My Social Justice Group had arranged to sell reusable water bottles with the organization “Take Back the Tap”. I had heard that some people at the parish I belong to, the Church of Saint Francis Xavier, were conducting a reusable water bottle sale. The goal of the “Take Back the Tap” reusable water bottle sale was to encourage the public to use reusable water bottles and tap water, rather than single-use bottles, and also to collect money to install new water fountains in Xavier Parish that use tap water instead of large single-use water bottles. I had arranged with Lynn Corwin, who was organizing and working at the sales, for my group to help with some sales on a Sunday. Each sale would take place after each mass. Every Sunday has 3 masses: one beginning at 9 AM, one at 11:30 AM, and the last at 5 PM. I had attended the 9:00 mass that morning, so as soon as it was over, I rushed to the back of the church where there was a foldable table set up with rows of blue and green bottles and a small cash register. Ms. Corwin was working at the table, and she instructed me to mark every bottle sold with a tally mark on a piece of paper that was taped to the table, and to connect a small paper to each bottle with string. This small piece of paper carried statistics that showed the benefits of using reusable water bottles rather than single-use bottles, and I learned a lot from reading them over. Ms. Corwin also told me that each bottle was $10, whether it was the short, blue kind or the tall, green type. At that first sale, we sold many bottles during a short period of time because many people wanted to purchase bottles as Christmas presents for their friends and family members. About halfway through this first sale, Kai, a member of “No Water, No Life”, arrived to help with the sale. After the first sale was over, I took some pictures of the bottles, posters, and table, and then I went to a different part of the church to rehearse with the choir. Choir practice ended at 12:30, and I rushed back to the “Take Back the Tap” table a short time after the second mass had ended. The sales had already passed their busiest part, and there were only a few people who bought bottles while I was there. Kai had stayed by the table throughout the second mass, so he had helped with the whole second sale. After the second sale was over, I went home. I came back in time to help with the sale at the end of the 5:00 mass. This sale started at 6:00. Kai could not attend it, but the other member of our Social Justice group, Kiyomi, was planning on coming. There was a different adult volunteer at this sale, instead of Ms. Corwin. Kiyomi arrived to help during this third and final sale. After this bottle sale had ended, I helped carry the extra, unsold bottles to an office room in another part of the church, and put the money collected into a safe place there. The money collected would be used to build water fountains in the parish that used tap water instead of large single-use water bottles.
In helping with all of these sales, I learned a lot from talking with the adult volunteers and reading about the organization. I learned that 17,000,000 barrels of oil are used every year to create water bottles that are only used once before they are discarded. 87% of these bottles are not recycled, but go to landfills where they produce toxic chemicals. Also, the companies producing water in single-use bottles also get their water in an irresponsible way; they take it from the starting places –the hearts— of natural springs and pump it out in huge amounts until the spring is dried up. If they took it from places where the spring was nearer to the surface, there would have been more of a chance of it surviving for longer.
Overall, I think that this was very successful in that I learned more about water and what everyday actions people can take to prevent water-related damage to the environment, such as using a reusable water bottle. Out of the many things I learned, one thing that I especially want to remember for use in the Social Justice Teach-in is that single use water bottles are very damaging to our delicate, vulnerable environment, while using the tap has much less of a negative impact on the environment (and saves money).
Although I learned a lot during this experience, I have many questions as well. I wonder how healthy New York City’s tap water is to drink. I also wonder in what ways it is filtered so that it can be considered clean and safe to drink. I also wonder what connections this topic of tap versus bottled water and container type (reusable or non-reusable) has to coral reefs, the very structure of the ocean floor. How does this connect to the health of marine life, and to fish populations?
Thank you, Lynn Corwin, for helping my group by educating us, and by letting us assist you in selling bottles at Xavier. Thank you for going out of your way to help us, and for your patience, and generosity with your time. Thank you!
Daniela Pierro
Daniela Pierro, Lynn Corwin, and Kai Tsurumaki selling reusable water bottles.
The table near to the back of the church where the social justice group “No Water, No Life” helped to sell reusable water bottles.
The poster describing and advertising the “Take Back the Tap” campaign. SFX stands for Saint Francis Xavier, the church where the sales took place.
