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Article

21 Apr 2015

Author:
Lucy Siegle, Guardian (UK)

The cold truth about our thirst for bottled water

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The exploitation of a precious natural resource by multinational companies is degrading the environment....Right now, California is famously staring down a mega drought. Beverley Hills residents may have to curb water use by 38%....But for California’s multinational bottling plants, it’s apparently business as usual. Except that Nestlé’s bottling plant in Sacramento was shut down by campaigners determined to understand why it was taking precious water. Meanwhile the San Bernardino Desert Sun newspaper found that Nestlé was pumping water from the San Bernardino national forest despite the fact that its permit expired 27 years ago. Nestlé insists its water use is efficient and has minimal impact on the environment – something that activists reject out of hand.