Overcoming the Bottled Water Habit

January 26, 2007

Presbyterians for Restoring Creation (PRC) is a national, grassroots organization that supports people of faith working towards environmental wholeness with social justice.

At its June 2005 conference Sharing the Waters of Life, members learned about local watersheds and the impact around the world of water use in the U.S. Keynote speaker Vandana Shiva, an Indian physicist and environmental activist, warned against privatization and the corporate control of water, and called on churches to educate people about the water crisis.

The conference was co-sponsored by Church World Service, which is campaigning for the right to water for all. Among its projects and advocacy initiatives, the organization supports community-based ownership and management of water resources in Africa, rainwater harvesting in Palestinian villages and improved sanitation and hygiene education in Vietnamese schools. While seeking to increase the capacity of local partners to provide clean, safe water for both drinking and domestic use, a vital part of the Water for All campaign is advocacy to public officials on behalf of water as a human right.

PRC coordinator Rebecca Barnes-Davies told Church World Service of an initiative that grew from the 2005 conference and made a splash at the Presbyterian Church USA (PCUSA) General Synod in Birmingham, AL, last year.

Rebecca Barnes-Davies: The idea for our campaign against bottled water was a result of synergy from a couple of different people. Vandana Shiva talked about the complexities of the water issue. We wanted a handle people could grab: one symbolic but tangible action. Symbolic, so people know why they are doing it, but tangible so they could act on an issue that’s so overwhelming. That was one strand. The other was about plastic. One of the attendees noticed that we didn’t provide plastic bottles at the conference. It was an eye-opener for her. Every conference she’s been to always had plastic bottled water. She said it was wasteful, just creating new plastic when it wasn’t needed. Also, for some of us it was important to reaffirm our own responsibility in our own watersheds and ensure good tap water. That’s more important in the public arena.

CWS: What happened after the Sharing the Waters of Life conference?

Rebecca Barnes-Davies: Our main effort was at the PCUSA General Assembly at Birmingham. We gave out copies of the campaign brochure to everybody who visited the PRC booth. The Presbyterian Hunger Program and Living Waters for the World also distributed the brochure. It was probably the single most conversation- producing piece we had that year. Many people said it was very challenging. One person emailed me after the Assembly saying: “you’ve changed my mind about bottled water.” Others said they thought bottled water was a dumb idea anyway. Many people were very glad to see (the campaign) and have had conversations about it. We also put the brochures into the mailboxes of all the commissioners at the Assembly. We’ve heard only one person say that the privatization issue is complex and that there are countries that need it. Everybody else came from a lifestyle and consumption point of view and felt we needed to stand against privatization. So there was a spectrum of responses.

CWS: How are Peacemaking, Presbyterian Hunger Program and Living Waters for the World following up on the campaign?

Rebecca Barnes-Davies: Living Waters (a mission resource of the PCUSA’s Synod of Living Waters trains and equips church mission groups and others to share the gift of clean water with communities in need) signed our pledge. The pledge is a commitment to avoid the use of disposable water bottles and press Presbyterian churches to eliminate them from church events, to drink from a reusable container, and to support public water utilities and affordable access to clean water for all. Living Waters does a lot of training and now they won’t be using bottled water in their training courses. The Hunger Program created a website (http://www.pcusa.org/trade/thirst) . With them we hope to start a listserv to keep people informed. Peacemaking has written articles on the campaign in their newsletter.

CWS: How do you introduce the campaign—and wider environmental issues—at a church?

Rebecca Barnes-Davies: It depends on the congregation. It can be framed in the context of a more intentionally simpler life, by asking what makes for an authentic life. These issues reach deep into people’s spirituality and practice. People resonate with the view that some of the things we surround ourselves with—cars, bottled water, etc—distract us from creation and good stewardship. Another pathway is to show that economic stewardship overlaps with environmental stewardship, whether in conserving energy or taking bottled water out of the budget. There are also educational opportunities, through the church newsletter, or the sermon, or the minute for mission. Some churches start a study group. They go to a movie or invite a speaker. Others do it in the context of the liturgical season, finding an alternative way to celebrate Advent or Lent. Some churches do it with the adult Sunday school hour. And yet others make a start with Earth Day, or fall, or by designating a Sunday to care for God’s creation. Most pastors are helpful.

CWS: What impact is the campaign having on individual churches?

Rebecca Barnes-Davies: Churches vary so much. Many of them are still using pitchers and tap water for economical reasons. They’ve always done it but not really thought about it. Some of the churches that are being contacted are those that bring bottled water to youth events and picnics, etc. Or they used to bring coolers, but now it’s becoming the convention to bring cases of bottled water.

CWS: What are the next steps in the campaign?

Rebecca Barnes-Davies: We’ll continue to do a lot more education and give out our brochure. We’d like to start working at the local and regional level, and see which churches are going back to pitchers and tap water. There’s no policy on action yet. We want people to go to their churches and start the conversation. We might aim for a plastic bottle-free General Assembly the next time. Of course we don’t want to be thought of as saying: “so bring a can of Coke instead”! We want people up on the podiums not to sit there with plastic bottles of water or handing them out as goodies. They could use/reuse the “bicycle bottles” which have better plastic, or the clear #4 plastic, or Nalgene bottles, or bring a canteen. We want to encourage them to drink tap water.