Don't demonize a 'convenient, healthy beverage' Katherine Cannella's recent backlash against bottled water ("Love that dirty water," Opinions, Oct. 1) simply doesn't hold water. While tap water is a perfectly fine choice, bottled water is a convenient, healthy beverage that you can take everywhere you go, staying hydrated throughout the day. While purified bottled water often begins with a municipal source, it is much more than just tap water. It is put through a rigorous purification process to remove impurities, such as salts and chlorides, and create a fresh, consistent, high-quality taste. Further, our environmental impact is minimal, particularly compared to other industries, and constantly improving.
Let's start with the fact that bottled water comes in 100 percent recyclable containers - how many products can make that claim? Nevertheless, our industry is constantly working to reduce the material in our packaging, become more energy-efficient and improve recycling rates. We also are a founding member, along with the Environmental Protection Agency, of the National Recycling Partnership dedicated to revitalizing recycling.
Let's face it, reducing our environmental impact by using less material and fewer resources is good for the environment and for business. Instead of demonizing a convenient, healthy product, it stands to reason that college campuses would be ideal locations to both practice and promote recycling. You'll be doing something good for your health and the environment.
Kevin Keane Senior Vice President American Beverage Association
Used bottles consist of .03 percent of municipal solid waste Nestlé Waters shares Katherine Cannella's concern for the environment and our company has taken many steps to reduce its footprint. The new Poland Spring Eco-Shape bottle has the least plastic content of any half-liter bottle currently on store shelves. Plus, we make 98 percent of our single-serve PET bottles, eliminating the need to truck empty bottles into our plants, thus saving 6.6 million gallons of fuel per year.
Used water bottles make up less than one-third of 1 percent of the municipal solid waste that ends up in landfills today. To really make a difference, we need progressive recycling programs that would keep a greater number of all plastic containers - regardless of what they contain - out of landfills.
Missing from the column is the fact that bottled water is a calorie-free, easily accessible alternative to sodas and other sugared beverages. Considering beverage calories have added a whopping 82,000 calories per year to our diets within the last decade, we should be encouraging all Americans to make a healthier lifestyle choice and drink more water - whether it comes from a bottle or a tap.
Jane Lazgin Director, Corporate Communications Nestlé Waters North America
'Pops' film marginalizes merits of female sports, non-athletes The Pops on the Heights is one of the most exciting galas of the year. While it is undeniably an enjoyable event, it led me to question the image that the Boston College event organizers were trying to promote. Toward the beginning of the concert, the Pops played a slow, inspiring song. In keeping with the movie theme, film clips of the University were played in hopes of eliciting Eagle pride. I was happy that the film first pictured the classroom, the most important aspect of our school. What disappointed me was the second segment, when the film cut to sport shots. First was the women's swim team, who finished the season last year with a high ranking. Nobody clapped. It was not until the first football flew that there was any applause. And people went wild! The applause continued through to basketball - until there was a close-up and the audience realized that it was actually the girl's team.
I was initially saddened by the audience's reaction. Primarily, I could not understand why people would so blatantly underappreciate female sports. Then I thought about it more, and I realized that it was not the audience as much as the film itself that disappointed me. While the Pops on the Heights Committee cannot condition the reaction of an audience, they can control the image portrayed. If they say that BC pride is confined to just brains and brawns, then why should anyone be expected to think otherwise? Why show a clip of students volunteering, why include a scene from one of the hundreds of cultural shows, why include an a cappella group, why depict the band or orchestra playing over the Pops? Because of time constraints, I know that it would have been impossible to include everyone, but the film was too narrow in scope. If the desired affect is to inspire University pride and unity, then why marginalize active students who do not participate in sports? Are their efforts not worth as much, as they are not money-makers?
Thankfully, this was not the only event of the weekend. For me, the true BC pride kicked in at Mass when Father Penna observed, "This is my favorite audience of the weekend." Isn't this a better representation of our college, the emphasis on spirituality over all else? It is our responsibility, as current students, to incorporate Father Penna's sentiment into our vision of BC. And maybe by the time that we are the parent organizers of the Pops on the Heights, we will include student groups and clap for the women's sports teams.
Danielle Corea LSOE '11
Be the first to comment on this article!