells Nestlé
The city of Flagstaff Arizona has rejected a proposal from Nestlé subsidiary, Arrowhead Mountain Spring, to pump 55 million gallons of potable water from the city’s local reserves.
The July 30th 2009 ruling was made by city council and delivered by Mayor Sarah Presler who remarked, “We need water for our citizens. That’s our priority.”
Presler also stated that the proposal “wasn’t a good fit for the community for a number of reasons including long-term water sustainability and the use of plastic bottles.”
Chaff County, Colorado
Another Community Braces to Fight Nestlé
One of Nestlé’s latest prospects is the small community of Chaffe County Colorado, a ranching area in the Rocky Mountains, home to about 17,000 people. Several years ago, Nestlé researchers began prospecting operations at Ruby Mountain and Bighorn Springs, which flow into the Arkansas River a few miles from Salida, Colorado. Today, Nestlé are seeking to extract 65 million gallons of water per year from the mountain source for its Arrowhead brand.
The proposition has locals concerned for the future of their water resources. Many see the company’s proposed operations as a threat to their aquifer, contending that Nestlé has not properly assessed the region’s ability to sustain large-scale removal of their water. There is also concern about increased traffic on the mountain passes now that Nestlé will be shipping water from Chaffe County across the western United States.
Learn more: http://www.stopcorporateabuse.org/los-angeles-times-out-west-new-kind-water-fight
McCloud River, California
A Five-Year Fight Against Nestlé Ends in Victory (For the Good Guys)
In 2003, Nestlé was handed a almost unbelievable 100-year contract to extract water from 1,600-aqure-foot spring water source and unlimited use of groundwater in and around McCloud River in northern California.
The rivers in this region are vital to the local environment and economy. Waters flowing from the base of Mount Shasta support rich agricultural development, ranching operations, healthy forests, and rivers in the region, as well as many rural towns and cities throughout the northern part of the state.
The 100-year “deal” was breathtakingly presumptuous, even for the notoriously presumptuous water giant. The river system is a glacier fed and in danger of total depletion by the end of the century, a fact the company all but ignored in its “development planning.” The contract itself offered no escape clause in case of drought and would have paid only one cent for every hundred gallons of water extracted. Nestlé’s actions seem all the more predatory because of the timing, during a major period of economic downturn in this once prosperous mill region.
Though the Nestlé legal team blocked local control of the water, citizen’s action eventually prevailed. In August, 2008 after five years of struggle, the Protect Our Waters coalition, a local water advocacy group, was able to pressure Nestlé to cancel its proposed contract with the McCloud region and scale back the size of its planned operations. The company has also been ordered to provide further scientific study into the ecological sustainability of its operations.
Nestlé still owns the site and is planning to develop a water bottling operation there in the near future. There are several groups still at work to stop Nestlé’s proposed operations in McCloud.
The McCloud Watershed Council
The McCloud Watershed Council is a non-profit organization of residents and business owners in the McCloud River area. The group is comprised mainly of ex-mill workers, “telecommuters,” retirees, and local students and was central to the five-year struggle against Nestlé.
The Watershed Council is seeking economic alternatives to Nestlé that will bring decent wages, investment, and long-term growth to the community without the loss of water rights.
The group is funded entirely through donation, which can be made on its website:
http://www.mccloudwatershedcouncil.org/
Protect Our Waters
Protect our waters is an organization committed to protecting ecological and hydrological integrity of the Shasta, the Upper Sacramento, and McCloud river systems. The organization’s membership includes Trout Unlimited, California Trout, and the McCloud Watershed council.
Residents of Serra da Mantiquera, Brazil
“Citizens For Water” Fight Nestlé in Brazil
The Serra da Mantiqueira region of Brazil is home to some of the most mineral rich waters in South America. The Ciccuito das Aguas or “water circuits,” is an underground water source, located in this region, known for centuries for the healing properties of its waters. Today, the mineral content of this water source is being reduced by excessive pumping by Nestlé/Perrier for its “Pure Life” brand. When water is pumped from a ground source in such high volume, the mineral content cannot replenish itself and the quality of water steadily declines. This is the issue at Serra da Mantiqueira. Nestlé is currently pumping enormous amounts of water from as deep as 150 meters below the surface.
The organization “Citizens for Water,” a Brazilian water advocacy group, has decided to fight back. Because de-mineralizing natural water sources is illegal in Brazil, the group filed charges that lead to a settlement against the company in 2001. Though Nestlé appealed the court decision and are continuing to pump water from the Ciccuito das Aguas, Citizens for water remain active in its opposition, organizing marches, a 3,000-person petition, and recently, a demonstration in Vevey, Switzerland, home of the water giant.
Learn more: http://www.corporatewatch.org.uk/?lid=580
Unitarian Church of Niagara
Bottled water sacrilegious?
The Unitarian congregation of Niagara in St . Catharines, Ontario, voted to ban the use of all non-recyclable, non-bio-degradable, and non-refillable water bottles from use at all church functions. Calling its decision “ sacred activism,” the congregation prohibited bottled water use by groups who rent the church to host functions. Congregation members have also been asked to stop buying and using bottled water.
The congregation’s decision was based on an understanding of the earth as an interconnected “web of life,” which the bottled water industry is jeopardizing for corporate profit. Congregation members say the bottled water industry is not only polluting, wasteful, and greedy, but also “sacrilegious.” They have called on the entire faith community to consider their relationship to water resources, and to adopt a similar stance.
Learn more: http://www.thestar.com/Life/article/212225
Hong Kong, China
Union Calls Nestlé a “serial offender” of Worker’s Rights
Since Jan 2008, the International Union of Food, Farm and Hotel (IUF) workers has been engaged in a series of strikes with the management of a Nestlé production plant in Hong Kong. The latest clash came in February 2009 as the union staged a mass walkout on behalf of suspended union president Chan Pong Yin. Within five hours Nestlé had agreed to negotiate with the union, lifting Chan’s suspension. Still the battle continues. The strike was the result of a long struggle over issues such as the “normal” 17-hour work day, wage increases totaling only 1% in 12 years, and job insecurity because of revolving casual contracts. Nestlé has refused to grant permanent employment to its casual workforce, many of whom have worked for the company for over a decade. The IUF has called Nestlé a “serial-offender” of worker’s rights.
Learn more: http://www.iuf.org/cgi-bin/dbman/db.cgi?db=default&uid=default&ID=5722&view_records=1&en=1
Mecosta Township, Michigan
Michigan Citizens Win Lawsuit to Limit Nestlé’s Pumping
Nestlé operates a water bottling plant in Mescosta Township, a rural area in the West Central region of the Michigan Peninsula, about 45 minutes from Grand Rapids, drawing 576,000 gallons per day from the Muskegan River watershed for its “Ice Mountain” brand.
Beginning in 2001, the year Nestlé was granted its latest pumping permit in Mescosta, a citizen’s organization called Michigan Citizens for Water launched a lawsuit against the company for potential damage to the region’s lakes, streams, and wetlands. In 2006, an agreement was reached to limit Nestlé’s operations in the area to 218 gallons per minute or 313,000 per day.
The ruing was upheld in a long drawn-out trial that concluded in July of 2009. Michigan citizens for water are calling the ruling a victory for their organization.
Learn more: http://archives.chicagotribune.com/2009/jul/07/news/chi-ap-mi-bottledwater
Vermont Brewers Festival, Burlington, Vermont
Vermont’s Largest Bottle-Free Public Event
In July of 2009, the Vermont Brewers Festival became the largest bottle-free public event in the state of Vermont.
The event, with about 10,000 patrons, featured a water tanker truck, equipped with six taps dispensing local tap water to festival goers.
(Wellington Water Watchers provides the same service in collaboration with the City of Guelph to the Hillside Festival patrons each July. Hillside is one of Canada’s best-known music festivals.)
The Vermont Brewers Association paid the cost to have the truck brought in and a local water hauling company called Fresh Water Haulers set up the rig. Volunteers dispensed water and sold stainless steel “Take Back the Tap” bottles and t-shirts. They even offered public water bowls for dogs.
Going bottle-free saved the festival an estimated 30,000 plastic bottles, which would have been disposed at public expense.
Learn more: http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/blog/topics/bottled%20water
Cascade Locks, Oregon
In Oregon, it’s Nestlé or Nothing
Cascade Locks, a small town in central Oregon, is the proposed site for a new Nestlé bottling plant. Although the plant would create 45 new jobs in the economically disadvantaged town, the proposal is contentious.
Opponents say that the ecological damage that could result from the bottling operation may not be worth the company’s nominal investment in the community. The jobs created will not be enough to sustain the community and may in fact damage the potential tourist market, which can be built around the region’s lakes and rivers. But with few economic prospects, Cascade Locks may be forced to take whatever it can get, including Nestlé’s water pumping.
Learn more: http://www.opb.org/thinkoutloud/shows/bottling-it-cascade-locks/
NGO’s and International Activist Groups:
The International Nestlé Boycott:
Nestlé’s corporate abuses run deeper than Wellington County ground water. The international Nestlé Boycott is one of the longest lasting commercial boycotts in history, running from 1977 and continuing to the present day. The movement is being lead by groups such as the International Baby Food Action Network, Save The Children, and the World Alliance For Breastfeeding Action and seeks to put pressure on Nestlé Co. to stop marketing breast milk substitutes in the developing world, particularly among the poor. It is estimated that the sale of such products has lead to the deaths of as many as 1.5 million children worldwide, mostly from preventable illnesses associated with malnutrition. This practice has lead to condemnation of the company from international organizations such as UNICEF and the WHO. There are many resources available on the Internet for those interested in educating themselves or getting involved in the boycott.
Helpful Links:
http://www.ibfan.org
http://www.babymilkaction.org
http://www.infactcanada.ca/Nestlé_boycott_update.htm
http://www.breastfeeding.com/advocacy/advocacy_boycott.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nestlé_boycott
The Polaris Institute:
The Polaris institute is an organization, which provide support, advocacy, and organizational and strategic tools for social movements seeking democratic social change. The Polaris institute was established in 1997 in response to the anti-democratic, neo-liberal, free trade oriented political climate of the 1980’s and 1990s and the political disenfranchisement, which was plaguing the progressive movement during the period. Polaris became a beacon for activists and organizations across Canada and the United States establishing greater connection and organization amongst grassroots political movements against the forces of free market hegemony. Continuing their work today, Polaris have founded movements such as “Inside the Bottle,” an awareness and education campaign against the bottled water industry and “Tar Sands Watch,” an organization committee to bringing an end to the expansions in the development of the Alberta Oil Sands. They are also authors of many articles and independent studies on water activism, trade policy, national security, and energy issues. The Polaris Institute is an active supporter of the Wellington Water Watchers.
Learn More at: http://www.polarisinstitute.org
Clean Water Action:
Clean Water Action is an organization dedicated to protecting America’s public water reserves “from source to tap.” Activist David Zwick founded the Washington D.C. based organization in 1972 while conducting a published study of pollution in America’s water sources, called Water Wasteland, a study he co-wrote with consumer advocate Ralph Nader. The organization has had many political successes spanning the last four decades. Clean Water Action was instrumental in pushing congress to support the Clean Water Act in 1972, the Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974, the 1977 Water Protection Program, amendments to the CWA during the 1980’s and 1990’s and in the fight against the Bush Administration’s attempt to dismantle the bill in 2003. Today, the group has 1.2 million registered members. Their website includes some excellent resources for public water and environmental activists, including news and blog links, live RSS feeds, links to the organization’s own blog “we all live downstream,” as well as a comprehensive list of reports and publications dealing with issues surrounding water and the environment.
Check Them Out: www.cleanwateraction.org
Tappening:
Tappening is a national campaign to promote the use of tap water as an alternative to the bottled water industry. Started in November 2007 by marketing veterans Eric Yaverbaum and Mark DiMassimo, Tappening seeks to “un-sell” the bottled water industry and “make tap water cool” through public information campaigns and the sale of their own BPA-free Plastic and Stainless Steel water bottles and custom bags.
A recent ad campaign expertly linked bottled water to the U.S. economic bailout with the slogan “Bail on the Bottle.” They also latched onto Obama-mania with several ads linking the President’s success with his personal choice to stop drinking bottled water. Their latest “start a lie campaign,” allows visitors to start lies about the bottled water industry and spread them via popular social networking sites like face book and twitter. Their justification for all the lieing, “if the bottled water industry can lie, you can too.” Popular lies include “Bottled Water fuels wars in Africa” and “Bottled water, 98% melted ice caps, 2%polar bear tears.”
To date, Tappening has sold upwards of 300,000 bottles and has drawn nearly 6 million visitors to their website, largely through word of mouth and their growing presence in the blogging community. Their web site is a great resource for water activists, featuring thousands of their own collected articles and weblinks.
London on Tap:
London on Tap is the product of collaboration between the UK’s largest water company, Thames Water, and the office of Mayor of London. London on Tap is committed to promoting the use of tap water in London dining establishments reminding Londoners that their tap water is consistently ranked between the purist and best tasting in the world. London on Tap recently launched a Britain-wide contest to design a glass water carafe to be sold on their website. All proceeds will be used to promote public water awareness.
Water on Tap:
Launched by the London Evening Standard newspaper the Water on Tap program aims to dispel the negative stigma surrounding tap water and to make London’s tap Water more freely available to local restaurants and bars. They have a world wide petition, which can be signed on their website.
www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/water/water.do
International Rainwater Harvesting Alliance:
The International Rainwater Harvesting Alliance is a group dedicated to promoting rainwater as a valuable, renewable water resource for human consumption. The IRHA acts as an independent advocacy group and as a lobbying platform for rainwater harvesting organizations around the world. IRHA was created in Geneva, Switzerland in November 2002, following recommendations made at the World Summit For Sustainable Development, held in Johannesburg, SA. One of IRHA’s primary ambitions is to promote rainwater harvesting as a tool for climate change adaptation. Though officially based in Geneva, IRHA is currently active in 12 countries around the world. Their website is an excellent resource for information on rainwater harvesting and features a monthly newsletter to keep citizens and activists up to date on developments in the field.
Check out IRHA at: http://www.irha-h2o.org
Think Outside the Bottle:
Think Outside the Bottle is a public water advocacy organization established in 2005 by Corporate Accountability International. Their intention is to “challenge corporations who undermine public confidence in tap water,” through public education and action campaigns against the bottled water industry. Think Outside the Bottle confronts misleading water marketing practices by corporate giants such as Nestlé, Coca-Cola, and Pepsi, demanding that all bottling companies reveal the source and sites of their water; that they publically report breaches in bottled water quality, comparable to reports by public water systems; and that they immediately stop threatening local control of water when citing an operating bottled water plants. They are an American organization with h2 ties to Canada’s Polaris Institute as well as the Environmental Working Group; at have a presence in many communities and University campuses across America.
Check Them Out: http://www.stopcorporateabuse.org/tell-bottled-water-corporations-come-clean
Recent Comments