This is a perfect early
autumn day. The sky is a cloudless blue, the breeze is gentle, the sweet autumn
clematis is blooming, and flames of ivy are licking up tree trunks like the
start of a forest fire.
This afternoon we’ll
probably get some rain. Here, at the edge of the West, we’re almost always
hoping for rain – our most precious resource. Water, it seems, is always on my
mind, casting a shadow of gloom over my pleasure in this day.
My concern with water isn’t
just about rain to slake our garden’s thirst. My concern is far wider, all
because Kyle asked me if the earth’s supply of water is finite and if it can be
used up. Last week I wrote a blog post about humans’ misuse of water, “Water,
Water Everywhere.”
What worries me even more
than human’s misuse of water is that some humans believe that all water
should be owned and administered by capitalists. Some water is already owned by capitalists, the
guys who produce plastic bottles of water for those of us who can’t be bothered
to fill a flask of water to carry with us.
Nestle Waters North
America, Inc. owns the rights to several springs in California, an area
experiencing drought and scant groundwater. Nestle, producing millions of
bottles of water from the springs, deprives the delicate desert ecosystem of
water and threatens the water supply of towns. [1]
Nestle CEO, under the guise
of water stewardship, has publicly said that corporations should take responsibility
for the proper distribution of the earth’s water. [2] Nestle certainly has
shown in Southern California that responsible distribution of water means
distributing the profits from the sale of bottled water to its shareholders.
Can we actually allow this
to happen? It worries me.
Back in the early 1940s, E.
B. White wrote:
“When I was a
child people simply looked about them and were moderately happy; today they
peer beyond the seven seas, bury themselves waist deep in tidings, and by and
large what they hear makes them unutterably sad.” [3}
Nothing has changed, Mr.
White. With more news we are ever more sad and can hardly enjoy a beautiful
day.
[1] Nestle takes water from drought area in desert
[2] Nestle chairman Peter Brabeck discusses water, The
Guardian
[3] E. B. White, One
Man’s Meat, c. 1942.
Copyright
2014 by Shirley Domer
1 comment:
Love this post! The quote from E.B. White is wonderful and true; the photo is beautiful. Thank you for sharing this alarming information about Nestle.
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