one thing we can trust america, perhaps the greatest country in the world (probably the greatest inspite of the massive iraqi fiasco), is that inspite of all the 'green talk', it loves to live big.

and unfortunately that living big of america, is seen in countries like india as a great example putting the natural resources of a much smaller country like india under direct line of fire.

almost everything in america is big. big suv, big mac-d's, huge homes, massive freeways, etc - the words like big, huge, massive, gargantuan, etc has to be replaced with a single word. a single word called america.

among all the excessive consumption in america, is the use of water bottle. water bottle is a commodity that comes after huge environmental cost. in terms of manufacturing, fuelling, trucking, filling, thrashing, global warming. etc america seldom realises the huge enviornmental impact of water bottles.

sunita narain correctly points it out in her editorial. what is galling is that san franscisco bay area people (like other americans) rely on water bottles inspite of the fact that lot of their water comes directly from a national forest park (from the hetch hetchy reservoir). on top of this, it is filtered, cleaned and delivered directly to households who in turn use home filters to purify it further. well, even after this purification, bay area americans are not satisifed and gulp massive amounts of water from water bottle.

if only america can really show how to live green and in environmental friendly way, how glad will the marginalised people of india be.

well, if wishes were horses....
(the stunning hetch hetchy reservoir of yosemite national park, california. even piping water from the purest of places, is not enough to keep off americans from water bottles. john muir stunningly said "Dam Hetch Hetchy! As well dam for water-tanks the people's cathedrals and churches, for no holier temple has ever been consecrated by the heart of man." if john muir's statement cannot save hetch hetchy what are the chances it can keep the water bottle away?)