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Improbable Monument: Proposal

Proposal: Monument to Commemorate Nestlé-Brand Water Practices

            Even though California is entering its fourth year of a serious drought, Nestlé continues to extract water from precious, finite aquifers at unsustainable rates. It’s unclear how much water Nestlé extracts annually, as they haven’t submitted an extraction report since 2009. No reports have been received from their Arrowhead plant located in the Mojave desert, as it is protected by Native American Reservation sovereignty.

Arrowhead Mountain Company Bottling Plant, located on Morongo Reservation land

         

   In an interview, the CEO of Nestlé Brand, Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, admitted that he believed the notion that humans have the inherent right to access water is an “extreme solution”, and that it’s better to put market value on the resource “so that we’re all aware it has its price”. Nestlé is the most prolific brand of bottled water in the world, having presence in the Third World as well as developed countries, even though the morality of extracting water from third-world aquifers is still heavily debated by critics.

           

My proposal includes building a 25ft long water bottle made from a specific synthesis of Superabsorbent Polymers (SAB’s) and polyethylene and setting the giant structure atop a cast stone fountain base set into the ground with no apparent plumbing to serve as an actual functioning fountain. This piece would be found in the Mojave Desert, in a rather arid, secluded area of the territory, where it will sit inactive for most of the year. The synthesis of SAB’s and polypropylene would serve to allow the water bottle to “absorb” moisture caught in the air or from annual rainfall (it should be noted that the Mojave Desert receives a maximum of three inches of rainfall annually), where the water will sit, seemingly untouchable, until the captured water is “extracted” by unknown means and the cycle repeats itself.

Finished concept of the Mojave Monument to Nestlé Brand Water Practices

          

  This monument would be a clear illustration of Nestlé’s questionable practices regarding the world’s shrinking water supply. The logo on the bottle itself would be the general Nestlé logo instead of the more specific Arrowhead logo, as it would signify its importance as relevant to all Nestlé bottled water brands, and even the bottled water market itself. The logo would be made with washable ink, so that, eventually, it would only be an unspecified water bottle as the centerpiece; however, since it would need water to wash off, and since the rainfall in the region is so little, the brand name would linger on the bottle face for some time.   

            Because of the bottle’s size, it would need to be built from separate casted molds instead of the ultrafast high-pressure methods used by many plastic bottle makers. Then it would have to be mounted as a separate piece onto the fountain bed, which would be a relatively cheap construction, considering its apparent uselessness. The bottle will be assembled completely sealed off from any access to its hollow area; the extraction of the water will remain a mystery, and every new visitor will wonder where it goes. 

            The object of this monument is to bring greater awareness of a concern that is happening under our very noses. Because of a plethora of political controversies and celebrity nonsense, these unethical practices by Nestlé and many other companies besides remain relatively unnoticed by the general populace, unless it directly affects a specific area. If we are to take a stand against these tycoons, first we must be educated, and before we can even do that, we must be aware of what is going on around us. We cannot afford to wake up one day and wonder where all the water went.