Water

Tim Johnson, McClatchy Newspapers, May 27, 2010, MEXICO CITY — It's a simple warning — don't drink the tap water — and Mexicans take it to heart as much as any foreign tourist does.

Mexicans drink more bottled water than the citizens of any other country do, an average of 61.8 gallons per person each year, according to the Beverage Marketing Corp., a consultancy. That's far higher than Italy, and more than twice as much as in the United States.

A rising mistrust of tap water is behind the thirst for bottled water. Other factors are also at play, however, including clever advertising campaigns by multinational corporations and the failure of the Mexican government to provide timely data on water safety.

Tina Gerhardt, AlterNet, April 19, 2010,

High up in the Andean valley, 8,000 feet above sea level, lies Cochabamba, Bolivia. The name, Khocha Pampa, from the indigenous Quechua, means swampy plain. Once a lush and verdant land, its waters have come under pressure from a variety of sources. The first was privatization.

This week the Feria del Agua, a water festival and fair, marked the 10th anniversary of the water wars that fought off privatization. Events to celebrate kicked off on Thursday, April 15 with a 4,000-person parade from downtown Cochabamba to the Complejo Fabril (Cochabamba Federation of Workers).

From ZNet

Monday, April 19, 2010

[Message of the author of the Open Veins of Latin America to participants of the First World Peoples’ Summit on Climate Change and Rights of Mother Earth in the Bolivian city of Cochabamba from April 19 to 22, as an alternative to the Copenhagen Climate Change Summit]

Sadly, I will not be able to be with you. Hopefully, all that is possible, and also the impossible, will be done so that the Summit of the Mother Earth becomes the first phase towards the collective expression of people who do not direct world polices, but suffer from them.

Hopefully, we will be able to carry forward the two initiatives of companion Evo (Morales, President of Bolivia)— the Climate Justice Tribunal and the World Referendum against a system of power founded on war and on waste, which scorns human life and auctions our worldly goods.

A Message of Solidarity from Polaris Institute Director Tony Clarke to la Coordinadora de Defensa del Agua y de la Vida & la Asociación de Sistemas Comunitarios de Agua del Sur Spanish translation below

I want to express my deep gratitude and appreciation for your invitation to participate in the 10th anniversary celebration of what many of us have come to call the ‘Battle of Cochabamba.’ I truly wish I could be with you and share in this historic moment. After all, the Battle of Cochabamba turned out to be the first water war of the 21st century and is now an enduring symbol of the struggle and movement for water justice around the world.

For more information on the Story of Bottled Water visit: www.storyofbottledwater.org

For immediate release

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Thousands Mark Canadaʼs First Bottled Water Free Day

OTTAWA ––Today, Canadians across the country are participating in Canadaʼs first Bottled Water Free Day. Organised by the Canadian Federation of Students, Sierra Youth Coalition and the Polaris Institute, Bottled Water Free Day is intended to raise awareness about the negative impacts of bottled water.

“Across the country students are standing up against the wasteful bottled water industry,” said Noah Stewart, National Deputy Chairperson of the Canadian Federation of Students. “Tired of having to pay Coca Cola, Pepsi or Nestle for a drink of water weʼre calling on schools to ban the sale of bottled water and re-invest in water fountains.”

Highlights of Bottled Water Free Day include:

MEDIA ADVISORY

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Thousands of Canadians to Participate in Canada’s First Bottled Water Free Day on March 11th

OTTAWA – On Thursday March 11, Canadians from coast to coast will be participating in Canada’s first Bottled Water Free Day.

Highlights of Bottled Water Free Day include:

• Announcements by Ryerson University regarding the sale of bottled water
• Events on more than 60 college and university campuses
• The release of data on spending by the CBC on bottled water obtained through an Access to Information Request

More than 70 organisations, institutions and municipalities including the Sierra Club of Canada, Canadian Labour Congress, City of Sudbury, and Durham Catholic District School Board have endorsed Bottled Water Free Day to date.

Bottled Water Free Day is organised by the Canadian Federation of Students, Sierra Youth Coalition and the Polaris Institute.

Zoe Cormier, February 5th, Axis of Eco - The first Public Eye Award for Greenwash handed out in Davos last week was unprecedented. Not only was it the first such award handed out in the Swiss city for false environmental claims, but it was also the first ever Public Eye Award for the recipient: the United Nations.