Tribewanted: Vorovoro

So, I’m in Austin, Texas for work, and I always forget that Austin is far from the dusty, dry place that you see in the movies. In fact, it’s lush and humid and has amazing natural springs everywhere. BUT water conservation is still an issue because the state is so enormous, and droughts can come out of nowhere.

The hotel where I’m staying, the amazing San Jose Hotel, is a huge supporter of green initiatives, and it’s where I first discovered Dr Bronner’s Magic Soaps, in fact. And this time, once again, I found something remarkable for the US:

Richard’s Rainwater
http://rainwater.org/rainwater_stories2.html

It seems that this bottled water (and yes, I know that bottled water in and of itself if a no-no) is all collected entirely from what falls from the sky, and it’s been purified via reverse osmosis. The website has some great information, so I thought I’d share.

And I love that Richard calls his precious liquid “cloud juice”...

As I started to think about all of the bottled water stuff more, it really bothers me that Fiji Water is running a huge campaign in the US that makes it seem like they are a green company. Now, I don’t know the details, and I want to look into it more (Ulai, perhaps you can post your perspective?), but it can’t possibly be eco-friendly to take water from the limited water table in Fiji and ship it half way around the world. Yes, it tastes good, but if we’re meant to eat local, than you can’t get more local for drinking than rainwater, and any less local than Fiji Water – unless you’re in Fiji. Lucky tribe!