Bottlemania: Big Business, Local Springs, and the Battle Over America’s Drinking Water
“[The water] filtering process mimics, in a supercondensed time frame, the purifying processes of nature. It’s the same ecosystem service provided for free in such places as Fryeburg, Maine, by glacier-made beds of sand and gravel.”
“If we believe water is a basic human right—such as freedom from persecution or equality before the law—then why would we let anyone slap a bar code on it?”
Royte uncovers the hidden machinery of economics, cultural trends, industries, and people behind one of today’s largest commercial phenomena: bottled water. She investigates how and why water became a saleable commodity in America and the implications of the industry’s waste.