Waubonsee Community College

Bottled and sold, the story behind our obsession with bottled water, Peter H. Gleick

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages 183-202) and index

illustrations

index present

non fiction

Bottled and sold

bibliography

468856480

Peter H. Gleick

the story behind our obsession with bottled water

Peter Gleick knows water. A world-renowned scientist and freshwater expert, Gleick is a MacArthur Foundation "genius," and according to the BBC, an environmental visionary. And he drinks from the tap. Why don't the rest of us? Bottled and Sold shows how water went from being a free natural resource to one of the most successful commercial products of the last one hundred years-and why we are poorer for it. It's a big story and water is big business. Every second of every day in the United States, a thousand people buy a plastic bottle of water, and every second of every day a thousand more throw one of those bottles away. That adds up to more than thirty billion bottles a year and tens of billions of dollars of sales. Are there legitimate reasons to buy all those bottles? With a scientist's eye and a natural storyteller's wit, Gleick investigates whether industry claims about the relative safety, convenience, and taste of bottled versus tap hold water. And he exposes the true reasons we've turned to the bottle, from fear mongering by business interests and our own vanity to the breakdown of public systems and global inequities. "Designer" H2O may be laughable, but the debate over commodifying water is deadly serious. It comes down to society's choices about human rights, the role of government and free markets, the importance of being "green," and fundamental values. Gleick gets to the heart of the bottled water craze, exploring what it means for us to bottle and sell our most basic necessity

Preface -- The war on tap water -- Fear of the tap -- Selling unwholesome provisions -- If it's called "Arctic spring," why is it from Florida? -- The cachet of spring water -- The taste of water -- The hidden cost of convenience -- Selling bottled water : the modern medicine show -- Drinking bottled water : sin or salvation? -- Revolt : the growing campaign against bottled water -- Green water? The effort to produce ethical bottled water -- The future of water

Bottled & soldStory behind our obsession with bottled water