Water again in a moment. But this time not in faraway Africa but in Europe. Let's take a look at the small town of Vittel. Nestlé pumps two million litres of water there every day for free, in order to package it in plastic bottles and plastic containers.1https://www.faz.net/aktuell/wirtschaft/unternehmen/nestle-kritik-der-schlechte-ruf-des-konzerns-hat-seine-gruende-16228267-p2.html. As a documentary by "Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen" (SRF), among others, shows2https://www.srf.ch/news/international/geschaeft-mit-dem-grundwasser-wegen-nestle-sitzt-vittel-bald-auf-dem-trockenenNestlé even bottles a whopping three billion litres of water in Vittel every year and blithely places ads on Facebook promoting Vittel's sustainability.3https://utopia.de/nestle-umweltschutz-nachhaltigkeit-197039/.
To say that I first dig up the groundwater in a French village and transport it hundreds of kilometres to Germany for the German market is a completely nonsensical system. Selling disposable products from France in Germany is definitely not environmentally friendly,“ explained Sascha Roth, Environmental Policy Officer, NABU4https://www.focus.de/kultur/kino_tv/zdf-erhebt-vorwuerfe-gegen-nestle-profitgier-umweltzerstoerung-bedrohung_id_12134301.html. Because we don't have any water here in Germany, I'll add.
Roman Le Fanic, Plant Director of Nestlé Waters, admitted in 2020 that they pump out more water than can be naturally regenerated5https://modern-wealth.de/nestle-die-vielen-skandale-des-schweizer-lebensmittelkonzerns. For 40 years, however, the group has not changed anything about this6https://www.srf.ch/news/international/geschaeft-mit-dem-grundwasser-wegen-nestle-sitzt-vittel-bald-auf-dem-trockenen.
„If the deep water reserves are not replenished, the population will suffer,“ says Bernard Schmitt from the environmental organisation L'Eau Qui Mord. „I won't be around then, but young people will no longer have water from 2050. This is a serious matter. And frankly, it's criminal.“7https://www.focus.de/kultur/kino_tv/zdf-erhebt-vorwuerfe-gegen-nestle-profitgier-umweltzerstoerung-bedrohung_id_12134301.html
Nestlé's sales of bottled water alone accounted for the equivalent of more than three billion euros in sales in 2022. Nestlé Pure Life is the world's biggest water brand8https://www.handelsblatt.com/unternehmen/handel-konsumgueter/nestle-marken-welche-produkte-gehoeren-zu-nestle/26278374.html
That was not all. At the World Water Forum, a conference of the World Water Council at which water supply problems, among other things, are discussed at regular intervals, Nestlé proposed in 2000 that access to drinking water should no longer be classified as a right but as a need9https://www.rnd.de/politik/nestle-die-kritik-an-dem-lebensmittelkonzern-wird-groesser-OZBT5BO3ONDZDEYE4WUQ3SIX5Y.html. Nestlé understands how to turn municipal water sources into oil. As a side note, Nestlé is also in the fossil fuel business. But differently than you think. At the end of 2019, independent laboratory analyses published by the consumer organisation Foodwatch proved that so-called aromatic mineral oil components were added to Nestlé infant milk products10https://www.rnd.de/politik/nestle-die-kritik-an-dem-lebensmittelkonzern-wird-groesser-OZBT5BO3ONDZDEYE4WUQ3SIX5Y.html. No shit. Nestlé dumps mineral oil into baby milk. Baby milk powder. Brings more profit. Bam! I got you now, you didn't know that yet, did you?
∞
Speaking of water in plastic bottles. „Nestlé produced 1.7 million tonnes of plastic last year, 13 per cent more than the previous year,“ said Greenpeace CEO Jennifer Morgan at the 2019 Annual General Meeting in Lausanne11https://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/nestle-gigant-der-skandale-1.4477635. Instead of using 98 per cent disposable packaging, as it does now, Nestlé should focus on reusable solutions, says Greenpeace. It also criticises the company's lobbying activities against stricter plastic laws.12https://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/nestle-gigant-der-skandale-1.4477635. 17% of plastic bags and parts in the ocean come from Nestlé13https://www.blick.ch/wirtschaft/umwelt-nestle-und-unilever-fuer-greenpeace-groesste-plastikmuell-verursacher-id7356964.html.
The global market leader Coca-Cola is the biggest plastic polluter with an annual production of three million tonnes of plastic, followed by Nestlé with 1.7 million tonnes and Danone with 750,000 tonnes. According to the German Environmental Aid (DUH), the figures show that the three beverage giants are among the main responsible actors for polluting the environment with plastic waste14https://www.duh.de/presse/pressemitteilungen/pressemitteilung/duh-fordert-wiederverwendbare-mehrwegflaschen-und-pfandsysteme-statt-umweltschaedlichem-einwegirrsin/.
And yes, of course people are shit if they throw millions of tonnes of plastic into the sea every year. But we wealthy, educated people have it fucked in our heads if we think we can flood the markets of the world's poorest countries with plastic waste and if it rots there in the wild - or doesn't rot there - it's not our fault and it's our problem. But of course it is also „our“ problem and everyone who buys or uses Nestlé products supports it. I think it is fundamentally important to understand this connection so that something can change. We consumers are the only part of the problem that can make a difference. Nestlé won't do a damn thing - in the truest sense of the word. Governments are overwhelmed by global crises. Just look at global environmental policy. We can't even manage to meet the German climate targets. Instead, we are pushing ahead with coal mining and subsidising fossil fuels15https://www.geo.de/natur/nachhaltigkeit/bmw-nestle-unilever-studie-kritisiert-klimaversprechen-von-konzernen-31610578.html and slaughtered 51.2 million pigs, cattle, sheep, goats and horses and 701.4 million chickens, turkeys and ducks in German slaughterhouses in 202216https://www.destatis.de/DE/Presse/Pressemitteilungen/2023/02/PD23_051_413.html. In what universe is that sustainable?
You can already see how close these topics are to my heart. I could list more examples for hours, but I don't want to bore you with them. I hope you can follow my thoughts. I object to the fact that I am so often „argued“ that nothing can be changed anyway. Because I see it exactly the opposite way round. Only you can change something. And me. And every single person. You don't have to do without anything, but simply shop more consciously and open your eyes a little.
If I have not yet been able to convince you completely or if you would like to learn more, you should definitely read the next part. Nestlé is not only indirectly responsible for environmental damage, but also unnecessarily tortures animals in animal experiments and torches more and more habitats every day without relocating a single animal.
Read more (available tomorrow morning)
