TAPthirst Newsletter – February 17, 2011

Dear fertile followers,

Holy flip! It’s been so long guys, have you missed us? Do you remember us? Aw well, you’ll get caught up on what we at TAPthirst are doing these days if you read on. I’m sure there’ll be something that’ll float your boat (i.e. tap water).

SMART WATER – How smart is bottled water? Thes smrt. So that’s why we decided to make fun of it. We did a lovely photo shoot and played around with the Smart Water advertisements to come up with some sweet posters that you’ll soon be seeing around school. Smart Water is a bottled water company that is the leader of the “enhanced water category”, a.k.a. the leader of “polluting and deliberately destroying livelihoods without a care in the world whilst continually increasing profits”. If you’d like to come help put some posters up or just hang, please contact us: tapthirst@gmail.com

TABLING – ¬We decided that more people need to get to know us for a few reasons. For one, we’re hot. Secondly, bottled water is not. So thirdly, we can make a change if we work together and all become hot. Math was never our strength, but we can sure sing loudly about the benefits of tap water. Please come out and say hi, tell your friends to, or come and help table with us. We’ll put you on table duty with someone who has gotten the spiel down so that you can ease into the loving world that flows from the tap. Email us: tapthirst@gmail.com

BOTTLED WATER FREE DAY (BWFD) – March 10, 2011 is the second annual BWFD and it’s bound to be a good one. We’re collaborating with universities across Québec to have some coordinated events on all the campuses. We’re going to set up some sweet signs and footprints so you can make your way from the treacherous vending machines to the glorious, free water fountains. Oh yeah, we got our buds from the Concordia’s Facilities Management on board with fixing up and hopefully increasing water fountains. Things are moving slowly, but surely (“don’t call me Shirley” is what they said to us). Anyway, if you want to help out with this event by attending, decorating fountains, poster making or giving us some ideas, feel free to contact us: tapthirst@gmail.com

WORLD WATER WEEK (WWW) and WORLD WATER DAY (WWD) – Swish, slosh, pish, posh: BLUB, BLUB, BLUB! World Water Day and Week are back for the attack against water privatization. Join us for a documentary, a panel discussion, a taste test, a live music and theatre party, and whatever else you would like! Come give us your thoughts, listen to ours or play music at the party! The possibilities are endless, but don’t wait as this offer ends soon. Well, it actually starts on the 21st of March and goes until the 25th, but let’s start planning right away: tapthirst@gmail.com

THE REFERENDUM – Yes, that is right. We are having an official referendum question to see if students want bottled water on campus. Let’s exercise our rights and our love for the tap by voting to ban bottled water on March 23rd, 24th and 25th. All you have to do is tell all of your friends about that nasty stuff wrapped in plastic, attend our events, join our Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/group.php?gid=54874236629) and then invite all your friends to that too!

As you can see, there is a lot going on here at TAPthirst. Some of you may find this interesting and you might, just maybe, want to help out. This may seem a bit nerve-racking or time-consuming, especially for those who have not been involved with this sort of thing before. But guess what? There’s no need to worry as our hearts are open wide to welcome you. Also, the thing about volunteering is that it’s completely voluntary. Therefore, no commitments, no guilt and sweet perks including laughs, love and … leadership? Apparently alliteration is not our forte either, but maybe you’re just the person so set that straight! So, come on out!

From all those tap-drinking, bottle-reusing, happy people at TAPthirst
tapthirst@gmail.com

Oh, p.s. Here’s our blog: http://tapthirst.blogspot.com/

Hé, p.p.s. Find an article attached that we wrote and submitted to the QPIRG working groups journal!

Ah! Triple p to the s dot – here’s who we are in case ya didn’t hear:

TAPthirst (tap drinkers against privatization) is an initiative dedicated to promoting awareness of the social, environmental and monetary costs of the bottled water industry, and water privatization as a whole. We aim to empower people at a grass roots level by supplying them with the information and tools necessary to question the bottled water industry and its impacts on our environment, health and communities. In doing this we hope to bring people one step closer to ethical water consumption in the fight against privatization of one of the world’s most important resources.