Late last year, I had a lunch meeting in New York City with the president of a foundation associated with a national protestant denomination. When the waiter came by to ask if we wanted a bottle of water, my lunch partner responded, “Tap water will be fine. I don’t drink bottled water.”
Don’t drink bottled water? I couldn’t remember the last time I heard someone say that – especially in New York City. I began to explore the issue with him and learned that he and many others in his church no longer drank Dasani (bottled by Coca-Cola) and other commercial bottled waters because they see the privatization of water resources as an intensely moral and political issue.
That conversation stayed with me, and then a week ago I happened upon an article in The Christian Century magazine entitled, “Is bottled water a moral issue?” What is striking about the article and the growing movement within progressive Christian circles to tackle the privatization of water resources is the intersection of Christian stewardship theology, equity issues, and a vision of the commons.
Quoting the article:
Rooted in the notion that clean drinking water, like air, is a God-given resource that shouldn’t be packaged and sold, a fledgling campaign against the bottling of water has sprung up among religious groups. And though the campaign is at a relative trickle and confined mostly to left-leaning religious groups, activists hope to build a broad-based coalition to carry the message that access to water should not be restricted to those who can afford it.
Among the groups now calling for a boycott of bottled water are the National Coalition of American Nuns and Presbyterians for Restoring Creation. Sister Mary Ann Coyle, a board member of the National Coalition of American Nuns, introduced a resolution (subsequently adopted) urging its 1,200 members to sign a pledge against drinking bottled water and to take the message to their churches. The article quotes her to the effect that “as water becomes a commodity, access to it will no longer remain a right for all people.”
I found the campaign by Presbyterians for Restoring Creation particularly inspiring. It includes an on-line pledge you can sign:
Bottled Water Pledge
- I pledge to avoid use of disposable plastic (PET) water bottles.
- I pledge to drink from a reusable container.
- I pledge to ask my church and/or presbytery to eliminate PET water bottles from church events.
- I pledge to learn more about local and global water concerns.
- I pledge to support public water utilities and affordable access to clean water for all people.
To learn more about the campaign, and what other denominations are doing to protect the water commons, visit: http://www.prcweb.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=resources&fuse=water.
And remember, the next time you’re in a restaurant, ask for a glass of tap water. Or better yet, red wine!