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Unbottled: The Fight against Plastic Water and for Water Justice
"An essential book for everyone who seeks to reclaim the commons and build a just and equitable society."—John Nichols, The Nation
An exploration of bottled water's impact on social justice and sustainability, and how diverse movements are fighting back.
In just four decades, bottled water has transformed from a luxury niche item into a ubiquitous consumer product, representing a $300 billion market dominated by global corporations. It sits at the convergence of a mounting ecological crisis of single-use plastic waste and climate change, a social crisis of affordable access to safe drinking water, and a struggle over the fate of public water systems. Unbottled examines the vibrant movements that have emerged to question the need for bottled water and challenge its growth in North America and worldwide.
Drawing on extensive interviews with activists, residents, public officials, and other participants in controversies ranging from bottled water's role in unsafe tap water crises to groundwater extraction for bottling in rural communities, Daniel Jaffee asks what this commodity's meteoric growth means for social inequality, sustainability, and the human right to water. Unbottled profiles campaigns to reclaim the tap and addresses the challenges of ending dependence on packaged water in places where safe water is not widely accessible. Clear and compelling, it assesses the prospects for the movements fighting plastic water and working to ensure water justice for all.
An exploration of bottled water's impact on social justice and sustainability, and how diverse movements are fighting back.
In just four decades, bottled water has transformed from a luxury niche item into a ubiquitous consumer product, representing a $300 billion market dominated by global corporations. It sits at the convergence of a mounting ecological crisis of single-use plastic waste and climate change, a social crisis of affordable access to safe drinking water, and a struggle over the fate of public water systems. Unbottled examines the vibrant movements that have emerged to question the need for bottled water and challenge its growth in North America and worldwide.
Drawing on extensive interviews with activists, residents, public officials, and other participants in controversies ranging from bottled water's role in unsafe tap water crises to groundwater extraction for bottling in rural communities, Daniel Jaffee asks what this commodity's meteoric growth means for social inequality, sustainability, and the human right to water. Unbottled profiles campaigns to reclaim the tap and addresses the challenges of ending dependence on packaged water in places where safe water is not widely accessible. Clear and compelling, it assesses the prospects for the movements fighting plastic water and working to ensure water justice for all.
672 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 19, 2023
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
January 15, 2024
Two months ago, we referred to the newly published book "UNBOTTLED - THE FIGHT AGAINST PLASTIC WATER AND FOR WATER JUSTICE" by Daniel Jaffee, US professor of sociology at Portland State University. The book examines the impact of bottled water on social justice and sustainability and how various movements are fighting back.
Roland Brunner read it for the Blue Community and wrote a book review in German. The two-page PDF can be downloaded here: https://bluecommunity.ch/files/blueco...
Final conclusions translated:
It is worth reading the whole book, because it underpins the anger that one must have about the machinations of Nestle, Coca-Cola, Pepsi and Co. with important considerations and facts. Starting on page 266, Jaffee draws his conclusions over 14 pages, which he opens with a quote from water rights campaigner and Blue Community co-founder Maude Barlow. Bottled water is both cause and effect when it comes to the still unfulfilled promise of water as a human right. However, Jaffee does not stop at analysis and description, but looks for ways out and provides a wide range of suggestions and recommendations - from small, everyday measures to large, global steps. Some of these recommendations will help each of us to be more conscious in our use of water. Others can serve as a guide for collective action, for social movements, for blue communities - and hopefully for politicians who should finally give water the importance it has for all our lives.
Unbottled is an exciting, well-written book that deserves to be translated into other languages. Let's hope it is published also in German soon.
Roland Brunner read it for the Blue Community and wrote a book review in German. The two-page PDF can be downloaded here: https://bluecommunity.ch/files/blueco...
Final conclusions translated:
It is worth reading the whole book, because it underpins the anger that one must have about the machinations of Nestle, Coca-Cola, Pepsi and Co. with important considerations and facts. Starting on page 266, Jaffee draws his conclusions over 14 pages, which he opens with a quote from water rights campaigner and Blue Community co-founder Maude Barlow. Bottled water is both cause and effect when it comes to the still unfulfilled promise of water as a human right. However, Jaffee does not stop at analysis and description, but looks for ways out and provides a wide range of suggestions and recommendations - from small, everyday measures to large, global steps. Some of these recommendations will help each of us to be more conscious in our use of water. Others can serve as a guide for collective action, for social movements, for blue communities - and hopefully for politicians who should finally give water the importance it has for all our lives.
Unbottled is an exciting, well-written book that deserves to be translated into other languages. Let's hope it is published also in German soon.
Displaying 1 of 1 review