Drinking bottled water is not a sin
Posted by
Matthew in
poverty on
Friday, March 20, 2009 |
2 responses
March 22 is World Water Day, and I read this post on the Compassion Blog today about bottled water. I love the way that Chris handled the post. His basic statement is that drinking bottled water is not a sin. However, it is the embodiment of self-endulgence.
A couple of things that really stood out to me:
- Pepsi and Coca-Cola bottle tap water. They use energy intensive methods to purify perfectly suitable drinking water. The water they are purifying is ready to drink — they are recleaning perfectly clean tap water.
- Fiji Water, bottled on the island nation of Fiji, is hip and popular in the states. They export millions of bottles of water each month. Yet, half of the people in Fiji don’t have access to clean, safe drinking water.
- “We’ve come to pay good money–two or three or four times the cost of gasoline–for a product we have always gotten, and can still get, for free, from taps in our homes.” (link)
So, I agree with Chris. It’s not a sin to drink bottled water, but it may not be the best idea. Why not substitute the money spent on bottled water for sponsoring a child or donating to a group who provides clean water to those who desperately need it?
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2 Responses to “Drinking bottled water is not a sin”
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I was at the grocery store yesterday when I received a thirst most foul, so I walked over to this section where dozens and dozens of different types of organic or natural bottled waters are located, and it occurred to me, “You’re honestly going to drop $1.50 on something you’ll consume in a minute – and more than likely, you’re going to throw the bottle away, which won’t be recycled, just crumbled and trashed. Go, you.”
So I walked on and got myself a beverage from home later. I think of those Brita filter commercials. I don’t know if drinking bottled water is truly being a good steward of the world God has given us.
I received the following e-mail from the FIJI Green Gal, and I wanted to pass it on to you…
Hi -
I’m contacting you on behalf of FIJI Water and I wanted to provide you with
factually correct information about local access to drinking water.
The claim that “half the people in Fiji don’t have access to clean, safe
drinking water” is false. Reliable access to clean, safe drinking water is
common throughout much of Fiji, but there are still some remote villages where
infrastructure is lacking. We’re currently funding projects through the
FIJI Water Foundation to ensure that these communities are provided with a safe
water supply. FIJI Water has taken direct responsibility for providing water
access to the villages that surround our source in the Yaqara Valley. In
addition, FIJI Water has partnered with the Rotary Club to fund the Pacific
Water for Life Trust, which will provide the infrastructure, expertise and
skills necessary to deliver safe, clean and sustainable water to more than 100
additional communities, schools, health centers and nursing stations throughout
Fiji over the next two years.
FIJI Water provides thousands of cases of water a year to local villages in
Fiji who have been hit by cyclones or flash flooding to provide immediate access
to clean, safe water. The idea that exporting water reduces access to this
resource is not true; in fact, our export revenue is paying for the expansion of
water access at a pace that Fiji’s government has never achieved.
Thank you for your time. Please feel free to contact us if you have any
questions.