Is buying bottled water like buying air?

It takes 6000 glasses of tap water to equal the cost of a single bottle of water. Picture: Thinkstock Source: Supplied

Hilarious campaign pokes fun at consumers6000 glasses of water equal cost of one bottleVisit the Choose Tap Facebook pageFind out more on the Choose Tap campaign

"IT'S KIND of like buying bottled water."

That's the message from Yarra Valley Water in this ad campaign, Choose Tap, that pokes fun at consumers by comparing buying bottled water to buying air.

The aim is to promote the use and health benefits of drinking tap water after figures revealed it takes 6000 glasses from the tap to equal the cost of a single bottle of water.

The campaign, which was filmed in a real store in Melbourne, centres on a fictional brand, Dupé (pronounced due•pey), selling a variety of strange products such as 'February Moonlight', 'Vintage Compliments From Nanna' and their signature product, 'Organic Fresh Air', all at incredibly high prices.

The reactions of customers were filmed by a hidden camera.

Australians spend big bucks on bottled water, more than $500 million a year, "which is not only putting greater strain on the environment, it's an expense we could easily avoid," says Yarra Valley Water's website.

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The business value of water: Precious resource or cheap commodity?

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In most developed nations, clean, safe drinking water is so cheap and plentiful that we use it to wash our cars. And our idea of a ‘drought’ is when we are only allowed to water the lawn every other day. But, from a global business perspective, is water really something we can afford to take for granted?

Here’s the debate:

Water is plentiful and virtually free.
Any time we turn on a faucet, clean drinkable water comes pouring out. And most businesses in the U.S. today don’t appear to be suffering from an immediate water shortage. Moreover, the cost of water is so low right now that it’s just noise on the P&L statement. So what’s the problem?Water is the ultimate renewable resource, but it’s not unlimited.
The Earth doesn’t create new water – it just continuously recycles the water that already exists. If our need for clean water exceeds the planet’s natural capacity to regenerate it – or we pollute our water sources beyond repair – businesses could face severe shortages, increasing prices or loss of access to water.Water is essential for life.
The human body is 90 percent water. We can survive for three weeks without food, but only three days without water. In some parts of the world, people are literally dying of thirst.Water is essential for business.
Without water, companies can’t run their factories and supply chains. And for certain types of companies water is a critical component and part of the manufacturing process.Competition for water is rising.
As population increases and as developing nations increase their consumption, demand for water is on the rise. When rising demand meets limited supply, the result is fierce competition.Business use can be a low priority.
When allocating water, the top two priorities are supplying people with water to drink and providing farmers with water to grow food. Business use is a distant third. In many countries, these allocation priorities are enforced by law.Water is just a compliance issue.
Although water might be a problem in other parts of the world, many companies in developed economies only worry about water to the extent they must comply with government regulations.Water is a strategic business issue.
Global companies are relying on developing and emerging markets for growth, which makes water a strategic business issue and major risk factor – even if water is cheap and plentiful at home. Companies that use too much water can have their licenses revoked, their operations disrupted and their brands damaged.

William Sarni, Director and Practice Leader, Enterprise Water Strategy, Deloitte Consulting LLP

Many companies today take water for granted – especially in developed countries. However, we believe water is quickly becoming a strategic business issue and that companies should act now to mitigate the potential risks.

Competition for water is rising fast, thanks to global population growth and the emergence of developing economies that aspire to our high-consumption lifestyle. Meanwhile, the supply of clean, safe water is shrinking. Underground sources that have been accumulating for thousands of years are being sucked dry and surface sources are being steadily destroyed by urban development and pollution.

When water is cheap and abundant, most businesses don’t give it a second thought. But when demand exceeds supply, the true value of water quickly becomes apparent -- especially since business use takes a back seat to more fundamental uses such as drinking and farming.

You might be offended if a restaurant tried to charge you for a glass of tap water. But what if that were the only water available in the middle of a desert? Now how much would that glass of water be worth?

Another way to understand the value of water is to think about it in terms of an energy such as oil, which is something everyone realizes is important and worth conserving. On one level, water and energy can be viewed as equivalent and interchangeable. It takes water to produce energy – whether it’s to spin the turbines in a dam, generate steam to release oil from shale or cool a nuclear power plant. Conversely, it takes energy to produce clean water, whether it’s to pump water out of the ground, power filtration equipment, or fuel a delivery truck to deliver bottled water to consumers.  

On another level, our supply of water is even more valuable and volatile than our supply of oil. Unlike oil, which is a global resource, water is a local resource whose availability is dictated by local factors such as weather and competition with other users in the region. In an oil shortage, the price of oil goes up but you generally can still get as much as you need if you are willing to pay the price. On the other hand, in a water shortage the water your business needs may not be available at any price because it is being allocated to other more critical uses in the area. In India, for example, businesses have had their operating licenses revoked in order to provide more drinking water to the public. And in Africa, some beverage companies routinely shut down for months at a time due to lack of water.

Reputational damage is also a major risk, especially in markets where water is precious and scarce. Driving a full beer truck past people whose children are dehydrated is no way to create a positive brand image.

Given these risks, it is essential for companies to develop a holistic strategy and plan for reducing water usage, protecting and preserving the water supply and developing contingency plans to ensure business continuity in the event of a severe shortage. In this day and age, smart companies wouldn’t dream of operating without a risk management strategy for critical resources such as information systems and energy. It’s time to think of water in the same way. 

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Gas, Oil, and Water Production from Wattenberg Field in the Denver Basin, Colorado

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Fish Out Of Water! - Halfbrick Studios

Launch a daredevil group of fishy friends to the sky in Fish Out Of Water, an adventure across the sun, sand and surf!

This is a brand new mobile masterpiece from Halfbrick, creators of Fruit Ninja and Jetpack Joyride!

Fish Out Of Water is the story of six feisty fish longing to soar above the ocean and see the world from a whole new perspective. To help them get airborne, players simply throw their fish of choice right out of the water and watch as it flies through the clouds and skips merrily along the waves. But there’s a lot more to this adventure under the surface!

Players will have to battle the elements and choose their throw wisely as the weather changes hourly. Expect the unexpected with crazy tsunamis, icebergs and even an immense jellyfish swarm!

After three throws, the Crab Crew will score your overall performance, and that’s where the competition really heats up! Players can compete in daily league score competitions with their friends and monitor their level progress. As different objectives are completed, players level up and unlock charms which can be crafted to unleash awesome bonus powers at the start of each game!

Fish Out Of Water is an easy choice for instant fun – a seaworthy search for the perfect 10!

by Tyrell Corp. WOW! Such a great and fun game. It feels like a loooong time since I played a game on iPad / iPhone that was as fun and engaging, but above all original as this. Just Brill-iant.

by tony_darkangel Saw the preview, wasn't sure about this, took a chance and purchased it and it is excellent. Half brick Studios delivering a great game once again.

by BigUKDaz A fun time passing game, wish there was game centre though.

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Home & Office : Tkaro Glass Water Bottle

Everybody's drinking more bottled water. It's good for you. Some experts say we should be drinking eight to ten glasses of water a day. They go on to say that most Americans are chronically dehydrated, that we drink too much coffee and sodas, which have a diuretic effect on the body. You know what? Those experts are complete morons.

The truth is, we should drink water, but there's no hard and fast minimum. We get more liquid than we think from the foods we eat. Coffee and sodas don't hydrate as well as pure H2O, but there's not a net loss from drinking them. And, honestly, even taking those into account, 8 to 10 may still be excessive. The bottom line is, if you're thirsty, drink some water! If you're not, don't! Just listen to your body's needs.

And don't drink out of those stupid plastic water bottles. For one thing, they contribute to landfill. Even if you don't throw your bottles away, they still may contain BPA or other chemicals that may be linked to endocrine issues, development issues, and even obesity. Plus, those bottles are so cheap looking. You're a geek with style, and as such, your needs are more sophisticated.

This cool glass was designed by a couple of artistic sisters who thought that water should come out of a glass, and not a bottle. To keep your glass safe and shatter resistant, they've made it with this incredibly cool stainless steel sleeve that covers the glass, and keeps it from spilling in transit. Besides that, glass and stainless steel just look cool together.

And nestled in the underside of the steel collar is a rubber grommet that keeps the liquid inside the glass in place, so it won't spill even if you throw it in your gym bag. Naturally, you won't want your glass to spill out everywhere, right? Take it with you, that's what it's designed for!

Features Glass, steel and silicone construction water glassUnscrew the stainless steel cowling to reveal the gracefully tapered glass insideBPA Free, dishwasher safe6.5 inches tall, 3 inches in diameter500 mL liquid volumeDesigned by Kai Fej?r and Taylor RusselWinner of the prestigious red dot design award, 2010

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From the makers of Fruit Ninja comes Fish Out Of Water, here's our review

Introduction

Chances are that if you have a smartphone of some kind, you've played, or at least heard of Halfbrick studios' mobile games. This is the team of developers behind smashing hit titles like Fruit Ninja and Jetpack Joyride, to name a few. Now, the guys are back with a brand new game called Fish Out Of Water, which aims to win our hearts with innovative, easy-to-grasp gameplay and cartoonish visuals, not to mention that the characters they've created look pretty darn cute! It didn't take us long before we hit that “Download” button, eager to take Fish Out Of Water for a spin!

Gameplay

Right after launching Fish Out Of Water we were treated to a quick tutorial explaining the game's goal and mechanics. We were introduced to its protagonists as well – six adorable creatures, each with its own traits, physical features and personality, that you must perform aquatic acrobatics with in order to score points. To tell you the truth, playing the game is so simple that even a child can get the hang of it in no time. You pick a fish (or mammal, in case you choose Finlay the dolphin or Micro the whale) with the touch of a finger, then flick it to the right as far as you can – each skip across the water's surface and each meter it travels get you points. That's pretty much it! But while the game is easy to play, we got bored with it rather quickly. Little did we know that the next time we opened the game – an hour or so later, it would present us with different in-game weather conditions. These affect the game's physics, so each fish or mammal skips the waves rather differently. That not only adds a bit of variety to the game, but introduces an element of strategy by forcing you to pick the right creature depending on the weather in order to beat a high score. Another thing that makes Fish Out Of Water less monotone is the list of achievements to complete and the various goals that give you experience and extra bonuses.

Speaking of bonuses, you get boosts as your fish or mammal travels, while the crystals you collect while leveling up give you additional power-ups. Crystals can also be purchased with real money, but enjoying the game at its fullest is definitely possible without ever spending a dime on in-app purchases.

Graphics and sound

While Fish Out Of Water won't push your phone's GPU to its limits (although it did run a tad choppy on an iPhone 4), it comes with pretty visuals, composed of both 2D and 3D elements. In a nutshell, the game reminds us of a cartoon, which we find fitting for its theme and gameplay. The music and sound effects are also well picked for they carry the essence of summer, the beach, and all the splishy-splashy fun one can have in the water!

Conclusion

The skilled guys and girls at Halfbrick Studios have crafted their latest with attention to detail and it shows with each minute you spend playing Fish Out Of Water. But while it seems suitable for the younger gaming crowd, it isn't really made for hardcore gamers. It is a game for those times when you're on the bus, or in a line and you have a few spare minutes to kill. And while the game is cute and pretty, it seems rather shallow and gets boring quickly, even with the various challenges and the change of weather.

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Fish Out of Water! is the new iPhone game by the creators of Fruit Ninja and Jetpack Joyride

Fish Out Of Water! is a new game by Halfbrick Studios, the company behind Fruit Ninja and Jetpack Joyride, and it has just hit the Apple App Store. In it, you have the fun task to launch fish out of the water and into the blue skies for the longest possible flight. A group of crabs on the seaside will judge your attempts to best launch fish.

But pleasing these crab judges is not an easy task as each one of them has different ideas for a good launch - one likes distance, another likes more skips on the ocean surface, and there is just a grumpy one who’s never happy.

You have six different fish at your disposal, each with different skills and tricks, and each round you’d have to carefully pick the three that best fit the occasion. The environment changes and the more you go, the more you unlock. But Fish Out Of Water! is also the type of game you can just play for a few minutes and leave.

In either case, it’s a lot of fun for just a buck, so it wouldn’t hurt trying it, would it?

via iMore

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Fish Out Of Water! - Halfbrick Studios

Launch a daredevil group of fishy friends to the sky in Fish Out Of Water, an adventure across the sun, sand and surf!

This is a brand new mobile masterpiece from Halfbrick, creators of Fruit Ninja and Jetpack Joyride!

Fish Out Of Water is the story of six feisty fish longing to soar above the ocean and see the world from a whole new perspective. To help them get airborne, players simply throw their fish of choice right out of the water and watch as it flies through the clouds and skips merrily along the waves. But there’s a lot more to this adventure under the surface!

Players will have to battle the elements and choose their throw wisely as the weather changes hourly. Expect the unexpected with crazy tsunamis, icebergs and even an immense jellyfish swarm!

After three throws, the Crab Crew will score your overall performance, and that’s where the competition really heats up! Players can compete in daily league score competitions with their friends and monitor their level progress. As different objectives are completed, players level up and unlock charms which can be crafted to unleash awesome bonus powers at the start of each game!

Fish Out Of Water is an easy choice for instant fun – a seaworthy search for the perfect 10!

by Tyrell Corp. WOW! Such a great and fun game. It feels like a loooong time since I played a game on iPad / iPhone that was as fun and engaging, but above all original as this. Just Brill-iant.

by tony_darkangel Saw the preview, wasn't sure about this, took a chance and purchased it and it is excellent. Half brick Studios delivering a great game once again.

by BigUKDaz A fun time passing game, wish there was game centre though.

View the original article here