Water by Ethos

Mike D.
1 review
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fraud

Ethos is a brilliant marketing ploy, the funny hidden fact is that it is bottled by Safeway in California. You could buy a 24-pack for $3.99 compared to a single bottle for $1.99 and give a lot more than a nickel to clean water efforts.

Adam W.
209 reviews
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I just give them the benefit of the doubt

This issue of this bottled water (just like any issue worth discussing) isn't black and white. I see where Abendigo and any other supporters of this company come from - something is usually better than nothing. I also agree with them that people who buy this water are people who probably wouldn't otherwise support the cause of getting water to children around the world, so this does bring a new type of person into the equation. These positives are the reason i didn't give this product a 1 (that, and the fact that it is pretty tasty water).

That being said, I think I have to agree with Ed G on this one. Ethos is a for profit company that is selling us a terrible product (for a list of the inumerous problems with bottled water just google the word), and they are donating very little of that money to the charity - basically, the only reason for people to buy their product vs. another one is the charity. In my opinion, this does several things that outweigh any benefit of the charity:

1. It gives people a reason to buy bottled water which is horrific for the environment (not to- mention useless)
2. It actually makes some people feel GOOD about buying that horrific product
3. It gives some people a reason to think they are doing enough to help the world
4. It helps a for profit water bottle company

In my personal opinion, I think those huge downsides outweigh any benefit from the charity.

Adam's keywords: clean water helping children

Ken O.
115 reviews
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3 for 3ffort

Product(RED) and EthosWater may seem pitiful in their potential impacts, but they are a step. As much as I hate bottled water (yes, Americans spending $15B a year on it is a huge waste), and I hate it utterly, Starbucks does offer a chance for the car-driving public to help a cause they otherwise might not try for at all. Much like the food charity cards you can buy at Safeway, or the plant-a-tree options you can buy at IKEA or through Dell -- you might answer that it's a terrible placebo. Half a bandaid.

And while it's feelgood, 5% for a social safety net is better than the 0% that I see most people contributing to homeless beggars outside wholefoods and berkeley bowl, or the 0% that corporations give to social welfare in general. Honestly, I think corporate charters need to be rewritten to take care of society more. Corporations must give more to society than they take, given that they pay far less in taxes than citizens, ie me and you.

Tastes: like plastic.

Ken's keywords: ethos bottled water baxter natural spring water starbucks pete 1

Ed G.
44 reviews
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Charity for whom?

Ethos Water sells for almost $2 a bottle in most Starbucks outlets, but only 5 cents out of every sale goes to their highly bannered goal of donating $10 million to help children obtain clean water.

Drop a quarter into the box for a reputable charity and find another source of H2O.

Ed's keywords: bottled water