World Water Day

Yesterday was World Water Day and the makers of the film "The Story of Stuff" released a new film named "The Story Of Bottled Water". It uses simple words and images to explain a complex problem, in this case manufactured demand: how you get people to think they need to spend money on something they don't actually need or already have.

Over the last two decades, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Nestle and other big beverage companies have spent untold millions of dollars making us afraid of tap water. They've told us that if we want to be sure what we drink is pure and clean-not to mention hip and fashionable-we should buy bottled water.

Unfortunately, it worked.

In the United States alone, approximately 500,000,000 bottles of water are consumed each week. Imagine that: while 1 billion people lack access to safe drinking water worldwide, other people spend billions of dollars on a bottled product that's no cleaner, harms people and the environment and costs up to 2,000 times the price of tap water.

But there's good news: Last year, for the first time in a long time, bottled water sales fell-not that much, but they went down. Consumers who want economy, portability and convenience are switching to refillable metal bottles. Restaurants are proudly serving tap water. And cities, states, companies and schools around the world are ditching the bottle to save money and do their part for the environment.

Watch The Story of Bottled Water and then pass it along to your friends, family, neighbors and co-workers-anyone you think might be interested.

Another absolute must see documentary film is called Flow - For Love Of Water. In this film, there is a captivating quote that dates back to 1854 from the American Indian chief of Seattle replying to an offer from the white government of the United States to "buy" a large area of Indian Land.

"How can you buy or sell the sky, the warmth of the land?

The idea is strange to us.

If we do not own the freshness of the air and the sparkle of the water, how can you buy them?

We don't own them.

Every part of this earth is sacred to my people.

Every shining pine needle, every sandy shore, every mist in the dark woods, every humming insect is holy in the memory and experience of my people.

This beautiful earth is the mother of the Red Man.

We are part of the earth and it is part of us.

The rivers are our brothers. We give the rivers the kindness we would give to any brother.

But the white man does not understand our ways.

He is a stranger who takes from the land whatever he needs.

The earth is not his brother, but his enemy, and when he has conquered it, he moves on.

He kidnaps the earth from his children, and he does not care.

I do not know. Our ways are different than your ways."

The control and commercialization of water is discussed in many films. Blue Gold - World Water Wars is yet another example of such a film that attempts to raise awareness on the global water crisis.