Flow

I was very lucky last night to be on the guest list for an advanced screening of the documentary “Flow” at the National Geographic Society in downtown DC. They held a screening of the film and also hosted a panel discussion afterwards.

The film focuses on the escalating water crisis around the world and how privatization of water resources is affecting people’s health and the environment. I was rather impressed with how much totally new information I learned from seeing this film.

I’ve long been against buying bottled water like Dasani and Aquafina because it’s filtered tap water. Not even “the same as filtered tap water”, it just is. But I love Deer Park water because you can taste the difference of coming from a natural spring. What I never considered is the affect that pumping water from natural springs can have on the surrounding areas and wildlife. The Nestle corporation has a variety of brands that they pump natural spring water under. The areas where the water is drawn from almost always end up suffering from drought conditions. The locations where the water would normally flow to end up drying out into mudflats, affecting vegetation and animal life.

Combine this with the waste that plastic bottles add to our growing pile of trash all over the planet and this situation has the makings for a very serious problem in the coming years.

One of the biggest reasons people choose bottled water is that they feel it’s healthier. They don’t trust tap water and often with good reason. Pollutants from pesticides and other industrial run-off in streams and rivers has led to major problems with the drinking water in our country. But a statistic that was mentioned in the film made me realize how much focus has been placed on profit instead of solutions. If you were to take the money that people spend on bottled water around the world annually, it would only take 1/3 of that money to provide safe drinking water for the entire world’s population.

There’s a lot more information about the film and further research into water issues on their website here:

http://www.flowthefilm.com/

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Source: Doubleare

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