One of the true dangers facing the world today is the lack of access to clean drinking water. This is not just a problem to be ignored as water is one of life’s most basic needs. When there is no clean water it becomes a health threat.
Problems show up such as dehydration, diarrhea and more complications. In fact when collecting water becomes one of the main chores in one’s day there is an impact upon education, poverty, health, and development in children. For many there is an hour or more walk to arrive at a location where clean water may be found to bring back to their home.
This is the start of a destructive loop as due to the time obtaining the water and returning with it each and every day, women and children are prevented from becoming educated as there is no time for school. The result is people are not able to obtain any type of significant job.
This type of situation more often exists in the undeveloped countries while the developed countries have enough water generally where they do not even think about it. The lack of clean water actually is creating a deep inequality divide throughout the world.
In the USA, and numerous other parts of the world, we have been invaded by an entire industry which has turned the soft drink (soda) industry on it’s head – bottled water. It may have started with a small company some years ago called Poland Spring. How difficult could this be? Just bottle up spring water and then resell it.
This entire industry and it is an industry now – the bottled water industry – is regulated, has created part of the environmental issues (due to the plastic water bottles),
and has spawned other side businesses. For example, the saying about hearing everything at the water cooler at the office. This was in reference to the drinking fountain. This has been replaced by numerous well placed huge jugs of water which are
set up in their own cooling distribution stand.
Just a sip of water has turned into the flavored water options. Some companies place additives into the bottled water. Unsuspecting customers who think they are drinking bottled water are actually drinking water plus a number of added chemicals.
Who would think an entire industry has grown over the last twenty years simply by selling water while at the same time over one billion people on earth do not have clean drinking water unless they walk over an hour away to obtain it.
The next solution is not to create the better plastic bottle for water sales at convenience stores or through Costco – it is to solve the lack of clean water issue by large populations throughout the world.
Is it too much to ask for the great minds and those with profitable businesses to join together to solve this problem?
Mitch Tublin is an advanced certified executive and personal coach who resides in Stamford, CT.
