Inside the Bottle: An Expose of the Bottled Water Industry

So how many Americans are drinking bottled water on a regular basis?

According to the Polaris Institute, 20% of consumers in the US drink bottled water regularly and that number is increasing. This fact, according to author/activist Tony Clarke, should concern us all since water is transforming from a necessity of life to just another commodity. In this expose Clarke takes on the bottled water companies, what Clarke refers to as the Water Cartel.

Inside The Bottle: An Expose of the Bottled Water Industry takes a look at the Big 4 bottled water companies, companies that control over 90% of the market; Nestle, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola and Danon. Clarke traces the origins of the bottled water industry to today and provides a great summary of the impact that putting water in bottles has meant for the public. Some of the areas covered are where the companies are taking the water from, the environmental/community impacts, the recycling scam, contracting with schools and a look at marketing methods employed by the industry. One of the more successful marketing schemes has been to manufacture public fear about the “safety” of drinking municipal water. The big issue raised in this book however, is the shift towards water privatization. Clarke says the success of promoting bottled water based on the public fear of tap water, has been a strategy used to pave the way for water privatization. The author provides numerous examples of where bottled water companies have spent billions of dollars to defeat tax increases in communities seeking to improve the municipal water system. This, like much of the lobby work around the country, tends to stay out of the public eye.

The increasing influence of the Water Cartel has not gone unnoticed around the world. Communities are resisting the privatization of water and water diversion projects. One whole chapter is devoted to looking a few case studies in places like Washura, Wisconsin, Florida, New Hampshire, Ontario and of course the local campaign in Mecosta County, Michigan. Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation has been taking on the Ice Mountain bottling company, a subsidiary of Nestle. Each of these cases where communities have resisted is a valuable part of the bottled water story. The book also includes great graphs, data, maps and resources that make this an essential tool for activists.

Tony Clarke, Inside The Bottle: An Expose of the Bottled Water Industry, (The Polaris Institute, 2005).

Related Posts:

1. Book Reviews: Superpower Principles: US Terrorism Against Cuba, and Inside the Bottle: An Expose of the Bottled Water Industry
2. Michigan Group Praises Tap Water Instead of Bottled Water
3. Bottlemania: How Water Went on Sale and Why We Bought It
4. Blue Covenant: The Global Water Crisis and the Coming Battle for the Right to Water
5. Boxed Water: Better for the Environment?

Tags: activism, corporations, environment, michigan, water