No, Fiji water does not have pfas, but it does have fluoride and arsenic in amounts that are safe.
FIJI Water says that it is “Earth’s Finest Water,” but that’s not really the case.
In fact, FIJI Water’s credibility went down when scientists in Cleveland, Ohio looked at the truth of its slogan in 2006. Maggie Rodgers, who is in charge of the water quality in Cleveland, said that “6.31 micrograms of arsenic per liter were found in the Fiji bottle.”
10 micrograms per liter is the safest amount of arsenic that people can take in. Even though the amount of arsenic in “Earth’s Finest Water” is below the legal limit, it is still a bit worrying that it is there.
FIJI Water is a brand that makes people feel good, and it has become known in the U.S. as a high-quality, health-conscious product. But the fact that the brand doesn’t care about the country for which it was named should make people think twice.
Even though FIJI Water makes $43.01 million a year selling water in the country, 1 in 10 Fijians do not have clean water to drink.
So, as buyers, we should think carefully about what we spend our money on. Instead of buying something just because it’s popular, you should look into it first.
So the next time you’re tempted by the FIJI Water bottle, think twice before you unscrew the cap.
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Fiji is in the South Pacific. It has a tropical climate and is made up of 300 islands that are close together. Rain falls through a filter made of volcanic rock and collects in an aquifer. FIJI Water gets its “untouched” water from an artesian aquifer on Viti Levu, the largest island in Fiji.
When the Resnicks bought FIJI Water, there was political unrest in Fiji, which led to a coup d’état in 2006.
By keeping quiet and doing business with the newly unelected government, the FIJI Water company gave the impression that it was helping them.
This raises questions about FIJI Water’s morals: How much does FIJI Water help the Fijians in a good way? Is it moral and kind to help a country run by the military make money?
As a way to help the Fijian economy more, the government asked FIJI Water to raise its taxes to 15 Fijian cents per liter in 2008. Before that, the company was paying the government a third of a Fijian cent per liter for access to the aquifer.
Before the request, FIJI Water didn’t have to pay taxes, so it lets people go. In 2010, the Fijian government tried to raise taxes again. This time, the FIJI Water company shut down its plant and fired its mostly Fijian employees for a day.
Even though they agreed to pay the proposed taxes, FIJI Water’s actions show that they don’t care about the Fijian people, either politically or financially. Instead, they only care about their own profits and gains.
The fact that the FIJI Water company didn’t pay the tax for tapping into the Fiji aquifer shows that equity doesn’t matter in a rich man’s world. Even though there is FIJI Water, rusty pipes from an unreliable water system mean that 12% of the people who live in Fiji don’t have clean water to drink.
Not only is FIJI Water’s morality questionable, but its carbon footprint and plastic waste are also a cause for concern. The distance between Fiji and California, as well as the rest of the U.S., is 5558.9 miles, which is a long way to go just to bring bottled water.
A journalist named Aja Romano also said, “It takes about 6.74 kilograms of water, or 1.75 gallons, to make, ship, and sell one bottle of FIJI Water.” This is 2,000 times more energy than it takes to drink water from the tap.