Last time, I told you about the commendable gains made in the promotion of the SIGG aluminum water bottle by StopGlobalWarming.org It’s a wonderful product but perhaps impractical for your situation. What are your alternatives?
You may have heard about Brazilian Springs water, which claims to be the first and only eco-friendly bottled water in the world. Is that possible? It’s a question of degree. First the good news...
Brazilian Springs Water as a firm created a foundation and then partnered with Fundaçâo de Preservaçâo da Floresta Amazônica, FundAmazon for short, to protect sensitive lands which have been cleared (or are under threat of clearing) plus engage in broad reforestation along Brazil’s Atlantic coast. A portion of the revenue from the sale of the bottled water, which comes from Arkansas, is directed into the foundation to go toward saving the Amazon rainforest.
The goal is sound. The urgency is great and the need for international involvement cannot be overstated. Two thumbs up for creativity and mission!
Now, the bad news – the water is bottled in only one place yet available in many. In other words, the product must be shipped, a carbon-intensive practice. Of equal damage is the fact that the water is packaged in PET (polyethylene terephthalate) bottles, which, while recyclable, is a carbon-intense material which usually winds up in landfills.
The global demand for raw materials, which includes about 30% of petroleum for PET in drinking bottles, is part of what drives deforestation in Brazil. So, we’re paying twice, once to cause the deforestation and once to repair it.
To be fair, the good people at Brazilian Springs Water are trying to be part of the solution, especially as the only firm dedicating a consistent revenue stream into saving the Amazon rainforest. Ultimately, however, their approach is not unlike a bandage for a head wound, woefully inadequate and probably dangerous.
If you can’t follow my lead and use a SIGG aluminum water bottle from StopGlobalWarming.org, your next choice should be to use bottled water with a production facility near you, so that the water doesn’t travel far from its source. That way, emissions from delivery are minimized. Unless you live near Hot Springs, Arkansas, Brazilian Springs Water does not pass the location test.
The folks at Brazilian Springs Water may feel that my position is unfair. I am firm in my conviction but next time, I will share with you the latest details of a bottled water program which is even more harmful.
Readers of my section of Keyboard Culture know that I am very bullish about reforestation. I spend a great deal of time covering it and if I can turn away an initiative which has saving the Amazon rainforest as one of its central corporate goals, then you know that the approach must be flawed.
Fomenting the Triple Bottom Line
Corbett Kroehler
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