Flow

Flow was a very interesting film about places all over the world that are in need of clean drinking water. It shares information about how large companies such as Pepsi, Coca-cola, and Nestle open plants in areas that have clean water such as rivers, streams, and lakes and take that water to bottle and sell. I did not realize how much these plants hurt the environment they are in. They take the water from the people in the towns and bottle it. Then they turn around and sell the bottled water to the people. This water does not initially belong to them, and that is where the controversy lies. They take the water that isn’t just theirs and ruin the streams and rivers in those areas leaving the citizens with unsanitary drinking water. Another interesting fact I learned in the movie was that people that live in poverty that get their water out of taps set miles from their homes actually pay more for their water than we (that can afford it) pay in the US. These places didn’t always have to pay for their water, and it was clean then. Now that the water has been “claimed” was large companies they can no longer afford to buy the clean water from the taps and they must go straight to the rivers and get their water. These rivers are very polluted and in some areas children will die before the age of 5 because the drinking water is so polluted.

I found the film very interesting and very motivating. Many of these towns have taken the bottling companies to court and have won their trials. Not all of them win, but some do. These people that fight the courts are just regular people of the towns that ban together to fight what it wrongfully being taken from their towns. It just goes to show that small groups of people can make a difference.