July, 03 2013, 01:29pm EDT
Over 140,000 Demand Nestle Reduce Canadian Water Pumping Operations During Ontario Drought Conditions
Over 140,000 consumers in Canada and across the globe are joining with the global corporate watchdog, SumOfUs.org demanding that Nestle cut back on water pumping during drought conditions for their operations in Aberfoyle, Ontario.
SIGN ON HERE: https://action.sumofus.org/a/nestle-water-ontario/4/2/?sub=pr
ONTARIO, CANADA
Over 140,000 consumers in Canada and across the globe are joining with the global corporate watchdog, SumOfUs.org demanding that Nestle cut back on water pumping during drought conditions for their operations in Aberfoyle, Ontario.
SIGN ON HERE: https://action.sumofus.org/a/nestle-water-ontario/4/2/?sub=pr
Currently, Nestle has a permit through 2017 to take about 1.1 million litres of water per day from Hillsburgh, Ontario for its bottling operations in nearby Aberfoyle -- even during drought conditions while there are by-laws on water use for households. The surrounding communities which rely on the aquifer have by-laws to restrict its access to their own water during dry conditions in the summer. Maude Barlow, the Council of Canadians, and Ecojustice are also fighting back against Nestle and the Ontario government office that handed out its permit asking the company to do the right thing and cut back on water pumping operations while their neighbors suffer under drought conditions."
"Nestle's appetite to commodify water and natural remedies is a recurring strategy by a corporation with a pattern of seeking to privatize and profit from traditional knowledge and our natural resources," explained Angus Wong, Canadian Campaigner for SumOfUs.org. "Nestle's Chairman and former CEO once infamously declared that 'access to water should not be a public right,' and now his company is putting into practice its belief that every resource should be commodified and sold off. Nestle is sucking up water from a Canadian watershed during drought conditions -- to bottle and sell it off."
Nestle has been in the news a lot lately for attempting to profit from our natural resources. Last month, over 220,000 SumOfUs.org supporters signed a petition against Nestle's effort to patent the fennel flower, a cure-all medicinal remedy for millions of people in impoverished communities across the Middle East and Asia. Several days after launching the petition, a video emerged showing Nestle's Chairman claiming that the idea that water is a human right comes from "extremist" NGOs and that water should have a market value. Nestle has dealt with NGOs and lost before -- the years-long boycott over Nestle's dirty tactics to get mothers to stop breastfeeding and use baby formula -- which resulted in thousands of infant deaths from water-born illnesses -- was a historic success in corporate campaigning.
SumOfUs is a community of people from around the world committed to curbing the growing power of corporations. We want to buy from, work for and invest in companies that respect the environment, treat their workers well and respect democracy. And we're not afraid to hold them to account when they don't. Barely a day goes by without a fresh corporate scandal making headlines. From polluting the environment to dodging taxes - when left unchecked, corporations don't let anything stand in the way of bigger profits. In an age of multinational companies that are bigger and richer than some countries, it can be easy to feel powerless. But there is a chink in their armor. The biggest corporations in the world rely on ordinary people to keep them in business. We are their customers, their employees, and often their investors. When we act together, we can be more powerful than they are. Together, our community of millions act as a global consumer watchdog - running and winning campaign
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