Post #3-The Ethical Dilemma of Nestlé Water
Although the company states: "We do not compete with municipalities for water. EVER. And we do not privatize public water supplies" (BlueTriton, 2021). Nestlé/BlueTriton insists its companies have done nothing wrong and call themselves the environment good managers. Although BlueTriton states on the company's website that they rigorously test for a variety of environmental factors, and analyze and assess habitat, water levels, flow and abstraction. However, according to the reaction of local residents and news reports. Nestle/BlueTriton is not a reasonable transfer of mining as stated on the company's website. On the contrary, the company is still carrying out over-mining under the opposition of local residents. The graph below shows that surface water flow has decreased significantly as the company drained the excess flow.
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| https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2022-01-20/environmentalists-fight-to-shut-down-bottled-water-operation |
I think Nestlé itself is a company that has always been controversial and has many ethical issues. And this behavior of Nestlé/BlueTriton, which is completely contrary to their own philosophy, is not very surprising to me, because after browsing other aspects of Nestlé's ethical issues, it is not difficult to find that the company has a great deal of ethics. issues, whether for human rights or the use of environmental resources. By watching reports and press releases, it's not hard to see. Nestlé/BlueTriton will not stop their activities due to complaints and warnings. In other words, although Nestlé/BlueTriton claims to pay attention to the environment, they actually ignore the protection of the environment and their reputation. And in that, I think there are also responsibilities related to government departments, law enforcement officers, and regulators. The reason is that when a company continues to do things that are unfavorable to national resources and people, the government and regulatory authorities should respond and control in a timely manner to ensure that the company makes corrections.
Nestle is simply taking part in the new philosophy that many corporations and politicians use in saying "I am not doing anything wrong" when all the facts show that their statements are lies. I am not sure how companies are getting away with these blatant lies especially when you can physically see that there is less water flowing in the areas that they are mining water from.
ReplyDeleteThe visual that you added really helps the viewer understand how much Nestles actions are affecting the environment. You can really see the outline of where a rapid stream used to be and because of Nestles water mining it is just left to be a trickle of water.
Emily's Comment ^^^
DeleteAfter reading relevant reports, I found out that the California government and other local governments where water was extracted are opposed to the uncontrolled and illegal extraction of water resources like Nestlé. However, it is strange that Nestlé still has the "legal" qualification to use water after being opposed by the government and local residents. In the end I found out that it was the fault of the local forestry administration in the early days of mining, because of their fault and Nestlé's greed. As a result, Nestlé's uncontrolled water collection only needs to pay "two hundred US dollars" a year for water collection.
DeleteSisi
I like your illustrations and narrative style, which clearly present the inconsistency between what Nestlé knows and does.
ReplyDeleteFrom their statements, they know exactly the ethical way to do it. And yet they are still over-mining even under residents' opposition, showing their hypocrisy and putting corporate social responsibility far behind profit. The government's acquiescence to this illegal mining behavior makes their behavior even more arrogant.
I agree with you that Nestlé's performance looks hypocritical in the face of the facts. Nestlé does not solve the problems caused by companies and factories on water resources, and their continued unethical behavior is also inextricably linked to the jurisdiction of the government.
DeleteAlso, I think that Nestlé's failure to correct is also related to the lack of government control. Nestlé's profits and interests are also closely related to the local government, which also leads to the fact that Nestlé is not strictly regulated locally.
Sisi Sun
I think that Nestle is very good at deceiving the public and lying to authorities because they have been avoiding criticism and punishment for a very long time. I did not know how corrupt and wrong Nestle was until this blog and my opinion on Nestle has changed. It is horrible that local governments do not have enough funding to even contest with Nestle's lawyers so all they can do is sit on the side and let their water sources become drained like the creek in the image.
ReplyDeleteYes, the immorality of Nestlé is not just about treating mistakes and not correcting them, but also that the company has enough money and industry to continue these activities despite the opposition of the people and the local government. It is also sad enough that Nestlé chose to ignore it and use their funds and resources to continue unethical activities.
DeleteSisi Sun
I am very angry at what Nestle has done, as well as heartbroken at the government and regulators. Nestle is unrestrained in their demands and even still has a legal right to use water, and the government's indifference and inaction allows them to continue their unethical behavior. The reason the environment is being broken all stems from people's greed. And Nestle has not improved this in any way.
ReplyDeleteSally
I agree with you that the environment is being destroyed because of people's greed. When Nestlé has so many subsidiaries and industries, it should make certain efforts to the sustainable development of the company. In the same way, government departments should make regulations in the face of these companies that use natural resources to avoid the recurrence of excessive use of natural resources.
DeleteSisi Sun