Dined out this week? As Blake wrote about last week,** March 22 – 28 is World Water Week, and a bunch of restaurants around the country are participating in The Tap Project, which lets diners donate $1 per cup of tap water, with all proceeds going to UNICEF’s programs for clean and accessible water to all.

Of course, because most of us in the U.S. are lucky enough to have practically free, running tap water, we rarely think about — and often don’t even know about — what the water-related issues are. So — for those who want to have stimulating eco-socially-motivated dinner table discussions about water while dining out to benefit The Tap Project, here are some timely and informative books and films about the world water crisis:

Bottlemania: How Water Went on Sale and Why We Bought It.** Even if you know nothing about the world water crisis, you probably know something about the environmental costs of bottled water — which have become ubiquitous non-necessities in the U.S. In Bottlemania, Elizabeth Royte starts her exploration by looking at Poland Spring Water, showing the reader why exactly the bottled water industry expanded so quickly at a time when tap water, in most of the U.S., improved in quality and taste. The book also goes beyond bottled water to make “a case for protecting public water supplies, for improving our water infrastructure and—in a world of increasing drought and pollution—better allocating the precious drinkable water that remains,” according to the book description.

Blue Gold: The Fight to Stop the Corporate Theft of the World’s Water.** Written by by Maude Barlow and Tony Clarke, Blue Gold outlines some of the major reasons why clean water’s in short supply around the world. Most importantly, the authors show that big corporations are privatizing water, which is driving up water prices — especially in developing countries with corrupt governments — while driving down water quality.

Blue Gold: World Water Wars.** Based on Blue Gold the book, this film version has interviews with both authors of the book, representatives of multinational corporations that are privatizing water, and other environmentalists. Since the film has both powerful images of drought and water pollution AND easy-to-understand animations about the human-made problems in the water cycle, those unable and or unwilling to make their way through a dense book might find this 90-minute movie more doable.

FLOW (For the Love of Water).** Like Blue Gold, this film by Irena Salina also FLOW also focuses on the corporate privatization of water. But according to the film’s description, FLOW’s ending’s more upbeat and action-oriented, as it “gives viewers a look at the people and institutions providing practical solutions to the water crisis and those developing new technologies, which are fast becoming blueprints for a successful global and economic turnaround.”

Can’t wait until your book or DVD arrives to start learning about water? Visit nonprofit Food & Water Watch’s water page** to educate yourself on the issues, to find out what activist companies and groups are doing, and to get involved yourself. The first step’s simply as easy as refusing to waste money on bottled water –

**You are leaving the FilterForGood Web site. The Brita Products® Company is not responsible for the content or data collection of that independent site.