June 2010 – Is access to clean water a human right or is it a commodity to be controlled by a certain few companies? Have you ever wondered what’s in the water we drink? What about the single-use plastic containers that contain so much of the water we consume, what impact does bottling water have on our health and the environment?
The Downtown Encinitas MainStreet Association is taking a pivotal step in educating the community about environmental issues, including the bottled water industry, by presenting the Cottonwood Creek Environmental Film series.
Tapped, the second screening of the series is a film that examines the role of the bottled water industry and society’s reliance on the life changing liquid. While the documentary deals with the effects of bottling a necessity of life on health, climate change, pollution and reliance on oil, it also dives deeper into the commoditization of water.
The political and socio-economic impacts are on the brink of exploding at the national level. Yet, some communities are taking matters into their own hands both at the municipal and business level.
Several entities are seeking ways to reduce consumption of plastic on the front end of the buying-cycle in an effort to decrease pollution and reliance on petroleum-based products.
“The Encinitas Environmental Commission is actively investigating ways to reduce single-use plastics and is going to be making a recommendation to City Council in June,” chairwoman Elizabeth Taylor said. “We will likely ask Council to consider putting an initiative on the November ballot to phase-out single-use plastic bags in the city.”
State legislators are considering a bill that would reflect the same results as the commission’s proposal by banning single-use plastic bags beginning Jan 2012. “There are numerous studies/reports on the harmful effects of plastics in our ocean- to marine life and to humans that consume seafood,” Taylor said. “The best solution is stop the plastics from entering the ocean in the first place.”
In fact, the story of water in Tapped not only entails how water is sold, what is in it, but also the impacts on a beach economy. Who wants to visit a filthy beach? Is it possible that the pristine coastline in Encinitas could become a trash heap? “While beach cleanups are great, we need to do more to prevent the overwhelming presence of plastics on our beaches both locally and worldwide,” Taylor said. “This is a problem we can address by taking steps to reduce our use of plastics in our everyday lives.”
Treggon Owens of Moonlight Beach Concession Stand is taking steps in his business to reduce the amount of plastics on the beach. “We got rid of lids and straws for all our sodas.” Some of the challenges of the change were evident. “Smoothies are hard to eat without a straw; it glops into your face, so I still give straws out for smoothies,” he said. “We still have plastic tops for our coffee drinks.”
However, alternatives to plastic are more readily available on the market even though they cost more. “I went with corn based, biodegradable corn cups, spoons, and forks for all of our serving,” Owens said. This move underscores the importance of one of the film’s themes-that the pollutants in plastic leach into the water that it contains.
“I have minimal use packaging for all my back end dish and detergents. I am using the biggest forms I can get, so less plastic gets used for every product,” he said.
From the petroleum-intensive plastic production process and transportation, to the ocean in which so many water bottles eventually end up, the documentary follows the path of the bottled water industry and the consequences of private ownership of water. The film presents a powerful portrait of the human lives affected by the bottled water industry.
Come watch Tapped on June 3 and make up your own mind on the consequences of water. Free films will be shown to the community on the first Thursday of the month through July in the Pacific Station Project at 687 South Coast Highway 101 from 7:30p.m. to 9p.m. Remember to ride your bike, skateboard or drive your electric car to the showing to receive a free raffle ticket.
