On July 17, 2009 the Boston Faith and Justice Network (BFJN) once again united people for justice, this time with a screening of FLOW: For Love of Water. This documentary, which was shown at the Greater Boston Vineyard, was a wake up call for me–I had no idea the bottled water industry depended on such deceptive business practices and irresponsible stewardship of the land. And while the film was not specifically focused on the Fair Trade movement, it certainly joins Fair Trade in increasing awareness of how our everyday actions affect the lives of people on an international level.

Consciousness, after all, is the first step of change, and I could definitely hear the rolling thunder of change stirring in the basement of this church in Cambridge.

As the night began, I scanned the room with interest. How fitting to the BFJN model that a group of Christians — some familiar with the BFJN, some not; some social activists, some not–could all come together under the roof of the common value of human rights. There was a buzz in the air, and this stunning documentary was about to tap into it.

If you haven’t seen this movie, go out and rent it. FLOW’s poignancy comes in its stories. There are some stories of hope: a village in Kazakhstan that used traditional methods to irrigate and restore their barren lands, a grandmother in Michigan who brought together a community to stop Nestle from draining her lakes. Unfortunately, though, there are many more stories of exploitation: people in Africa drinking from polluted rivers because they can’t afford to buy into the privatized water system, people in India watching their farmlands being ruined by bottled water factory sewage.

After the movie finished we paused to reflect on what we just saw: How could something as basic as water be owned by a business? How could bottled water companies create an illusion of purity when their water is literally tap from the sink? How can I support a positive alternative to bottled water?

Fortunately for all of us, Corporate Accountability, Intl. (CAI), the founders of the Think Outside the Bottle Campaign, provided some direction. One of the representatives from CAI gave a talk-back after the screening, and we channeled our corporate disillusionment into individual empowerment. Through dialogue and collaboration, we all took personal steps to create change for our lives, our community and our world. Together, we:

• Signed a petition supporting Article 31, which urges the UN to adopt drinkable water as a tenant of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
• Pledged to withdraw our support from bottled water companies, such as Nestle or Coca-Cola. People decided to do this in a way that best for them–some promised to buy a water filter so they can flavor their tap how they like it, others said they would pass on drinking bottled water for six weeks or longer
• Bought our very own BFJN aluminum water bottles to fill and use as an alternative to bottled water
• Volunteered to be a part of the Think Outside the Bottle Campaign, a grassroots campaign launched to protect public funding for public water systems

This action, of course, is not the end of our commitment to justice but only the beginning. CAI will continue their campaign until bottled water companies stop exploiting the poor and the planet, just as the Fair Trade Boston Campaign will continue to empower citizens of Boston to support positive change in their everyday consumption.

If you missed this screening of FLOW, there will be an encore on Friday, August 14, at 7:00 PM at the Central Congregational Church, 85 Seaverns Ave, Jamaica Plain, MA.

Tyler Sit is an intern for the Boston Faith and Justice Network. He is a student at Boston University and a candidate in the United Methodist ordination process.