Phil Woolas Wades Into Bottled Water Debate
BOTTLED Water. A Political issue. It’s Phil Woolas. Yes, him, the inbred Muslim chap.
Notes Dizzy: Jesus wept. That is all you can say when you hear that the Environment Minister, Phil Woolas, has said that the amount of money that people spend on bottled water “borders on being morally unacceptable”. What a complete idiot.
All those people that go a long journey and find themselves thirsty are now it seems morally reprehensible. Why.. doesn’t anyone know they should be drinking coca cola? Diet of course so that we can stave off the obesity epidemic, and caffeine free too so that you don’t have a heart attack and cost the state lots of money as well.
The MP for Oldham clearly doesn’t seem to concerned either with those people in Buxton (just down the road from his own constituency) who have quite a stake in the bottled water market. Meanwhile, his colleague, Tim Lang, the Government’s naural resources commissioner said,
“We have to make people think that it’s unfashionable just as we have with smoking. We need a similar campaign to convince people that this is wrong,”
Would this be the wrong time to mention the House of Commons spends around £60,000 a year on bottled mineral water, and, since 2002, has managed to purchase £314,056 worth of the stuff?
February 17th, 2008 at 1:09 pm
I like this blog. It’s informative and entertaining but, in this case, you miss the point and, unusually, seem to have completely persuaded yourself the emperor’s new range of bottled water is particularly fine.
Bottled water was practically non-existent in the UK before the mid-eighties. Whatever did people do before bottled water was readily available? They drank tap water. What would we do without bottled water? Erm, let me think…..
To use your example, people that went on a long journey might take a drink with them, possibly in a re-usable container. It’s quite ingenius when you think about it, eh? It’s cheaper and it creates no landfill.
The very concept of shipping a glassfull of water hundreds of miles, ironically often across a body of water (the Channel), and then putting it in a fridge can only be viewed as the decadent and excessive behaviour of the privileged in a nation where you can turn on a tap and get safe, clean water. The resulting carbon footprint from drinking a bottle of Evian, to pick a random example, in London is completely unjustifiable. It’s water! Turn on the tap.
While there is a demand & a commercial case for bottled water as an alternative for fizzy drinks, surely you can’t condone the ridiculous fashion item it has become. People now feel obliged to buy it in restaurants and bars - if you ask for a glass of water you are asked “fizzy or still” when the default should be “corporation pop”. People are embarrassed to ask for a jug of iced tap water for fear they will be labelled as cheapskates - though there is an increasing lobby for tap water in restaurants.
Next time you buy a bottle of mineral water, read the sell by date, because it seems that after spending five-thousand years filtering through a mountain you only have a few months left to drink it before it goes off. Go and look.
If you’re still not convinced you’ve been scammed, I can sell you some mountain air shipped from the Andes. Not normal air, this is the purest stuff from the mountains and it comes in a little tin. So when you need some fresh air, don’t inhale that free stuff that’s all around you, buy the small amount I ship across the world and don’t forget to put the tin in the recycle bin so you can feel good about it afterwards. It’s only 6 quid a tin.
If you really, really can’t live without your bottled water, then at least buy a locally sourced or UK based variety.
And finally, don’t try and justify inexcusable behaviour by using MPs (or anyone else) as a benchmark - “oh, but look at how much water they use” is not an excuse. You’re a grown-up, it’s your life, your choices and your children you’ll have to explain your indulgences to.
Perhaps I’d better go an calm down now and have a nice glass of water….
February 18th, 2008 at 1:35 pm
where does the bottled water debate end? Can I morally drink Schweppes Tonic with gin or must I have tap water? The goverment is putting it’s size 12s straight into a debate without thinking about the real life implications. This is what happens when you get people who have no real life experience in control of real people.
If you look at the Woolas blog you realise that this man has contempt for the freethinking individual and wants more government control (see his thoughts on the Nanny state) We are great danger of slipping into a BIG GOVERNMENT - small individual Nanny State, and I for one am not that keen.
By the way how can you argue that we should buy everything locally if you want to improve foreign trade and help 3rd world economies?
July 12th, 2008 at 12:12 pm
Do you not think that one of the key points of this debate is the fact that Mr Woolas os trying to reduce Parliament’s spending on bottled water?
Just a thought.
August 17th, 2008 at 12:22 am
Maybe it’s because the government would rather we drank fluoridated water, and enjoy the benefits of that neurotoxic sedative.
Where’s the proof, where’s the proof??!! Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!
Wait ’til you hear what this MP fella’s got to say on GM food.
Peace and love to y’all.
October 19th, 2008 at 1:17 pm
“clearly doesn’t seem to concerned either with those people in Buxton (just down the road from his own constituency) who have quite a stake in the bottled water market”
A very silly thing to say. We could shut down the water bottling plant and save the resources wasted (plastic, energy etc.) and pay full incomes to all who lost. The net effect on the world would be a reduction in consumption of resources*. It would be better to pay people to do nothing. Even better if they all found useful jobs.
(* there would be another effect. The dumbheads who cannot live without bottled water would have to learn.)
Of course , there are times when people need to carry water in bottles. I often fill one from my tap. Occasionally I have to buy a bottle from a supermarket. Most bottled water is sold to idiots; pathetic, small minded idiots who pander to their egos by drinking awfully, spiffingly nice water.