Supporters of the Nestlé Boycott * gathered outside the Perrier Comedy Awards ceremony at the Edinburgh Festival August 24th to highlight damage to the environment, ecosystems and infant feeding in many countries by N-, the Perrier parent company. N- is the world¹s largest manufacturer of bottled water; with over 50 brands and 16% of a fast growing $33.7 billion market. US brands include Poland Spring and 17 other water companies of the N- subsidiary "Great Spring Waters of America." On the same evening, a corporate-free alternative, the Tap Water Awards, were given to more responsible companies, chosen by trade unions and consumer networks. 

At the ongoing Johannesburg Earth Summit, N- has become the overall winner in the 'Best Blue Actor' classification by NGOs -- for cosying up to the UN (whose color is baby blue) to improve the N- corporate image while doing little to clean up its impact on health and the environment. 

N- has also picked up a 'Green Oscar' from the NGOs in recognition of its Green Wash (Public Relations efforts to put a green gloss on destructive
practices). These light-hearted awards are intended to raise awareness of the need to look a little closer at statements from certain businesses before
congratulating them for saving the planet. A spoof acceptance speech may be found at 
http://www.earthsummit.biz/awards/blueactor.html)

Adapted from a communication August 24th from Baby Milk Action, UK.

*The Boycott targets N- because independent monitoring by the
International Baby Food Action Network (IBFAN) has consistently found the
company to be responsible for systematic violations of the World Health
Assembly marketing requirements, far more than any other company. The latest
monitoring report, Breaking the Rules Stretching the Rules 2001 again rates
N- as the worst company in terms of compliance following monitoring in
14 countries. The UK is one of 20 countries where national groups have
launched the N- boycott.




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