Tapped the Documentary
Tapped, the 2009 documentary directed by Stephanie Soechtig and Jason Lindsey,
discusses the impacts that disposable plastic water bottles have on the environment,
economy and our health. It exposes some harsh realities that the citizens are ignorant of.
The water bottle industry has changed our culture and way of life. Farmers and small
business developments are no longer in control. The largest food processing companies in
the world are now in charge and are creating health hazards for human and environmental
life in exchange for big profits.
Water bottle companies are ripping us off in more ways than one. Tapped verifies that 40%
of bottled water is just filtered tapped water. One example is PepsiCo, the company that
manufactures Aquafina. After surrendering to public pressure, PepsiCo changed their
bottles to include “public water source” on the label. Before this they falsely advertised
that their water came from natural flowing springs. In reality, when you purchase bottled
water, you are paying for something you can already get for free. Nestle, Coca-Cola and
PepsiCo pump water from the earth and then sell it for “1900 times more than the cost of
tap water.” These companies are stealing money out of citizen’s pockets without their
knowledge.
Because of our nations ignorance, water bottle industry sales sky rocket year after year.
Nestle made 3.6 billion dollars in water sales in 2008 alone. This trend has only gone up.
After doing some continual research on this topic, I found a National Geographic report
stating that in 2011, total bottled water sales in the U.S. hit 9.1 billion. At the same time
