Since we\u2019re eating so unhealthy, instead of consuming natural sugar in soda we should be consuming artificial chemicals instead.\u00a0 Stated like that, it really doesn\u2019t make any kind of sense does it?<\/p>\n
Sugar is a crop that costs money to grow, harvest, process, package and transport.\u00a0 In comparison, the chemical sweeteners primarily used in soda costs virtually nothing to produce \u2013 yet somehow the \u201cdiet\u201d versions cost consumers precisely the same as the natural sugar based versions. \u00a0How are we convinced to consume chemicals designed to trick our taste buds into thinking we\u2019re tasting sugar?\u00a0 Corporations sell these artificially created chemicals<\/a> as something somehow better for us than sugar. What are their motives for advertising so-called diet soda so constantly?\u00a0 From a commercial perspective, it makes perfect sense.\u00a0 If you\u2019re making two versions of a product where one version costs you 5 cents to manufacture, and the other costs you 10 cents, but you sell both for the same price, which are you going to advertise?\u00a0 The one that makes the bigger profit!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Now let me be clear that I\u2019m not saying we should all be consuming soda loaded with sugar \u2013 indeed I don\u2019t think we should be consuming soda at all.\u00a0 However, I am saying we should not be falling for clever sales and marketing nonsense.<\/p>\n Which finally brings me to the purpose of this post \u2013 namely water<\/strong>, a fundamental need of every human, and indeed of all life as we know it.\u00a0 And that raises the subject of bottled water\u2026<\/p>\n Bottled water is often sold for even more than soda \u2013 once again based on the overused mantra, \u201cit\u2019s good for you so it must be worth more<\/em>\u201d.\u00a0 I have no doubt pure water is better for you than naturally or chemically sweetened soda \u2013 unfortunately bottled water is very bad for your wallet.\u00a0 Spend a few minutes of research on the internet, review the science behind water in all its forms, and you\u2019ll find that pure water is simply, well, pure water.\u00a0 Spend a few minutes of your time doing said research, and you may well save yourself hundreds, if not thousands {I wish I was exaggerating, but I’m not} of dollars \u2013 and who of us doesn\u2019t need to save money?<\/p>\n The scientific description of pure water is, \u201cA colorless, odorless, tasteless liquid<\/em><\/strong>\u201d.\u00a0 Strangely, the impurities within water give it flavor \u2013 so when we\u2019re taught to like the flavor of bottled water, we\u2019re really being taught to like a different set of impurities than those which we can get virtually free from our household spigot.\u00a0 As for the misconception that bottled water is better for you than tap water, do a little research \u2013 you\u2019ll find that at best, bottled water is no different.\u00a0 Indeed sometimes the very minerals that give certain varieties of bottled water their distinctive flavor make it significantly worse for you. \u00a0Those are the real differences, however real doesn\u2019t matter if we can be taught something else.<\/p>\n And with water {and too many other things to name, but which will be the subjects of further blog posts} we are taught something entirely different to reality.<\/p>\n Advertising teaches us to believe bottled water is better.\u00a0 Naturally, \u201cbetter\u201d always comes at a cost\u2026<\/p>\n I am the first to admit I don\u2019t really enjoy the flavorful impurities found within our municipal tap water.\u00a0 The flavor of water which I prefer, is pure \u2013 aka tasteless, odorless, and colorless.\u00a0 To that end, when I feel the need for a glass of the good stuff, I use the filtered outlet provided on our refrigerator.\u00a0 The cost per glass?\u00a0 Whatever I happen to be paying for municipal water, and very occasionally a new filter for the fridge.\u00a0 {No, I don\u2019t know how much the filter costs so I\u2019m not going to factor it in \u2013 we\u2019ve only had the fridge about two years and the water still tastes as wonderfully tasteless as it did when the fridge was brand new.}<\/p>\n So what do I estimate it costs me per glass of water dispensed from our fridge?<\/p>\n My guesstimate was about a tenth of a cent per large glass.<\/p>\n Turns out I was wrong!<\/strong><\/p>\n The cost per large glass is actually substantially less than one fiftieth of a cent<\/a>. \u00a0Go ahead and compare the fiftieth of a cent I\u2019m paying with what you\u2019re paying per bottle.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think you\u2019re going to like the comparison a whole lot, especially if you took the time to do the research, and the knowledge gained while doing said research proves your bottled water is a significantly less than pure<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Or maybe not \u2013 apparently many people enjoy spending three thousand times as much per glass than they need to<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n On the very interesting, and well cited, Environmental Protection Agency<\/a> site I linked above, and from which I derived those numbers, I found this interesting tidbit, \u201cIf you drink your daily recommended 8 glasses of water per day from the tap, it will cost you about 50 cents per year<\/strong>.\u00a0 If you choose to drink it from water bottles, it can cost you up to $1,400 dollars<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n Are you doing your kids, or yourself, a favor by buying bottled water?\u00a0 I think you\u2019re doing them an enormous disservice by literally pouring money down the drain, to say nothing of the pollution billions of unnecessary plastic bottles generate.\u00a0 {Yes, the factories making them generate pollution, discarded plastic generates more, and the reprocessing in the recycling stage generates still more.\u00a0 That is what I call a lose, lose, lose situation.}<\/p>\n While we\u2019re talking about the watered-down truth {pun intended} lets looks at another type of lie \u2013 that of the media repeating something enough times that it assumes the mantle of truth.<\/p>\n The example I\u2019m referring to is that of Peter Braback, the infamous CEO of Nestle Corporation who said water is not a human right.\u00a0 Search the internet and you\u2019ll find literally thousands of websites and blog posts headlining with the infamous quote, \u201cWater is not a human right.\u201d\u00a0 The problem is that Peter Braback never said that.\u00a0 His actual words were, \u201cThe one option which I think is extreme is represented by the NGOs who bang on about declaring water a public right.\u201d<\/p>\n Am I defending this Mr. Braback? \u00a0Not in a month of Sundays.\u00a0 The evidence accumulated against Nestle Corporation on illegal and immoral practices is quite overwhelming \u2013 but why should we be surprised?\u00a0 Nestle isn\u2019t an exceptional corporation.\u00a0 Indeed they\u2019re pretty much like every other corporation, regardless of size \u2013 their motivation is profit, not people.\u00a0 And as long as people continue to consume their products, they\u2019ll continue to make profit.\u00a0 Profits, to the tune of an alleged $35 billion annually<\/a> on bottled water sales alone.<\/p>\n Think about that number.<\/p>\n Thirty-five billion!!!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n In decimal digits, it reads 35,000,000,000.<\/p>\n It is a big number\u2026\u00a0 Indeed, it\u2019s so big we have difficulty understanding it and tend to trivialize it in order overcome our lack of understanding.\u00a0 In order to understand it let us look at thirty-five billion in other ways.\u00a0 How many people are there in the world?\u00a0 Last I checked, it was \u201conly\u201d around 7 billion<\/a>.\u00a0 If you took thirty-five billion one dollar bills and placed them end-to-end, the resultant string of dollars would be over three million miles<\/strong> long.<\/p>\n Still too big to comprehend?<\/p>\n That string of dollar bills could wrap around the world\u2026 one hundred and thirty six times, and still have enough left over to tie a decent knot that dangled far into space.<\/p>\n Thirty-five billion is an extraordinarily large profit for an unscrupulous company to make on sales of something that we should be getting virtually for free.<\/p>\n But it gets even worse!<\/p>\n Nestle is not alone in this rampant display of corporate greed.\u00a0 There are hundreds, if not thousands, of other vendors of bottled water, each making insane profits by selling us the Brooklyn Bridge {or maybe the stuff that flows beneath it?}.<\/p>\n Now, having spent your time reading this blog post, I\u2019m willing to make a startling prediction<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n My prediction is that you won\u2019t listen to me, to logic, to your wallet, to your own research {you never did it, did you?}, or to your taste buds.<\/p>\n Sadly, you\u2019ll listen to the incessant noise of corporations telling you what to think as they advertise products you don\u2019t need.<\/p>\n You\u2019ll continue flushing your hard-earned paycheck down the toilet.<\/p>\n In short, if you\u2019re a bottled water drinker, you\u2019ll continue drinking bottled water.\u00a0 And worst of all, you\u2019ll probably be listening to yourself repeat the mantra of lies the marketers of a product that should be a human right {yes, I do mean pure water} are pounding into us each and every day.<\/p>\n You\u2019ll be murmuring something like this to yourself\u2026<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t care that I could drink water virtually for free \u2013 this flimsy plastic bottle is worth every penny I paid.\u00a0 And hey, I intend recycling the plastic, so there\u2019s my good deed for the day<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\nThe bottom line.<\/h3>\n