WTF, National Parks Conservation Association?

I just received an email asking me to “Like” Arrowhead Mountain Spring Water on Facebook. Are you flipping kidding me? Fan bottled water? No, thanks. From the environmental implications of the plastic bottles themselves (up to 1.5 million tons of plastic from the things wasted annually) to the production of the bottles (which uses enough oil to run 100,000 cars for an entire year) to the gross effects of corporatization the bottled water industry has on communities all over the world (think Tank Girl, but for reals), it’s one of the things that everyone should be buying less of.

Scratch that. It’s one of the things that no one who has access to clean drinking water should buy. And for those of us who worry about our tap water, water purifiers solve the issue much more cheaply, with a lower cost to the environment as well.

So why is the National Parks Conservation Association pairing up with a bottled water company to—what, exactly? Let’s look at their goals:

1. “To advocate for increased funding for our national parks
2. To educate the public about the parks’ history and conservation
3. To protect the wildlife that depend on parks for their survival
4. To preserve both historical and natural areas for the enjoyment and education of our children and grandchildren”

Call me crazy, but doesn’t the entire concept of bottled water refute all of these goals? Does the NPCA just think that it’s dandy for a company to exploit people, resources, and the environment to help—people, resources, and the environment? It just doesn’t add up.

Of course, there is money involved. Arrowhead Mountain Spring Water is apparently donating 50 cents per person who “Likes” their page. That’s actually a pretty decent contribution, especially when no purchase is involved; I wonder if you could just “Like” them until the fundraiser is over, and then “Un-Like” them?

I’ve seen this dozens of times: a nonprofit organization teams up with a seedy company—or at least a company that doesn’t encompass their own values—to gain some limelight and some coin. Guess what ensues? In some of my experiences, pure disaster. In others, perhaps there is some money and a bit of visibility—but there’s also a lack of integrity, a loss of support from activists, and general contempt from folks like yours truly.

This reeks of the Susan G. Komen/ KFC team-up earlier this year. Like I said then, when companies set out to improve the world, they should do so with partnerships that make sense! Why not pair up with, say, Patagonia, NPCA?

After checking out the company’s website, I am even more convinced that this is pure greenwashing. The company squeals over its thinner bottles (only select types, that is) that use less plastic! and less paper! on the labels, as well as its kiddie-marketed chubby bottles, but at the end of the day, it’s still bottled water, in plastic containers, sold by a corporation.