TrueActivist– In case you’re not aware, California is currently experiencing its most severe drought ever recorded, the impending implications still being tallied.
But profit-driven company Nestlé has yet to slow their bottling of plastic water bottles, guzzling 80 million gallons of water from Sacramento aquifers per year.
For this reason, environmental and human rights activists, holding plastic “torches” and “pitchforks”, formed human barricades at both entrances to the Nestlé Waters bottling plant in Sacramento at 5:00 a.m. On Friday, March 20th. Their protesting effectively shut down the company’s operations for the day.
The activists, members of the “Crunch Nestlé Alliance”, shouted out a number of chants, some which include “We got to fight for our water,” “Nestlé, stop it, water not for profit,” and “¿Agua Para Quien? Para Nuestra Gente.”
Those in opposition to what the company is doing stayed until 1 pm, but there were no arrests.
The activist adamantly claim that Sacramento City Hall has allowed Nestlé to continue their actions via a “corporate welfare giveaway.”
“This corporate welfare giveaway is an outrage and warrants a major investigation,” Coalition spokesperson Andy Conn stated. “For more than five months we have requested data on Nestlé water use. City Hall has not complied with our request, or given any indication that it will. Sacramentans deserve to know how their money is being spent and what they’re getting for it. In this case, they’re getting ripped off.”
Lola Ellis of 99 Rise Sacramento, who spoke on the bullhorn at the protest, said, “Nestlé’s bottling of water in Sacramento is unsustainable in the current state of drought. We really don’t’ know how much water they are taking from the aquifer and that is a scary thing.”
She continued, “The water needs to be used for the local community. If there is not enough water for the local community, the Nestlé corporation should not be making a profit.”
Others support Ellis’ stance, rallying out of disbelief that such corporate greed could be allowed to continue when residents of the state are expected to run out of water within the next 12 – 18 months if serious action isn’t taken.
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