Few people know it, but Nestle is actually the world’s largest producer of bottled water. In fact, they’re so keen on their water business (which also involves many of their other products), that they believe water isn’t a universal right. Chairman Peter Brabeck-Letmathe said:
“There are two different opinions on the matter [or water]. The one opinion, which I think is extreme, is represented by the NGOs, who bang on about declaring water a public right. That means that as a human being you should have a right to water. That’s an extreme solution.”[2.]
Having access to water is not an extreme solution. It’s what we have called a basic need for centuries. Even Brabeck, after a media attack that followed, backed down. He said that he “believes that water is a human right” and “advocates for universal access to safe drinking water”. But his actions, as well as Nestle’s actions, show that that’s just greenwashing.
At the second World Water Forum in 2000, Nestle pushed for making access to drinking water from a “right” to a “need,” a defining change. Meanwhile, Nestle drains the aquifers it controls as much as possible, without any regards to sustainable usage or environmental concerns.
(Nestle pipeline that extracts over 1 Billion gallons of water out of the San Bernardino National Forest every year)
A recent case is the California drought – an issue without precedent in the past 1,200 years. But Nestle doesn’t care. Even as Starbucks recently announced they would transfer their Ethos water bottling facility from California to Pennsylvania, Nestle CEO Tim Brown said: “Absolutely not. In fact, if I could increase [water bottling operations], I would.”[2.]
Yes, if he could, he’d increase water bottling operations, even though Nestle has been working without a permit since 1988. Inhabitat reports that the company has been sourcing its water from the San Bernardino National Forest without a permit and they’ve been recently been bumped to the front of the queue for permit renewal (which will take around 18 months), and they can keep working in the meantime as long as they pay a laughable $524 annual fee. Also, California doesn’t know how much water Nestle uses, because they have no legal grounds for making the company divulge this information, and Nestle hasn’t published any reports. An independent analysis puts all their water usage at 1 billion gallons a year.
Arguably, that’s not much when you considering that 500 billion gallons of water that will be saved under Gov. Brown’s new water restrictions, but there’s something absurd and immoral about a private company using as much water as they want while the rest of the state is facing severe restrictions.
(Small child of the Bhati Dilwan community forced to clean dishes in the muddy waters of the village streets)
In the small Pakistani community of Bhati Dilwan, a former village councilor says children are being sickened by filthy water. Who’s to blame? He says it’s bottled water maker Nestle, which dug a deep well that is depriving locals of potable water.
“The water is not only very dirty, but the water level sank from 100 to 300 to 400 feet,” says the former councilor.[1.]
Indeed, unsustainable usage of aquifer water can lead to a significant decrease in water levels, and can even exhaust the aquifer. That’s right, underground water isn’t the inexhaustible source many people believe it to be. In the case of Bhati Dilwan, people are getting sick because if the community had fresh water piped in, it would deprive Nestle of its money source-bottled water under Pure Life brand. Greedily using natural resources for profits? Check.
But when Nestle isn’t trying to privatize water or use it without regards to the environment, it’s simply bottling… tap water. A Chicago-based business has sued the company (again), claiming that the five gallon jugs of Ice Mountain Water they bought were nothing else than tap water. It may come as a shock to you, but nearly half of the bottled water in PET plastic bottles is actually from a tap – though Nestle never advertised this. They know what’s likely going to happen though, as this is almost a dress rehearsal of a previous scandal. Twelve years ago Nestle Waters was sued over allegation of false labeling, and ultimately settled for $10 million in charitable contributions and discounts.
More recently, Nestle expressed their concern to the city of Flint, Michigan, which was undergoing a massive water crisis at the time — a crisis which still takes a toll to this day. Meanwhile, the company was using nearby water reserves for their own bottled water products. Nestle was bottling hundreds of thousands of bottles, paying only $200 to use this natural reserve.
(I thought I might lighten the mood with some ill timed dark humor, sorry.)
So what’s next? How do we stop Nestle from committing these atrocities? Well what you can do is pretty simple, STOP BUYING NESTLE PRODUCTS! I know the their Swiss Miss hot coco is delicious and bottled water is a nice convivence, but if you really want to stop Nestle, then you need to boycott their products.
Furthermore, why haven’t any politicians stepped in to help? I cannot speak for the leaders abroad, but I will call out those in the U.S.. I find it rather pathetic that the only thing preventing a company like Nestle from raping our country of its natural resources is a fine worth only a few hundred dollars. Sounds like Nestle is in the pocket’s of some of our political leaders. The leaders of our country need to step up and realize that the earth and all the things it provides for us are far more valuable than any amount of money. After all, you cant put a price on a vital human right.
Sources
[1.] Pryke, Louise. “Why Nestle Is One of the Most Hated Companies in the World.” ZME Science, 28 Jan. 2020, www.zmescience.com/science/nestle-company-pollution-children/#Nestle_and_Water.
[2.] CBS News. “Nestlé Faces Backlash over Collecting Water from Drought-Hit California.” CBS News, CBS Interactive, 9 May 2017, www.cbsnews.com/news/backlash-bottled-water-nestle/.
[3.] “Nestlé Waters North America.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 5 Jan. 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nestl%C3%A9_Waters_North_America.
Wow, this is scary that a private company is able to have so much influence over a resource that everyone needs to survive. The fact that government officials have not stepped in and provided the much-needed checks and balances is kind of pathetic. It really shows you where their priorities lie.
Although I’ve heard bad things about Nestle in the past, I did not have any idea about the extent of this issue. It’s ridiculous that they are trying to remove water as a basic human right simply to gain more profit. I will definitely be boycotting Nestle in the future and I hope that the system is changed to give them a major fine.
This post was really eye-opening. I don’t use Nestle products very often, but I’ll surely be aware of this next time I see them in the grocery store. It’s strange how we associate the company with baking and family wholesomeness when in reality they’re acting in ways that directly impact disadvantaged populations’ abilities to fulfill most basic needs such as obtainment of clean water to drink.