Fiji artesian water: “natural” but irresponsible

I thoroughly enjoyed the very fine film Pan’s Labyrinth at Bondi Open Air Cinema late night, but I was disturbed by one sponsor’s product handed to me: artesian water shipped from Fiji.

Not content with exhausting the supply of fresh water in our own vicinity, it seems we’re now mining water from strife-torn Pacific nations — water which by their own admission first fell as rain some time before the Industrial Revolution — and pissing away further resources by shipping it 5000-odd kilometres to Sydney.

This is clearly not a sustainable option, and quite frankly it’s irresponsible — even if some tiny proportion of the retail price goes to helping the locals.