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Charles Fishman: Message in a Bottle 11In the array of styles, choices, moods, and messagesavailable today, water has come to signify how we thinkof ourselves. We want to brand ourselves—as Madonnadid—even with something as ordinary as a drinkof water. We imagine there is a difference betweenshowing up at the weekly staff meeting with Aquafina,or Fiji, or a small glass bottle of Pellegrino. Which is, ofcourse, a little silly.Bottled water is not a sin. But it is a choice.Packing bottled water in lunch boxes, grabbing ahalf-liter from the fridge as we dash out the door, pilingup half-finished bottles in the car cup holders—thathappens because of a fundamental thoughtlessness. It’sonly marginally more trouble to have reusable waterbottles, cleaned and filled and tucked in the lunch boxor the fridge. We just can’t be bothered. And in a worldin which one billion people have no reliable sourceof drinking water, and 3,000 children a day die fromdiseases caught from tainted water, that conspicuousconsumption of bottled water that we don’t need seemswasteful, and perhaps cavalier.That is the sense in which Mackey, the CEO ofWhole Foods, and Singer, the Princeton philosopher,are both right. Mackey is right that buying bottledwater is a choice, and Singer is right that given theimpact it has, the easy substitutes, and the thoughtlessspending involved, it’s fair to ask whether it’s always agood choice.The most common question the U.S. employees ofFiji Water still get is, “Does it really come from Fiji?”We’re choosing Fiji Water because of the hibiscusblossom on the beautiful square bottle, we’re choosing itbecause of the silky taste. We’re seduced by the idea ofa bottle of water from Fiji. We just don’t believe it reallycomes from Fiji. What kind of a choice is that?Once you understand the resources mustered todeliver the bottle of water, it’s reasonable to ask as youreach for the next bottle, not just “Does the value to meequal the 99 cents I’m about to spend?” but “Does thevalue equal the impact I’m about to leave behind?”Simply asking the question takes the carelessnessout of the transaction. And once you understand wherethe water comes from, and how it got here, it’s hard tolook at that bottle in the same way again.Reprinted by permission. This article originally appearedin the July 2007 issue of Fast Company.