spring water is shit

thanks to katakanadian from flickr

OK, so over at the kaiser edition is the ultimate beverage bracket: a bit of fun, a bit of rivalry and some general blog/comms geekery; pitching types of beverages against each other - 'my drink is better than your drink' kind of thing. it's the sequel to the very serious and divisive carnivore project [which weirdly, as a herbivore, i participated in the first round red and became part of the 'sausage crew'].


anyway, i've got far too much to do, but seeing as there was no one to argue to the point for spring water (as opposed to innocent smoothies, diet coke or red bull), i thought i would bash my head against a brick wall and post something to vote on.

technically i'm up against mr keil, a lovely fellow who i got to meet in hamburg and who is representing innocent smoothies. i actually think that innocent smoothies are the ultimate beverage [which i will go into later], which makes my job either really difficult. or really easy.

so, back to that heading: spring water is shit..

'spring water' is, in fact, no longer the regenerative, rehydrating liquid which we associate with the freshness and purity it once was. we now buy gallons and gallons of the stuff, house it in disgustingly wasteful bottles which get strewn all over the place, lease out the responsibility for its distribution to multi-national corporations who have a vested interest in actually selling fizzy sugar water and have now begun to 'add' 'nutrients' to make new 'water'. water has become an industry.

in fact, it has become the signifier for western commercialisation in its most obese form: package, distribute and sell a resource that is the essence of our biology and the symbol for a 'civilised' society. water is being 'mined' for the sake of a commodity: Spring Water - capital S, capital W.

tap water, on the other hand, while a scarce commodity and with systemic and power-based problems of its own, has got to be a far better option for the all-important hydro-sustenance. it has a far greater community history: with the well, pumping systems, windmills and running water the centre of a working civilisation. these architectural forms of mass-distribution have been around for fucking ever and they are the result of when humans actually work together for the common good. thanks to a scarcity of it [in this part of the world at least], there is a sense of preciousness about tap water: a focus on its place in the whole of society. we're all trying to make sure that we distribute it efficiently, preserve it, re-use it, recycle it (by watering plants with grey water) and make sure that everybody 'has enough'.

so, don't vote for Spring Water. In fact, stop buying the crap altogether. Drink tap water - carry your own water bottle around with you. And if you want something a little sweeter, with some real nutrients, drink juice.

vote here. for innocent. spring water is shit.



*for those aussies that haven't heard of innocent, think nudie, but first. go here. read their blog here. and even check out the blog by innocent's top creative dan germain. he's the nicest guy on the internet.