Responsible Soy: Don’t Buy the Lie

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Food

It is critical to consider and understand the real economic, environmental and social impacts of the global soy trade.

Over here in Europe, we are working with other organizations on a new campaign to raise awareness about so-called “responsible soy”. As consumers, we often rely on labels to help us make an informed choice by telling us what is in the product. Companies have caught on, understanding that it has become increasingly difficult to convince the savvy consumer to buy a product they do not support. Their solution? Green-wash labels.

Is Nestlé’s Pure Life Brand a Threat to Public Water?

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Food

Nestlé’s Pure Life Brand could be a major threat to public water and to water as a human right. Read our report: Hanging on for Pure Life to find out what Nestlé is doing to position itself for the future.

In 2008, bottled water sales in the United States experienced a decline — one that lasted for two consecutive years. This was good news for water advocates, and bad news for the bottled water industry. Many believe this decline was due to a combination of a troubled economy and a growing consumer consciousness about bottled water’s negative environmental impacts. But, while the entire industry reported losses, one bottled water brand stood alone with increased sales: Nestlé Waters’ Pure Life.

But what allowed this brand to shine in an otherwise challenging marketplace for bottled water? Was it brilliant marketing, or does the Pure Life brand represent something more than just a bottled water product?

Berlin Water Referendum Success an Inspiration for Global Water Movement

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Food

Increased citizen participation has played a major role in remunicipalizing water and bringing it back under public control.

One year before the Alternative World Water Forum (known by its French acronym FAME) will take place in Marseille 2012, various peoples’ movements around Europe have witnessed landslide victories. Increased citizen participation has played a major role in the issues of water supply management and wastewater treatment, allowing these movements to take giant steps towards remunicipalization, or bringing the water back under public control.

This week we have an inspiring story for you from Berlin, Germany. 12 years ago, almost half (49.9 percent) of the Berlin Water Works (BWB) was privatized under Veolia and RWE. This led to price increase of 35 percent, one of the highest of any German city. Due to negotiated conditions, the Berlin Senate and the private investors decided to keep these contracts secret. As a result, a peoples’ initiative called the “Berliner Wassertisch” began challenging this and started a citizen’s referendum aimed at obtaining the publication of these contracts.

Paris Sparkles

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Food

The New York Times reported this week that the city of Paris is now offering residents free sparkling water. While the program is ostensibly designed to wean Parisiennes off a popular guilty pleasure (red wine) we’re charmed that they’ve chosen the humble water fountain as the delivery method of choice for their efforts.

Let them drink water! (Wait, it’s SPARKLING water !) Eau de Paris, the local water utility, offers free sparkling water at a public fountain in Reuilly Gardens. The fountain is a way to encourage Parisiennes to kick the bottled water habit.

When Hand Washing Is Too Much Like Pill Popping

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Food

Antibiotic resistance has become a real challenge for modern medicine. As bacteria grow stronger, there are few options for treating very sick people. Over the past decade, medical professionals have raised awareness about the need to curb the over-prescription of antibiotics. Likewise, tireless activists have fought to decrease the use of antibiotics in industrial agriculture. But dwindling options for medical treatment aren’t the only worry associated with antibiotic resistance. Many things in nature depend on bacterial to grow. Plants need bacteria in soil to grow.

Cloned Meat Reaches British Consumers on the Sly

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Food

It looks like meat and milk from the offspring of cloned cows have beaten both Frankenswine and Arnold Schwartzensalmon to market—at least in the UK—to the surprise of UK consumers and authorities alike.