Nestle wants to bottle water from Florida's Ginnie Springs -- for free

[Joneill]

Ok.. everybody take a deep breath here. I’m am sure my opinions here are probably not going to be popular, but I would suggest some of you to calm down and think critically a little bit about stories like this.

I worked (formerly) in the beverage industry, and have a fair amount if inside knowledge of the industry. (Not Nestle BTW).

Their existing facility IS currently operating under a 20yr permit for the water. They pay for the permit, but not the actual water. This is no different than many other industries who source water from either ground water or municipal water systems. It is not at all unusual for there to be no charge for the actual water other than for municipal infrastructure at many plants. Many beverage plants actually pay for discharge which is rated based on BODs and what needs to be treated from the waste. (Off topic),

What I find interesting is the lack of information about water studies and actual impact to the watershed, one article talks about impact to White Spring, which I find ridiculous, White spring stopped flowing years ago and long before any of the water plants were built in the area.

I am all for being very careful with our resources and making sure we don’t do damage to our ecosystem. I just find many people can’t resist resorting to misinformation and lazy arguments, to support a enviro-political agenda.

My parting thought on this topic: Brewing of beer is probably the most environmentally harmful beverage option. Not even considering the agricultural impact of the hops, the brewing process wastes 5:1 water for the end product. I have yet to see any environmentalist waging war on the beer producers.

The much bigger issue is all those plastic bottles that the water ends up in that folks or municipalities don’t make the effort to properly recycle...

 

[RyanT]

It also creates an extremely inefficient path of reverse logistics as the retailer and suppliers are forced to manage the haulbacks.

This is the way it was done before the advent of cheap plastics. An easier or more cost effective method for companies does not always result in the best outcome for the environment. Our current plastic problem illustrates this nicely.

 

[DeepSeaExplorer]

The water levels in Florida are below normal now without this additional pumping. We don’t need bottled water and the plastic waste is unsustainable. Bottled water is a huge waste of resources.

Nestle would be taking resources that belong to the people of Florida and profiting from it. They’re doing this in all 50 states and gaming the system.

Bottled water is a rip off. Don’t buy it and this **** will stop.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Natural resources are not as limitless as they were considered back when governments developed the scheme for dealing with the desire to exploit them commercially by issuing permits. This scheme should be changed across all industries that exploit natural resources that belong to future generations. Oil. Water. Clean air. Whatever. We’re not accounting for the true cost.

 

[chillyinCanada]

Ok.. everybody take a deep breath here. I’m am sure my opinions here are probably not going to be popular, but I would suggest some of you to calm down and think critically a little bit about stories like this.

I worked (formerly) in the beverage industry, and have a fair amount if inside knowledge of the industry. (Not Nestle BTW). [SNIP]

Darn good thing or we'd have to hang you out to dry.

 

[chillyinCanada]

Almost 100% of North America has NO need for single use bottled water or bottled water at all. We aren't all living in Flint, Michigan.

Ask yourself why you are buying that bottle of water and then, DON'T.

 

[JHumbert15]

Almost 100% of North America has NO need for single use bottled water or bottled water at all. We aren't all living in Flint, Michigan.

Ask yourself why you are buying that bottle of water and then, DON'T.

Couldn’t agree more.

- Jake

 

[Caveeagle]

Almost 100% of North America has NO need for single use bottled water or bottled water at all. We aren't all living in Flint, Michigan.

Ask yourself why you are buying that bottle of water and then, DON'T.

I have a neighbor has well water with a bad taste and has proven very difficult to treat. I am sure larger jugs of water are a better solution for him, and most people can surely minimize the usage of one-use beverage containers, but I’m not sure I believe the “NO need” comment.

I’m all for efforts to minimize single use beverage containers. And promote recycling.

Like I already stated, post consumer waste is a problem that goes well beyond bottled water.

I travel a lot for work, and have a bad habit of letting myself get dehydrated. I don’t like to carry hard plastic or metal water bottles. I just tend to loose them. I usually get bottled of water given to me at my hotels and typically rinse and refill them at least 2-3 times before I either loose them or drop them In a recycle bin. So just because you see someone with s “one-use” water bottle, don’t go straight at them with tar & feathers.

Just another comment on the glass returnable bottles. It’s been years since I had anything to do with that business, but there was some pretty harsh chemicals, rinsing agents, and water waste with the cleaning out of those bottles. FWIW. Not saying that plastic bottles are better, just that switching back to glass deposit bottles may not be the greatest of ideas either.

 

[chillyinCanada]

I have a neighbor has well water with a bad taste and has proven very difficult to treat. I am sure larger jugs of water are a better solution for him, and most people can surely minimize the usage of one-use beverage containers, but I’m not sure I believe the “NO need” comment.

I’m all for efforts to minimize single use beverage containers. And promote recycling.

Like I already stated, post consumer waste is a problem that goes well beyond bottled water.

I travel a lot for work, and have a bad habit of letting myself get dehydrated. I don’t like to carry hard plastic or metal water bottles. I just tend to loose them. I usually get bottled of water given to me at my hotels and typically rinse and refill them at least 2-3 times before I either loose them or drop them In a recycle bin. So just because you see someone with s “one-use” water bottle, don’t go straight at them with tar & feathers.

Just another comment on the glass returnable bottles. It’s been years since I had anything to do with that business, but there was some pretty harsh chemicals, rinsing agents, and water waste with the cleaning out of those bottles. FWIW. Not saying that plastic bottles are better, just that switching back to glass deposit bottles may not be the greatest of ideas either.

I understand because I also do the same, reusing bottles from hotels and such. I'm talking about people who buy flats of the water or buy a bottle when not necessary to do.

Again, "almost 100%" not the guy who has a well. But even he doesn't need to be buying single use bottles.

Nothing in my post says anything about glass bottles.

 

[DeepSeaExplorer]

For those with bad water, reusable containers are the way to go. Instead of the 12oz bottle in which water is typically sold.

As we are learning now, plastic recycling isn’t really feasible. We have polluted the environment so badly with plastic that were now drinking dissolved plastic in water and killing fish. It’s not sustainable.