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Nationwide Tap Water Challenge Comes to Denver For Immediate Release: Contacts: "Think Outside the Bottle" Campaign to Reveal DENVER -- Today, Corporate Accountability International brings its Tap Water Challenge to Denver. Denver is the 35th city to participate in the Challenge that puts the bottled water claims of Coke, Nestlé and Pepsi to the test. It's all part of Corporate Accountability International's "Think Outside the Bottle" campaign, which counters the marketing myths and political power of bottled water corporations. This month's Tap Water Challenges are part of "Blue October," an internationally-recognized month of awareness about the importance of protecting people's access to water as a human right. Three out of four Americans drink bottled water and one in five Americans drink only bottled water. "This dangerous trend is being fueled by misleading marketing," says Corporate Accountability International Associate Campaigns Director Gigi Kellett. "Corporations like Coke (Dasani), Nestlé (Poland Spring), and Pepsi (Aquafina) spend tens of millions of dollars every year to undermine people's confidence in tap water, even though bottled water is less regulated and sometimes less safe." "This is about much more than price gouging or duping the public," said Tony Clarke, Director of the Polaris Institute. "Our human right to water is at stake. Bottled water is the most visible example of corporate control of our water." Tap Water Challenges around the country demonstrate that people usually cannot tell the difference between bottled water and tap water. Many people do not realize the FDA does not directly test and monitor most bottled water, but generally relies on bottled water corporations to do voluntary testing and self-monitoring instead. Corporate Accountability International considers this to be a dangerous formula. "At Cokes annual shareholders' meeting this year, its CEO claimed consumers pay for increased 'security' when buying Dasani," recounted Kellett. "But just two years ago, half a million bottles of Dasani were recalled in the United Kingdom because they were contaminated with cancer-causing bromate. This summer, U.S. bottled water brands were pulled off supermarket shelves for the same reason, and Coke and Pepsi products were both found to be contaminated with pesticides for the second time in India." According to the United Nations, two-thirds of the world's people won't have access to enough water by 2025. In the face of limited water supply, corporations are increasingly seeking to turn water into a profit-driven commodity. Supplying water is already a $420 billion annual business and expected to grow significantly in the next 10 to 15 years. Corporate Accountability International works with people and organizations around the world to protect people's access to water as a human right. That work includes promoting international legal instruments, such as a U.N. treaty. # # # Corporate Accountability International, formerly Infact, is a membership organization that protects people by waging and winning campaigns challenging irresponsible and dangerous corporate actions around the world. For over 25 years, we've forced corporations--like Nestlé, General Electric and Philip Morris/Altria--to stop abusive actions. For more information visit www.stopcorporateabuse.org.
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