written by Alex Lahr
The trendy, landscape-covered bottles of Fiji Water’s controversial product line the shelves of our grocery stores, the podiums of our politicians, the purses of our most infamous celebrities, and the conference tables of our business elite. But where does the American-owned corporation’s product come from and what does this mean for those who live there?
The trendy, landscape-covered bottles of Fiji Water’s controversial product line the shelves of our grocery stores, the podiums of our politicians, the purses of our most infamous celebrities, and the conference tables of our business elite. But where does the American-owned corporation’s product come from and what does this mean for those who live there?
Every year, Fiji Water extracts millions of gallons of Fiji’s purest and freshest water from a 17-mile-long aquifer located beneath the rocks of one of the nation’s many islands. The Fijian government, in an effort to stimulate the profitability of what is likely the country’s main export, has charged virtually no extraction fees to Fiji Water, sitting idly by and protecting the company from competition and criticism as it robs the island nation of its most valuable natural resource. Indeed, we have seen this business model before- in colony-era North America, India, and everywhere else big business has been welcomed by a struggling economy while sacrificing the welfare of the inhabitants living there.
Also, bottled water is wasteful and environmentally irresponsible. However, the environment is not my main concern with the consumption of Fiji Water. Those of us who have access to clean water directly from public works have no need to pay for water that is extracted by a company that is supported by a politically fragmented and morally corrupt government on an island thousands of miles away. The millions of dollars that governments across the globe have spent to provide their citizens with clean water are for not if we choose to consume fancy imported water. In consuming what we see as trendy and cool, we are supporting the government and company that perpetuate inequality and human rights travesties in Fiji.
Aside from encouraging the military junta that controls Fiji, the controversial water company hurts citizens of Fiji almost directly. By monopolizing the country’s cleanest water supply so that movie stars and politicians can look cool by drinking immorally extracted water, Fiji Water denies the impoverished and often typhoid-riddled citizens of Fiji the clean water that could have been theirs. How can a citizen of the world who has access to clean, cheap water from his or her government-provided infrastructure pay 5 times as much for a bottle full of water that could be quenching the thirst of a Fijian suffering from waterborne pathogens? No, on no moral grounds is that acceptable.
What is most striking is the overall lack of attention that Fiji Water has received by the general public. Yes, angered human rights activists have pointed there outraged fingers at the company but for some reason the immorality of Fiji Water’s business model has not reached the level of public scorn that similar atrocities have attained. Strip mining across the globe that scars the Earth and pollutes the lives of locals; deforestation in the Amazon that destroys the ways of life of its inhabitants; an abusive North Korean government that doesn’t allow the free movement of its people—all of these human rights violations have been addressed by the masses. Yet Fiji Water continues to pump. The dismal living conditions of many of the country’s citizens could be bettered almost immediately if these people could access the clean, fresh water that Fiji Water has essentially monopolized. But the military government continues to protect the company as it exports from the island the solution to one of its largest problems—lack of clean water. I can see it now- Hollywood’s next film- “Blood Water”.
Also, bottled water is wasteful and environmentally irresponsible. However, the environment is not my main concern with the consumption of Fiji Water. Those of us who have access to clean water directly from public works have no need to pay for water that is extracted by a company that is supported by a politically fragmented and morally corrupt government on an island thousands of miles away. The millions of dollars that governments across the globe have spent to provide their citizens with clean water are for not if we choose to consume fancy imported water. In consuming what we see as trendy and cool, we are supporting the government and company that perpetuate inequality and human rights travesties in Fiji.
Aside from encouraging the military junta that controls Fiji, the controversial water company hurts citizens of Fiji almost directly. By monopolizing the country’s cleanest water supply so that movie stars and politicians can look cool by drinking immorally extracted water, Fiji Water denies the impoverished and often typhoid-riddled citizens of Fiji the clean water that could have been theirs. How can a citizen of the world who has access to clean, cheap water from his or her government-provided infrastructure pay 5 times as much for a bottle full of water that could be quenching the thirst of a Fijian suffering from waterborne pathogens? No, on no moral grounds is that acceptable.
What is most striking is the overall lack of attention that Fiji Water has received by the general public. Yes, angered human rights activists have pointed there outraged fingers at the company but for some reason the immorality of Fiji Water’s business model has not reached the level of public scorn that similar atrocities have attained. Strip mining across the globe that scars the Earth and pollutes the lives of locals; deforestation in the Amazon that destroys the ways of life of its inhabitants; an abusive North Korean government that doesn’t allow the free movement of its people—all of these human rights violations have been addressed by the masses. Yet Fiji Water continues to pump. The dismal living conditions of many of the country’s citizens could be bettered almost immediately if these people could access the clean, fresh water that Fiji Water has essentially monopolized. But the military government continues to protect the company as it exports from the island the solution to one of its largest problems—lack of clean water. I can see it now- Hollywood’s next film- “Blood Water”.