‘Tapped’ documentary on bottled water to be screened April 7

Take a peek behind the scenes of the fastest-growing beverage category in the U.S. The documentary “Tapped” will be shown on Thursday, April 7, at 7 p.m. in Nifkin Lounge, located in the basement of Marshall Hall on the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry campus. Admission is free and open to the public.

A limited number of free reusable water bottles will be given to attendees courtesy of Syracuse University’s Office of Residence Life. SUNY-ESF’s Green Campus Initiative (GCI) student group will be collecting clean, empty cereal boxes to be used for their recycled notebooks project. GCI will give out one raffle ticket, for a chance to win various items, in exchange for each cereal box collected. Also, the SU and ESF NYPIRG chapter will have an informational table set up at the screening.

“Tapped” takes an in-depth look at the unregulated and controversial big business of bottled water. With sales of more than $10 billion and 8.6 billion gallons consumed annually, what are the costs of bottled water to the environment and our wallets? Is access to clean drinking water a basic human right or a commodity that should be bought and sold? The film explores these issues and others such as plastic production, the Pacific Garbage Patch and recycling.

The documentary was shown on campus twice last fall. Its powerful message struck a chord with many students who saw it. “After you watch this well-researched, illuminating and vital documentary about the lengths that corporations go to turn over a profit, you won’t want to drink another bottled water,” says Marc Mason, a junior triple major in communication and rhetorical studies, international relations and Middle Eastern studies.

“Tapped” is from the producers of “Who Killed the Electric Car?” and “I.O.U.S.A.,” and directed by Stephanie Soechtig, a former producer of documentaries for 20/20 and Primetime Live.

SUNY-ESF’s Green Campus Initiative (GCI) student group and SU’s Office of Residence Life are jointly sponsoring this “Tapped” screening. For facts about bottled water, visit http://www.onlineeducation.net/bottled_water.