I was at Cotton On with a friend the other day and, on a whim, I picked up a bottle of their ‘Cotton On Foundation’ water. Being that I’d just eaten a salty pretzel, I decided to buy it in order to rehydrate.
It’s always in my mind that buying bottled water is adding yet more dangerous plastic to the ecosystem. But as I ‘paywave’d my card, I caught myself thinking that it would be okay to buy this water because it was supporting… whatever it is Cotton On claims to support.
At that point, however, it was far too late. The transaction was complete and the cogs of capitalism had continued turning.
Perhaps, then, it was increasingly relevant I had just seen one Dr. Emma Sharp’s lecture on the nature of food production. It brought me to a new question: What is the value of water? Why pay for something so important to our continued survival?
More than that, why is some water worth more than other water? We seem to think ‘spring’ water has value enough that we’re willing to pay more for it than other, ‘non-spring’ water. What’s up with that?
Maybe instead of Crowd Grown Feasts, we should be looking at Crowd Bottled Water. We live in Auckland for Pete’s sake, surely there’s a reason why we planted ourselves atop a series of volcanoes just waiting to blow us up, why not make it the free water which seems to drop atop us with zero warning.
You know, this is actually something I think about a lot. As a fond lover of all kinds of water, I’ve always been baffled as to why we almost have a hierarchy of this free source. So many people that I’ve spoken to who’ve moved to Auckland have complained endlessly to me that, “I hate this Auckland tap shit because all I can taste is chlorine! I don’t drink anything else BUT bottled water now.”
Chlorine? All I can taste is the sweet, sweet taste of keeping myself alive, thank you very much.
You make such a good point about the absurdity of paying for bottled water when we can just get it for free. While I can’t provide a definitive answer as to why, I do believe that there’s maybe an underlying sense of “water elitism” due to the impact of marketing. As you say, “spring water” often costs more because people are WILLING to pay more. There’s that inherent stereotype that springs and waterfalls are “pure” water that will, therefore, taste better and be better for you. Same goes even just for “normal” bottled water – I guess there’s the perception that this water is “untouched” from the horrors of the Auckland water system, because GOD FORBID they taint my water with fluoride that will save me hundreds of dollars in dentist bills down the road!
In reality, it’s all just tears from our emotionally unstable Auckland skies. She’s got enough sadness to go around for all of us at no price at all! Would you believe that?
(To any of you “bottled water elitists” reading this right now, yes, I am shaming you.)
Well put. I definitely agree with you and often catch myself on the same train of thought. I find it really interesting our society has a tendency to commodify everything, even things that every human, regardless of cultural or social background, needs to survive. It’s crazy to think how something as simple as water can be segmented to different price points – bottled vs tap, ethical vs non-ethical etc. – when both serve the exact same purpose, with an even more significant price to pay in terms of environmental impact. I think it’s really important that perhaps in the future we reevaluate what it means for these necessities to have a monetary value and how that may affect both individuals and communities alike, especially with regards to ensuring everyone has equal access to the things they need to survive.
The (ethical) shape of water… I had no idea water even had a shape! you perfectly addressed how society really does have the ability to commodify things to shape our decisions.
I also like how your post sparked ideas that we normally suppress in our day to day lives. Sometimes we don’t look into the actual logistics around charities or even whether or not “spring clean” water is actually what it says it is. All because what you don’t know can’t hurt you right? kind of relates back to when Dr Nicholas Thompson questioned the moral and social dynamic of being invited over for dinner. If your host serves you meat that you can’t eat, do you question whether you can or not to avoid making a compromise? or to sit through an awkward dinner…
I would like to think that if society was not so naive then we wouldn’t have to put a physical value on water.