Water
Nestlé sources water unsustainably and at the expense of communities. CEO Peter Brabeck believes that declaring water as a public right is extreme. Met with backlash, Brabeck took a step back, claiming he “advocates for universal access to safe drinking water,” however his and Nestlé’s actions prove this is nothing but a ploy to improve Nestle’s battered image. In fact, at the World Water Forum in 2000 they led the fight against defining access to water a universal right so it could still be captured, commoditized, and exploited by major corporations without regard for local populations (Abrams).
Flint Michigan
One such population was Flint Michigan, where the water had been tarnished by lead-poisoning after government officials, hoping to save a pretty penny, started using water from the corrosive Flint river as the city’s water supply. While Flint residents are paying roughly two hundred dollars monthly for unpalatable water, Nestlé, a multibillion-dollar company is paying only two hundred dollars annually to pump one hundred thousand times the amount of water an average Flint resident uses, just two hours away from the city. Met with backlash, Neslté once again took action to restore their public image by donating five million bottles of water to Flint residents. This undeniably helped those in Flint, nevertheless Flint residents are skeptical of Nesté’s motives and if they are doing enough (Glenza). Gina Luster, mother, candidate for county commissioner, and “water warrior,” believes that Nestlé isn’t doing enough to alleviate the water crisis they’ve prolonged, emphasizing that “with the money they make, they could come to fix Flint- and I mean the water plants and out pipes,” if they truly cared for the wellbeing of the community rather than publicity.
Some may argue that it’s not the responsibility of corporations to help communities in crisis. However, when those companies are contributing to the crisis; when companies are contributing to the fifty-eight percent rise in fetal deaths; when companies are contributing to the doubling of kids with elevated lead exposure (Glenza); when companies are complicit in the deaths of one hundred nineteen people in Flint due to pneumonia (Ruble); that company has an ethical obligation to diminish the suffering it caused. Furthermore, it is clear that the donation Nestlé did make is merely a publicity stunt, as they have done nothing to help communities that lie outside of the spotlight, such as Bhati Dilwan.
Bhati Dilwan
Bhati Dilwan, a small Pakistani village, has watched as Nestlé drained their aquifer of clean water. Consequently, illnesses raised as villagers resorted to drinking what unclean water was left (Abrams). According to the World Health Organization, unsafe drinking water is one of the leading causes of death among children under the age of five and is linked to the transmission of diseases such as cholera, diarrhea, dysentery, hepatitis A, typhoid, and polio. Ironically, if villagers want clean water they must buy it back from the Nestlé Pure Life brand. Brainchild of Peter Brabeck, the Pure Life brand is the cornerstone of Nestle’s domination of the global water market. While the water level in Bhati Dilwan is sinking from one hundred to four hundred feet, Nestlé is selling that water at prices often unaffordable to those who are being deprived of the basic necessity. While children in Bhati Dilwan are dying because they Nestlé stole their water, Nestlé continues to waste about 30% of the 700m gallons of water it extracts from California annually (Andrei). Additionally, companies, including Nestlè promote their water as the healthy alternative to tap despite the fact that 64% of bottled water is tap and costs 2000 times more than tap water (Dreams). To make matters worse, 93% contain microplastics, with Nestlé water containing the highest concentration of plastics (McCarthy). Bottled water is not a healthy choice, as Nestlé claims. Communities, such as that of Bhati Dilwan don’t need bottled water from Pure Life; they need their clean, healthy water to not be stolen from them and sold to those with the privilege to just drink tap or filtered water.
