As a new river-dweller I find my messages revolve around the Hudson River. So today I am going to use the Upper Hudson River -- in the Glens Falls area, just north of us -- as a launching pad to grab Big Water...actually and metaphorically.
Here we take water for granted. No matter what we read in the news, there's no escaping our great good fortune to sit atop (and along side) of tremendous water resources. Human nature being what it is, we usually default to a reasonably happy sense of, what, false security? or assumption of endless essential resource?
Over 70 percent of the surface of the Earth is covered by water, but only 2.5 percent is fresh water. The rest is salt water contained in the oceans. And of the already small proportion of freshwater, only 1 percent -- less than 0.007 percent of all the water in the world -- is easily accessible.
If I went down to Jody's Bar in Easton -- I have raved about the chicken quesadilla there -- and shared that information I bet no one would believe me. I mean, they might look out Jody's window and see the Hudson and, whether they knew it or not, it cranks a mean 53,859.74 gallons per minute!
But, RIGHT, even that water cannot be included in the .007% of available potable water. It still has too high a concentration of PCBs. :o
But just upriver, in Glens Falls, upstream from Fort Edward and Hudson Falls, at the base of the Adirondacks a fascinating new company is multi-tasking: supporting urban renewal, infrastructure improvements, workforce development, and YES "bottling" water!
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| more than just water (click please) |
Here is a great example, from the CEO of Just:
At
JUST, we are advocates of tap water whenever possible, frankly. But when bottled water is
necessary, we know it can and should be better. The paper for the JUST water
bottles is sourced from Forest Stewardship Council® certified forests, and we
recently increased the amount of renewable resources in the bottle from 53% to
82% by adding plant-based PE, which in total reduces greenhouse gas emissions
by up to 74% compared to traditional plastic bottles.
WHAT? A different approach you ask? How many auto CEOs would say "whenever possible or practical we hope you will walk or bike but when absolutely necessary to drive we hope you will use our brand?" No answer required. In fact as a Not Too Much For-Profit for profit venture, besides spending extra on doing the right environment things, Just tried to pay Glens Falls eight times more than the next-highest consuming customer in its water system and Glens Falls turned them down. (This IS New York and political good deals are starting to get punctuated with prison time.) But Just persisted, made investments in the community -- "recycling" a closed parochial school as its operating plant -- and the City Fathers became believers. So Just now, actually, pays 6.2% more than the next highest-consuming customer. WHY? To optimize profit? (Most water bottlers get their H2O so cheaply it does not appear as a cost on their balance sheets.) No, the team at Just calculated than any rate lower than 6.2% would not generate sufficient funds to allow Glens Falls to invest in water infrastructure improvements.
So Just Water is about a lot more than just water. Here is the Uncola of Uncolas behaving positively disruptively!
Let's drink to that!
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