After viewing The Story of Cosmetics and The Story of Bottled Water I think key message to take away from the videos was the reduction and prevention of pollution - both to ourselves and the environment. It was interesting to find out just how many toxins are in everyday cosmetics, and just how much energy goes into making disposable water bottles. The narrator, Annie Leonard, simply breaks down the business behind the cosmetic and bottled water industries to highlight key environmental issues.
It is common knowledge that things such as drugs and alcohol are harmful to the body, but personal hygiene products? The average woman uses 12 personal hygiene products a day, the average man uses 6 - so I found it appalling to learn that only 20% of ingredients that go into those everyday products are actually checked as being safe. A number of harmful toxins enter our bodies, many of which being carcinogenic. With countless amounts of cosmetics and personal hygiene products to choose from, the cosmetic industry conveniently hides the fact that a lot of products contain neuro toxins and lead which can seriously interfere with vital body processes like the heart and bones. Which makes me think that if people knew this, would they really fork out money to ingest lead and other damaging ingredients? I found it quite ironic when it was pointed out that brands such as 'Estée Lauder' advertise charity towards breast cancer research when in fact a lot of the chemicals used in the product itself are known to cause the cancer they are claiming to help! I've learned that it is clear that the 'better living through chemistry' mindset is outdated and needs to be changed. It is good to know that many companies are taking the step towards 'green chemistry' to reduce the toxins in cosmetics and create products made from natural ingredients.
Leonard speaks about 'Manufacturing Demand' - companies creating a desire for something most people can get for close to nothing in their houses. Wily companies are using scare tactics to make people think that tap water is bad for them, creating a false belief that they have to buy bottled water. They are also using serene imagery on packaging to seduce consumers, all the while the water is usually just regular filtered tap water. The energy that goes into producing plastic water bottles harms the environment on a number of levels, the oil that goes into them could fuel 1 million cars! After the water is consumed the bottles are either put into landfill or recycled. Not that recycling is the perfect solution anyway, recycled bottles are shipped overseas to be downcycled into cheap products that will eventually end up in landfill. The unnatural part of it all is the vicious cycle these companies have created - the pollution generated by the production of bottling water is the reason why the water is polluted in the first place. The solution seems so simple; eliminate the need for bottled water by taking some of the millions of dollars put into buying bottled water into programs that promote using tap water. It was good to learn that the sales of bottled water has decreased while the sales of eco-friendly bottles has increased, the next step would be to make clean tap water more readily available with fountains etc.
Both the videos were extremely insightful into revealing what really goes behind making these everyday essentials. I must admit that I do tend to use a lot of cosmetics and I certainly don't know what is in them, but I think I will start to make a little more effort into selecting eco-friendly products. Although I am fortunate enough to live where tap water is clean and safe to drink, I can't say that I don't purchase bottled water (almost) on a daily basis. Even though I make the conscious decision to recycle plastic bottles, after finding out that recycling isn't actually a idealistic solution to the problem I will definitely start to make the conscious effort to bring a bottle to fill with tap water. After gaining an understanding of how these industries work, it will definitely make me think twice about the products I choose.
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