Much has been written about how everyone is drinking bottled water, and carries their water bottle with them everywhere. It's been pointed out that bottled water costs three times as much as gas, that tap water is clean, and that at least tap water is tested. Bottled water has no information on the label because the bottling people have no responsibility to inform the public about how pure or impure their water actually is.
But I have great sympathy for those of us that clutch our water bottle to our collective chest. We're all swimming in a sea of pollution-- breathing it, eating it and drinking it. We don't know what's in our water bottle, and we don't care. Because what the water bottle represents to us, really, is a little lie we tell ourselves to feel safe, "at least this bottle of water is free of pollution". The water bottle, like the Cross or a Star of David, has become a talisman that we tell ourselves will somehow protect us.
Most of us would rather not talk about how toxic our world is. It's too depressing. We all have to live in this muck. We can see the brown air in cities around the country and around the world. Why talk about it when you have to breathe it. And the same goes for the water. Most lakes and rivers around the country are unfit to swim in. Our bodies of water are contaminated by chemicals from years of factories dumping waste, run off of all the stuff that runs down our drains, or they contain a toxic cocktail of pharmaceutical drugs that we flush down our toilets. And study after study shows that fish harvested from every corner of the oceans are full of chemicals.
But if we can avoid thinking about the water, we still have to eat. What about our food? Fruits and vegetables are grown using a ton of pesticides. The very pesticides that are killing weeds and bugs we are told won't harm us. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that those pesticides are affecting our bodies as well. The meat we eat is pumped up with additives, drugs and antibiotics. Some of the meat is cloned, and the vegetables are transgenic, though that simple fact is hidden from us because the powers that be don't want a warning label that could give us the opportunity to decide if we want to eat cloned food or not. Our government refuses to clearly tell us if the meat they approve is genetically modified or not. Even organic, that magic word, is loosing its meaning as well. There is a long list of substances that can be added to foods labeled organic, that are anything but organic. But if the corporations need to call food organic to make people feel safe so they can make more profit, then they will just lobby the legislature to define organic to mean whatever is convenient.
The health problems from pollution affect us deeply. Who doesn't have a sibling or a parent or a close friend who has or is now battling cancer. It is a known fact that though Cancer is overall the number one killer, cancer would be reduced exponentially if we could clean up the pollution, the poison that we're breathing, eating and drinking.
Since denying the existence of Global Warming is no longer a political possibility, this looming reality should, in theory, no longer be ignored. But as governments and scientists acknowledge that Global Warming is perhaps even too far along to be stopped, and that Global Warming is an end of the world scenario, the car companies and the Bush administration are doing everything in their power to prevent California (and by extension the rest of the country) from instituting higher gas mileage on our vehicles, while dragging their feet on numerous other easy to implement improvements. Even facing the dire consequences that are coming in the not too distant future, even with that information, corporations want to slow down the progress and sell more carbon spewing, gas guzzling vehicles because it is more profitable in the short run, and our government is backing the corporations every step of the way.
So, back to our water bottles... For the moment at least, I must breathe the toxic air, ingest the pesticide and hormone-laced food, drink the questionable water, and drive the cars they find profitable enough to produce. And so I don't feel that those of us who are clutching our water bottles are being ridiculous, we're just scared. When we carry that small plastic bottle along through life we feel a little more protected, we tell ourselves that we are doing something healthy. In the grand scope of things, there are small things we can do, but we can't really change our environment without the governments and the corporations totally changing the way they think. Forget the war on Drugs, and the war on Terror, we need a war on Pollution. We need a worldwide change to the way we interact with this planet of ours. But until then I need something to protect me-- like my little water bottle. It's the adult equivalent of the teddy bear that toddlers carry to feel safe.
But I have great sympathy for those of us that clutch our water bottle to our collective chest. We're all swimming in a sea of pollution-- breathing it, eating it and drinking it. We don't know what's in our water bottle, and we don't care. Because what the water bottle represents to us, really, is a little lie we tell ourselves to feel safe, "at least this bottle of water is free of pollution". The water bottle, like the Cross or a Star of David, has become a talisman that we tell ourselves will somehow protect us.
Most of us would rather not talk about how toxic our world is. It's too depressing. We all have to live in this muck. We can see the brown air in cities around the country and around the world. Why talk about it when you have to breathe it. And the same goes for the water. Most lakes and rivers around the country are unfit to swim in. Our bodies of water are contaminated by chemicals from years of factories dumping waste, run off of all the stuff that runs down our drains, or they contain a toxic cocktail of pharmaceutical drugs that we flush down our toilets. And study after study shows that fish harvested from every corner of the oceans are full of chemicals.
But if we can avoid thinking about the water, we still have to eat. What about our food? Fruits and vegetables are grown using a ton of pesticides. The very pesticides that are killing weeds and bugs we are told won't harm us. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that those pesticides are affecting our bodies as well. The meat we eat is pumped up with additives, drugs and antibiotics. Some of the meat is cloned, and the vegetables are transgenic, though that simple fact is hidden from us because the powers that be don't want a warning label that could give us the opportunity to decide if we want to eat cloned food or not. Our government refuses to clearly tell us if the meat they approve is genetically modified or not. Even organic, that magic word, is loosing its meaning as well. There is a long list of substances that can be added to foods labeled organic, that are anything but organic. But if the corporations need to call food organic to make people feel safe so they can make more profit, then they will just lobby the legislature to define organic to mean whatever is convenient.
The health problems from pollution affect us deeply. Who doesn't have a sibling or a parent or a close friend who has or is now battling cancer. It is a known fact that though Cancer is overall the number one killer, cancer would be reduced exponentially if we could clean up the pollution, the poison that we're breathing, eating and drinking.
Since denying the existence of Global Warming is no longer a political possibility, this looming reality should, in theory, no longer be ignored. But as governments and scientists acknowledge that Global Warming is perhaps even too far along to be stopped, and that Global Warming is an end of the world scenario, the car companies and the Bush administration are doing everything in their power to prevent California (and by extension the rest of the country) from instituting higher gas mileage on our vehicles, while dragging their feet on numerous other easy to implement improvements. Even facing the dire consequences that are coming in the not too distant future, even with that information, corporations want to slow down the progress and sell more carbon spewing, gas guzzling vehicles because it is more profitable in the short run, and our government is backing the corporations every step of the way.
So, back to our water bottles... For the moment at least, I must breathe the toxic air, ingest the pesticide and hormone-laced food, drink the questionable water, and drive the cars they find profitable enough to produce. And so I don't feel that those of us who are clutching our water bottles are being ridiculous, we're just scared. When we carry that small plastic bottle along through life we feel a little more protected, we tell ourselves that we are doing something healthy. In the grand scope of things, there are small things we can do, but we can't really change our environment without the governments and the corporations totally changing the way they think. Forget the war on Drugs, and the war on Terror, we need a war on Pollution. We need a worldwide change to the way we interact with this planet of ours. But until then I need something to protect me-- like my little water bottle. It's the adult equivalent of the teddy bear that toddlers carry to feel safe.
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