• Concord, MA residents vote to ban sale of plastic H2O bottles – IBWA threatens them with legal action (nice, eh) http://bit.ly/brVTih #

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• The Story of Bottled Water is surging on the Viral Video Chart http://bit.ly/9r2T65 Spread the word for Earth Day at http://bit.ly/deCYqt #
• CNN: The Bottled Water Backlash (and not a moment too soon) http://edition.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/homestyle/04/22/blacklash.bottled.water/ #
• RT: @OnyaBags: Bluewashing: Why the Bottled Water Industry’s EcoFriendly Claims Don’t Hold Water: http://bit.ly/d84OiJ via @addthis #
• RT: @T0TB: University of Ottawa invests $175k to revitalize water fountains and bans bottled water. http://bit.ly/cujI7X h/t @jessiewillms #
• RT: @Tappedthemovie: Tapped is #7 on iTunes! How great are you guys?? Thank you! #
• RT: @T0TB: Tide rising against bottled water: Competitors join enviros in attacks, industry struggles to cap lost sales http://bit.ly/aqwwDf #
• Ottawa campus bans bottled water: http://www.nacsonline.com/NACS/News/Daily/Pages/ND0423106.aspx #

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• Washington State slaps tax on bottled water – start of a trend? http://www.watertechonline.com/news.asp?N_ID=73860 #
• "Get Ready to Get Mad at Bottled Water" http://www.thegreengirls.com/blog/post/2010/03/Get-Ready-to-Get-Mad-at-Bottled-Water.aspx #
• The bottled water documentary Tapped is now #9 on iTunes (ahead of the Secret) @Tappedthemovie #tapped #

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• Steelhead fly fishing blog heaps more misery on Nestle Waters, this time for Columbia Gorge bottling plant: http://ow.ly/1×5Im #

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The International Bottled Water Association (IBWA) is no stranger to greenwashing (anyone who says bottled water is the most eco-friendly packaged beverage isn’t motivated by the planet’s well-being).

Now – in the face of “The Story of Stuff” viral video maven Annie Leonard turning her attention to bottled water – they’ve been forced to fire up the FUD machine (that’s Fear, Uncertainty & Doubt), in this instance, coloring the debate with what we (and Huffington Post blogger Jason Likins) charitably call “pretend journalism.”

Bottled Water Industry Combats Anti-Green Perceptions With Pretend Journalism (VIDEO)

The bottled water industry, fighting back against accusations that they are a significant contributor to environmental degradation, has released this magical video of glorious greenwashing, redolent of the famous video news releases in which Karen Ryan pretended to a journalist while promoting the Bush White House’s “No Child Left Behind” Act.

The New York Times’s Sindya N. Bhanoo reports that this video, sent out by the International Bottled Water Association, is a direct response to Annie Leonard’s The Story of Bottled Water (which you can read more about here). In the video, the IBWA touts the manufacturers of bottled water as “good stewards of the environment.” It features blissed-out coffeehouse acoustic guitar music, bucolic scenes of nature and a pretend reporter from pretend outfit “BWM Reports” pretending to pose pretend questions in pretend journalistic settings. The unnamed interlocutor serves up softballs, and happily nods along, like the Liz Glover Of Corporate Evil.

Ouch.

The proposed Nestle water bottling plant in Cascade Locks (the Colombia Gorge) is heating up again, and Nestle – perhaps the least-loved water bottling company on the planet – can’t be happy to see this:

The video caption:

On March 29, 2010, a coalition of environmental and social justice organizations, Keep Nestle Out of the Gorge, led by the consumer advocacy group Food & Water Watch, (www.fwwatch.org) launched a coordinated campaign to prevent Nestle Waters North America from opening a water bottling facility in Cascade Locks Oregon.

The coalition gathered at the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) offices to speak out against the plant, and to then deliver petitions to the ODFW signed by 4,000 Oregonians who oppose the proposed facility. Keep Nestle Out of the Gorge opposes the deal because a bottled water facility would lead to the commodification of Oregons public water resources, and potentially jeopardize local wildlife, especially native salmon and steel head species.

• Food & Water Watch launches petition drive to fight Nestle plant in Cascade Locks (4000+ signatures already) #
• Will Florida water bottlers *finally* have to pay the state for water they now get for free? #

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A cute, simple video explaining how the demand for bottled water was created – and why it’s largely illusory.

• Blogger in Ethiopia says Nestle's not following the baby formula marketing code – even as it says it does… http://bit.ly/6pFLYS #

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• RT @phdinparenting nestle should use social media for APOLOGIES to all of us for siphoning our water and selling it to us wrapped in plastic #

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• Satire: NASA discovers water on the moon, wants to extract it with a giant straw, sell it to finance new missions http://tinyurl.com/ygsuljp #

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Nestle surely thought they’d snuck their Sacramento water bottling plant in through the back door (even a city memo acknowledged the company’s “penchant for secrecy”), but like so many other places, they’re now facing determined opposition.

Sadly for Nestle, the group uncovered a highly questionable permitting process, the appearance of a conflict of interest with a top mayoral advisor, and a development staff seemingly willing to keep the whole project hidden from public view.

In other words, it’s business as usual for Nestle – and at least some of Sacramento’s residents have discovered this sad fact:

Sacramento Press / Group to file Nestlé appeal

In a precursor to any potential legal action, a grassroots organization expects to take its next step in the fight against the Nestlé water-bottling plant by filing an administrative appeal with the city of Sacramento this week.

A Swiss public TV crew is coming to Sacramento Thursday to interview members of the group, Save Our Water Sacramento, which will re-screen the bottled-water documentary “Tapped” at 7 p.m. Thursday at Crest Theatre, 1013 K St.

Afterwards, group leaders will discuss plans to appeal the city’s designation of the Swiss company’s $14-million construction project as ministerial, rather than discretionary. A discretionary designation of a project that could possibly harm the environment triggers a requirement for an environmental assessment under the California Environmental Quality Act. A ministerial designation does not.

The California Environmental Quality Act also requires all administrative remedies be exhausted before a lawsuit can be filed, said Evan Tucker, a Sacramento resident who helps lead Save Our Water Sacramento.

“Those are supposed to exist as an alternative to litigation,” he said. “We can make our case to the city as to why the decision is incorrect.”

The group has been seeking an environmental analysis of the plant since at least September, Tucker said. City Councilmember Kevin McCarty asked the council last month to consider amending the city’s zoning code to immediately require special permits for water-bottling plants, but the proposal was never discussed.

Note the presence of a Swiss film crew; when a French film crew visited McCloud last year, I learned that Nestle’s reputation in Europe is less than sterling.

Surprise.

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