There is no reservation in saying that water issues are a certainly a global phenomenon. Depending on where you are situated in the world, water concerns range from drought due to climate change to pollution and privatization. Unfortunately for us, these concerns are not mutually exclusive either. This paper, however, is focused with the ethical implications of water privatization specifically with the commodification of bottled water. Water privatization is best understood as the private sector (as opposed to the public sector) participating and competing in the acquisition, sanitation and sale of water. Essentially, turning what is public good into an economic good. Bottled water has rapidly emerged as ubiquitous international commodity due to globalization. Nestle, the largest supplier of bottle water worldwide, is often at the forefront of criticism and contention when it comes to water commodification at both the national and international scale. This approach has justifiably lead to criticisms that companies, like Nestle, prey on socially and politically vulnerable regions (or those believed to be least politically and socially resistant) for their freshwater resources and because this, it adversely affects local communities by limiting their access, increasing freshwater prices, and degrading the environment. In this paper, I will argue that the commodification of water violates the ethical principal that access to clean water is a right. I will look through two ethical lenses: utilitarianism and deontology.
In order to better understand the ethical ramifications of commodification a thorough background of the effects of water commodification is necessary. As defined in the introduction water commodification is the transit...
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...hical impasse because Nestlé’s strategy has been to divert attention away from the process by which the water they utilize has been retrieved (and all the social, economic, and environmental consequences of that) and direct attention towards the “sustainability” of the product. In order to appeal to the massive environmental market of eco-labeling they claim less plastic is used in the making of the product. I am sure it has some bearing in truth. However, this relates back to Szasz’s idea of the inverted quarantine, whereby we purchase eco-labeled products that purport to help the environment rather than actually helping the environment. This again is a red herring given the aforementioned social and environmental impacts (at both the national and international scale) that arise out of the process by which the water, the fills and sells their image, is retrieved.
Maude Barlow’s “Water Incorporated: The Commodification of the World’s Water” gives a voice to a very real, but vastly unknown, issue: the privatization of water. I refer to it as vastly unknown because it wasn’t until this article that I was even aware such a power struggle existed. Barlow first introduces startling statistics, meant to grab the attention of its readers. Once she has your attention, she introduces the “new generation of trade and investment agreements.” (306)
The Flint water crisis would be one of the most critical things today in michigan. It’s critical for young children not to get lead exposure they should be screened from the lead and lead levels in children's bodies as well. (National Center for Healthy Housing) The water needs to be treated with which it will increase the corrosiveness and potentially further erode any lead piping. (Duke) The People in Flint are a facing with not be able to drink water, and shower. All of these things that happened are critical factors of what is happening in the Flint water crisis today. (Reveal)
“How can you buy or sell the sky-the warmth of the land? The idea is strange to us. Yet we do not own the freshness of air or the sparkle of the water. How can you buy them from us? We will decide in our time” (Chief Seattle: 1855). In the Documentary “Flow – for the love of water” it visualizes the global crisis we face on Mother’s Earth as it pertains to the diminishing of fresh water. The Documentary portrays along with the help of experts that this global crises is affecting each and every one of us in today’s society including animals. The film shows us that water is constantly being wasted, polluted, and privatized by big co operations. Prime examples of these greedy companies were mentioned in the film such as Nestle, Thames, Suez, Vivendi, Coca Cola and Pepsi.
In the documentary, Blue Gold: World Water Wars, it follows several people and countries world-wide in their fight for fresh water. The film exposes giant corporations as they bully poorer developing countries to privatize their own supply of fresh water. As a result of the privatization, corporations make a hefty profit while the developing countries remain poor. Blue Gold: World Water Wars also highlights the fact that Wall Street investors are going after the desalination process and mass water export schemes. This documentary also shows how people in more developed nations are treating the water with much disregard, and not taking care of our finite supply. We are polluting, damming, and simply wasting our restricted supply of fresh water at an alarming speed. The movie also recognizes that our quick overdevelopment of housing and agriculture puts a large strain on our water supply and it results in desertification throughout the entire earth. The film shows how people in more industrialized nations typically take water for granted, while others in less industrialized nations have to fight for every drop.
This is because only a small part of the population, particularly in developing countries, have access to water of acceptable quality. It is estimated that in some countries only 20% of the rural population has water of satisfactory quality. Based on these statistics, it is clear the urgent need for awareness about caring for water use. Almost without realizing it, we are seriously jeopardizing this essential resource, not for us but for our children's children and their generations, aware that in other parts o...
"Water Pollution." Current Issues: Macmillan Social Science Library. Detroit: Gale, 2010. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 5 May 2014.
... drinking water such as Bolivia and Ghana. In the documentary, Flow the experience of poor Bolivians was shown. The water corporations provided unclean drinking water that was full of pollutants. The water cost more than the poor could afford. As a result the citizens rioted and protested against the private water company.
Postel, S.L., G.C. Daily and P.R. Ehrlich. 1996. Human appropriation of renewable fresh water. Science 271:785
Water is pure and a transparent liquid that is vital for all humans, plants and animals on the planet. In the United States, people have access to clean drinking water and clean sanitation systems, not like in other parts of the world where clean safe drinking water is getting scarce. A lot of people don’t have access to it, and many regions are suffering severe drought. Yet, humans take it for granted, they don’t appreciate that a reliable clean supply of water is essential to human health, economy and agricultural prosperity. Having clean and safe potable water is a right and not a privilege. Some individuals don’t appreciate the advantage of having clean water available at
The notion that the water that is in the clear plastic bottle just purchased is pure; purer than the water flowing from the tap is the fundamental reason of choice, one over the other. Millions upon millions of people every day make that choice with a confidence anchored in the trust that the company name on the plastic bottle guarantees it. The choice and use of this source of water purity is at the heart of a growing controversy. More importantly this choice has become both a personal and environmental health problem that has grown far beyond what anyone had predicted earlier when it seemed absurd to pay for a bottle of water when you could have a drink right out of the tap for free. Adding further to the growth of water in a plastic bottle across the world, we have expanded our love affair with the prestige of a name brand water bottle associated more with its’ status rather than its’ purity and thirst quenching capacity.
It might be easier to live a healthy life for many people, but for others it can be very challenging. I have tried to be healthy so many times, but I always fell off the wagon. For many days I would “feel” healthy, but in reality I was not the healthiest person mentally or physically. I knew that I had to change my behavior, and become healthier (or at least almost healthy) if I wanted to live a longer life. I began my journey by drinking more water, balancing my eating with exerting, all while trying to stay mentally well.
There are many types of pollution. The main types of pollution are water, air, soil, thermal, radioactive, noise, and light. The topic for this experiment is Water Pollution. Water Pollution became a problem in the 1900’s when water started being treated like sewage. Earth Day was founded by United States Senator Gaylord Nelson on April 22, 1970 because of 1900’s pollution. Water Pollution also affects humans and animals. There was a Cholera outbreak in 1854, before water pollution became a problem, and a Typhoid outbreak in New York from 1900 to 1915. There are multiple possible causes to Water Pollution. Humans let out chemicals into the environment, and when some of those chemicals
As of this year, nearly 1.1 billion people live without clean drinking water and 2.6 billion live without adequate water sanitation. The McDonald's down the street, however, will sell you a 1/3 pounder burger for only 150 gallons. Changes in lifestyle can easily reduce this number and help not only save water, but money as well. Currently, with our diminishing water supply, one of the main goals of humanitarian organizations is ensuring that everyone has the right and equality to water. With global access to water, it reduces the responsibility for political tension between countries fighting to literally stay alive.
One main causes of water scarcity is water mismanagement worldwide. Water mismanagement has become a crisis of governance that will impact heavily ...
Less than 1% of the water supply on earth can be used as drinking water.