Nestle produces bottled water along with other food products. To sustain both business enterprises, the corporation must implement water management practices and oversight. The goal of Nestle is to produce quality food products while decreasing their environmental and water footprint. So how does a major corporation like Nestle accomplish such a noble endeavor?

Water conservation and management is an integral part of ensuring future end profits for Nestle. Hence, investing in environmentally friendly business practices is essentially investing in their future success as a company.

Some experts suggest that a global water crisis could lead to a global food crisis if immediate action isn’t taken to conserve water and the environment. A crisis of this magnitude would devastate the global marketplace and negatively impact companies like Nestle that rely on agricultural and natural resources for production.

Recently, Nestle released their 2009 progress report that details their reduction of wastewater release into the environment and overall water consumption has decreased since their 2008 report.

This decrease may be attributable to the global economic crisis that has impacted sales and consumers the world over. Yet, the decrease may also be explained by Nestlé’s Water Resource Review Program (WRRP).

The WWRP le is comprised of several areas for addressing water management practices of the corporation. Efforts of the WWRP include an initiative to monitor water quality, water quantity, regulation compliance with local and state governments where the corporation operates, and site protection of Nestle facilities.

This stratified program represents a joint effort to decrease their water foot print, remain environmentally friendly, and maintain product quality.

 To date, Nestle has conducted surveys of 65 water sites, representing more than half of their bottled water facilities. The WRRP will work in tandem with Nestlé’s food factories to indentify issues in water management practices and to develop sound solutions for sustainable water use.

Nestle operates the WRRP based on a Water Stress Index (WSI), a measure that calculates factors such as water poverty, water stress and other indicators of water misuse.

For a comprehensive approach to corporate stewardship and social responsibility, Nestle works in the public policy sphere to promote sustainable water solutions for the future. Nestle is involved in the CEO Water Mandate , a strategic framework developed by the United Nations to coordinate systems of water management between businesses and the international community. Also, Nestle advocates for a rebalancing of the environmental scales with respect to water consumed on a daily basis to the amount of naturally replenishing water sources available.

The Nestle Corporation is constantly improving and expanding their policies in water sustainability and monitoring practices. Their work in the public sphere and consistent improvement in water management offers a role model for other corporations who depend upon natural resources for their products.

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The archipelago of the Hawaiian Island was born millions of years ago. The Big Island is formed by volcanic activity and fosters one of the world’s largest mountains, Mauna Kea. According to the brand’s official website, “a US Geological Survey concluded that the waters of Kea’au are among the purest in the world” (Source: http://hawaiianspring.com/). This precious water source is kept alive due to the frequent annual rainwater falls that translate into 1.38 billion gallons on a daily basis, the amount needed “to supply all the bottled water consumed each year in America in 7.3 days! If you wonder about the purity of rainwater, there is one simple answer: natural volcanic filtration.  As the rainwater goes downhill it gets filtered by the lava, for an extra purity. The particularity of this water is the fact that it has been certified to be free of heavy metal and chemicals with a very minimal human intervention. The company’s sustainable section appears somewhat limited insofar it doesn’t present in a comprehensive manner the actions of corporate social responsibility undertaken by Hawaiian Springs. In addition there is no mention about the use of recycled plastic or the potential damages caused by the plastic water bottles. Yes, the source is sustainable but what about the water bottles?

In the past decades, due to population growth and industrialization the rainforest has suffered greatly from degradation. The wildlife in Hawaii is home to close to ten thousand unique species that need to be protect. As conservation is part of the Hawaiian culture, it is also an important value of the Hawaiian Springs bottled water. According to the company’s official website, “Hawaiian Springs donates a portion of its proceeds from bottled water sales to the Nature Conservancy each year in its effort to build awareness and support for the preservation of native Hawaiian endemic species, many of which are threatened with extinction” (Source: http://www.hawaiianspring.com/). The packaging of the bottles pays tribute to the local flowers, the Red Llima and the Nanu.

In addition, Hawaiian Springs is also sponsor of the 2010 Maui Film festival, another great way to give back to the community. Welcoming celebrities, journalists and curious tourists this even is a great opportunity to present the great touristic attraction and natural resources that render Hawaii such a gorgeous and unique island. The famous brand will furnish the festival and its guests with bottles of water as well as selling one liter bottles at an assigned stand. “Twenty percent of all proceeds will be donated to various nonprofit organization that volunter to staff the concession stand, including Habitat for Humanity, Women Helping Women, Na Leo Kakoo, Friends of Hookipa, and Haleakala Waldorf School” (Source: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20100616005381/en/Hawaiian-Springs-Named-Official-Sponsor-2010-Maui). This year’s eleventh edition, welcomed top celebrities such as Zac Efron and Justin Chambers.

Hawaiian Springs, is Hawaii’s national water, pumped directly from the source with minimal human intervention. This water, drawn from an artesian at the mountain’s base is one of the purest waters. Sponsoring cinema event is a way for the brand to give back to the community while promoting the Hawaiian culture. The website nonetheless seems to lack a real coverage on the company’s coporate social responsibility actions.

This particular water comes from a simple hydrogeological model that is explained on the company’s website: “water is mineralized through contact with the rocks and is heated by geothermal gradient until reaching the spring, where it has the balanced composition of S. Pellegrino mineral water” (Source: http://www.sanpellegrino.com/index.html). As early as the 12^th century the Sanpellegrino sparkly water was used for its apparent healthy properties.  In 1842, the town decided to sell the spring to Ester Palazzolo with the condition that a part of the share would be given to the local citizens so they could have access to the water free of charge.  With thousands of bottles selling around the world, the Italian brand decided to put together mineral water and Sicilian oranges and invented a new soft drink called “Aranciata”. In 1999, the brand became the latest new addition to Nestlé’s bottled water empire. According to San Pellegrino’s latest quality report, the water that comes from the sources is always tested as it enters the plant in order to comply with international standards and with Nestlé own requisites. It appears that “quality first” is the motto of this luxury water bottle as the product is “screened for over 200 possible contaminants annually, even more than the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or Italian Health Authorities require” (Source: http://www.nestle-watersna.com/pdf/SP_BWQR.pdf).

Stefano Agostini, the president and chief executive officer of Sanpellegrino presents environmental sustainability as one of the main objectives of the company as he declares that the company’s mission is “that of guaranteeing water a future of quality” (Source: http://www.bpcommunication.net/risorse/sanpellegrino.pdf). According to the company’s statements, the firm is involved in various programs of water conservation in order to protect their water sources and to render them sustainable on the longest term possible. Sanpellegrino states the importance of protecting water sources and its surrounding ecosystems. In order to be coherent with the green values advocated by the Italian brand, the company promotes water and education programs for young children in order to raise awareness at an early age about the importance of water conservation. The brand is a promoter and partner of the WET project (Water Education for Teachers) that aims at educating the little and the old about responsible principles of water consumption. In addition, San Pellegrino says that in the last four years, they have reduced by 48% the total water volume they use in the production process. “To reduce the environmental impact, San Pellegrino is investing in rail transport  and also adheres to CONAI the National Packaging Consortium for the disposal and recycling of containers and is developing a careful reduction plan of materials for the packaging of its products” (Source: http://www.bpcommunication.net/risorse/sanpellegrino.pdf). While the company’s website tells us it is working hard at diminishing its packaging waste, it fails to give additional details, concrete actions and examples to illustrate how the brand is really achieving these environmental friendly goals. While details on the company’s concrete actions in regards to green productions processes seem to be somewhat lacking, Sanpellegrino presents a much clearer picture of its involvement in Africa on a water friendly project.

Working with the AMREF (African Medical and Research Foundation), the Italian brand has sponsored the construction of a well in Makueni, Kenya and its working with the local population in order to enable a water management training to “teach the local population the proper hygiene and the proper health practices to be adopted” (Source: http://www.sanpellegrino.com/index.html). According to its website it appears that the company is committed to a long-term partnership with AMREF in order to help bring quality water to those who need it the most. With the current controversy against the negative effects of plastic bottled water on the environment, giant companies like Sanpellegrino quickly realized that a strong corporate social responsibility is necessary to the survival of their firm and can only increase the brand’s equity.

According to the company’s official website, the Poland Spring Brand history goes back        13 000 years ago when a glacier retreated in what is today the region of Maine. Their water is collected from several spring water sources in Maine, water that has been in the homes of Americans through the great depressions, the passing of war and the hippy movement. This bottled water’s marketing strategy stands strong on its historical longevity, following the country and the passing of generations. This notion of time evolution and continuity of the bottle renders this element indispensable to the eyes of its buyers.  Citizens have even forgotten to ask themselves how truly essential is that water plastic bottle. It seems like this brand has managed to transform an essential good, water into a product, a commodity, a beverage that is to be requested with precision by costumers.  On the Poland Spring Water website, the company adopts a proactive approach with a page entitled “Please Recycle” that is a message directed to their customers. The corporation tackles the problems of plastic pollution directly by stating that: “the Container Recycling Institute estimates that 75 to 80% of plastic bottles end up in landfills or incinerators. We want to be part of the solution” (Source: http://www.polandspring.com/KnowH2O/Be-Green.aspx). They expose their concrete effort by producing bottles with less plastic and a smaller label in order to save trees.  It appears to be that their website is not only about promoting their green initiatives but they have also decided to inform readers about environmental facts like reminding us that “ it takes 6 trees to make one ton of paper” (Source: http://www.polandspring.com/KnowH2O/Be-Green.aspx). By informing customers about environmental issues and statistics, it appears that the company is trying to give us the impression that they stand on the side of environmentalist groups and green NGOs.  In addition their website has a special section entitled “Be healthy”, a section that gives general tips about being healthy and staying hydrated.

Their newest bottle, the Eco-Shape bottle is “lighter than most half-liter beverage bottles because it contains an average of 30% less plastic.” (Source: http://www.polandspring.com/KnowH2O/Be-Green.aspx).  The company also reminds us that in the last ten years they have saved about 30% for every liter produced, saving around 245 million pounds of plastic resin.  Yet, on the corporate citizenship section of their website, on the category of “Recycling” it seems that the company has a pretty scarce strategy or informative text as they simple say “we encourage you to recycle all of our products” (Source: http://www.polandspring.com/DoingOurPart/WhatWereDoing.aspx).

A few years back Poland water faced a controversy as it was accused of bottling water that did not come directly from the spring. “When Perrier took over the Poland spring site, it was drawing water not from the original spring at the top of Ricker Hill but from boreholes a couple of thousand feet away, near a pond base on the hill” (Source: http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2004/02/09/360105/index.htm).  This controversy was somewhat concluded with the fact that the springs were somewhat linked to the borehole. This was the loophole that permitted Poland water to continue marketing their bottles as “spring water”.

On their website the company tells us that they believe that “the greatest impact we can have today to protect our environment is to design lighter bottles that use less plastic” (Source: http://www.polandspring.com/KnowH2O/Be-Green.aspx). This seems like a somewhat light and superficial statement considering the amount of plastic that is dumped in nature running the natural habitat of animals and human beings. The United States has the privilege of having access to free tap water, individuals are uphold at the potential privatization of water as they argue it should be a fundamental human right. Yet, paradoxically they fell to be coherent with their arguments since most citizens after arguing against water privatization, frown at tap water and go out and buy bottled water. This is something worth reflecting upon.

On Evian’s official website, one can discover that the company has a special link called “Doing our Part” that covers their program of sustainability in order to preserve water and the environment. According to this section, Evian uses 100% recyclable bottles and has divided its green commitment in two main parts: “protecting our Source and protecting the environment” (Source: http://www.evian.com/#/en_US/48-doing-our-part). Evian stresses the importance of protecting water, as a rare and vital resources and reminds us that as early as 1926, in collaboration with the local authorities, the source of evian “Natural Spring Water of public interest” (Source: http://www.evian.com/#/en_US/49-protecting-our-Source). This means that the area became a protected zone where all human activities are monitored in order to safeguard the longevity of the source.  This action can also be interpreted as a way for the company to have complete control and sovereignty over the water source in order to block concurrence or any other disturbing element. Aside from the protection of “their source”, according to the company’s website, the company stresses their commitment in protecting the environment thanks to eco-friendly bottling plants, the recycle of old materials and an eco-friendly transport that is made in its majority by railway instead of trucks since the train is by far less polluting.

The company proudly reminds its customers, of the Danone- Evian partnership with the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance. This intergovernmental treaty provides a plan of action and framework for the conservation of precious waterlands around the world.  An important result of this conference was the creation of  the Danone-Evian Fund for Water Resources that intends “ to raise awareness of the importance of water resources amongst decision-makers and the general public; it is also intended to make these audiences aware of water management issues by developing educational tools and sharing best practices on the management of natural sites” (Source: http://www.ramsar.org/cda/en/ramsar-activities-private-danone/main/ramsar/1-63-98-398_4000_0__ ).

According to the Corporate Social Responsibility Newswire website, Evian has created the newly launched Evian Water Protection Institute that has given life to 3 concrete sustainable development projects: one is based in La Plata (Argentina), the other in Nepal’s Jagadishpur reservoir and finally the last one is the Bung Khong Long Lake project in Thailand. The goals of these three long-term projects are to help maintain and/or restore wetlands, with the scope of ameliorating the lives of the local communities, “develop exchanges of knowledge about sustainable management of water resources and finally encourage local communities to play a role in the management of the wetlands” (Source:http://www.csrwire.com/press/press_release/14388-Evian-Natural-Spring-Water-Expands-Sustainable-Development-Strategy ).  From a somewhat skeptical point of view, one comes to wonder what is behind a multi-national sharing its expertise and savoir faire with local communities while working in order to better their living conditions. From a business mentality where nothing is given for free, this could be a way for Evian to have a greater controller and influence over these three profitable areas. Yet, in good faith, one needs to wait for the long-term results in order to have a more authentic opinion on the projects of the Evian Water Protection Institute.

Many internet sites and online blogs like http://storyofstuff.org/bottledwater/are coming up with effective ways to raise awareness against the negative sides of bottled water. Denouncing high costs, the waste of plastic and the dangers for the environment such campaigns have had a real impact on customers.  Since 2009, Danone, Evian’s mother company, has suffered greatly “after falling 19% the previous year, with its overall revenue down another 10% , to $3.43-billion “ (Source: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/marketing/tide-rising-against-bottled-water/article1543620/). With the economic crisis, many businesses have suffered from budget cuts and many single individuals were faced with unemployment. In many cases, this situation encouraged people to replaced plastic bottles with tap water to save money while still consuming the same precious good.  In order to respond to environmentalist groups and customers’ eco-friendly requests, the French company’s goal i sto increase the use of PET (plastic used in water bottles) from 10 000 to 40 000 tonnes by 2010 (Source: http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/consumer_goods/article5704940.ece).

While the world is turning eco-friendly and green is the season’s new color, the water bottle industry is forced to deal with the water scarcity crisis and the need to protect the environment. All over the United States, environmentalist groups have launched innovative campaigns against bottled water. In order to respond to the social weather, Evian has taken what appears to be a serious stance in favor of long term sustainable development programs. Only time will tell if Evian’s commitment to the environmental cause is truly authentic or just a slick marketing strategy.

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Fiji water’s is reducing its amount of carbon in the atmosphere by cutting emissions across the products entire life cycle. Efforts are made also to invest in forest carbon and renewable energy projects to reach the carbon negative. When measuring the water’s carbon footprint Fiji count emissions for everything it takes to get it into the consumer’s hands — starting at production of our raw materials and all the way through consumption. “Although it is optional for companies to report emissions from steps outside their control, we consider it necessary so that you can understand the true environmental impact of the products you use.” (2008 Report: http://www.fijigreen.com/assuranceReport.pdf)

Measuring FIJI water’s carbon footprint showed at the company how to best reduce it, for example by using less packaging materials, incorporate more recycled materials, use less energy at the bottling facility, use more carbon-efficient transportation.

Packaging:

The Company declares that will reduce the amount of packaging they use to make the products they sell by 20% and increase the use of recycled materials. They also claim to reduce manufacturing waste at the Fiji bottling facility by 33%. They have started experiments like the production of lighter bottles, the result of the reduction of bottle weight will be measurable next year. The cardboard cartons are containing already about 55% of recycled content, the objective is to improve the percentage.

Bottling:

The Company declares that by 2010 they will supply at least 50% of the energy for the bottling facility and company-owned vehicles from renewable sources, and wind is the most viable renewable energy source for their bottling facility. Talking about renewable energy FIJI Water is making the bottling facility more energy efficient so that each bottle requires less energy to produce.

Transportation:

The Company is actually optimizing the logistics to keep the product on container for more of the distance to market. They assert that of the principal transport modes – ocean, air and rail – ocean freight is the most fuel-efficient and produces the fewest emissions per ton carried and distance traveled. For example to send FIJI water to New York City while the route to Panama Canal takes about three times long to get to destination, it results in 55% fewer greenhouse gas emissions.

Recycling Efforts:

The Company invites to help by recycling the packaging, reducing the carbon footprint of the bottle by 25%.

“One ton of recycled plastic saves 5,774 kWh of electricity and 685 gallons of oil (U.S. House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming). But all bottled water (not just FIJI Water) comprises only 0.33% of U.S. municipal solid waste (Sustainable Life Media, October 2007).

So, please remember to recycle all eligible materials, not just FIJI Water bottles and other beverage containers. For example, cardboard is recyclable too — one ton of recycled cardboard saves 17 trees and 9 cubic yards of landfill space (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency)

Please call your city and state officials if you do not have access to curbside recycling. To express your support for container deposit legislation, you can find and contact your federal, state and local officials at Congress.org.”

(Source: http://www.fijigreen.com/HowYouCanHelp.html)

The Company also says that:

“There has been much debate about the use of petroleum in the making of plastic water bottles. Our environmental impact is minimal, however, particularly compared to that of other industries. More importantly, it is constantly improving. First, FIJI Water is bottled in 100 percent recyclable containers. As an industry, making plastic water bottles accounts for a miniscule 0.02 percent of America’s oil consumption, and plastic water bottles contribute only one-third of 1 percent to the municipal waste stream. Nonetheless, FIJI Water has always been an industry leader in environmental stewardship, and we are constantly working to improve our environmental footprint. We are committed to reducing the material in our packaging by 20% by 2010, becoming more energy efficient, and improving recycling rates in the U.S. and all of our key markets.”

(Source: http://www.fijigreen.com)

While other comments on the number one of imported bottles:

“FIJI® Water is natural artesian water bottled at the source in Viti Levu (Fiji islands) since 1996. Roll International acquired FIJI Water in 2004 and has since tripled the business, making it the No. 1 imported bottled water brand in the United States.

With more than 500 employees in 11 countries, FIJI Water became the nation of Fiji’s leading exporter in 2008, and its operations are vital to Fiji’s economic development. More than 300 Fijians are employed at the plant in Yaqara, holding some of the highest-paying manufacturing jobs in the country.

FIJI Water is committed to quality and excellence in its product, people, profitability and strategic partners. The company is also dedicated to communicating the passion and unique properties of its brand to consumers worldwide.”

(Source: http://www.roll.com/fiji-water.php)

FIJI Water used the WRI/WBCSD Greenhouse Gas Protocol (http://www.ghgprotocol.org/) to measure the carbon footprint. ICF International (http://www.icfi.com/), a global leader in analyzing emissions inventories and providing advice on climate strategy, has independently reviewed and verified the carbon footprint.