Eddy de Clercq is my kinda guy. A software engineer who works at a Belgian university, Eddy is widely known among his community for his sharp wit and incisive points of view. He makes the kind of connections many miss and tries really hard to live the sustainable life. This from a recent post about bottled water:

I’ve seen somebody drinking O2 water the other day. Not only it had artificial kiwi and apple flavour but also extra oxygen added. According the ‘manufacturer’, it uses patented technology from Life Technologies, Inc. to put extra oxygen into ordinary water. The resulting beverage has 10 times more oxygen (72mg) as ordinary water and provides an extra boost of energy by increasing the amount of oxygen in your blood. What a load of crap! Who needs this kind of water anyway? Nobody compos mentis does.

Eddy then goes on to rant about the resources that go into producing different kinds of bottled water and the impact it has on the environment. Given that our industry uses a LOT of water, not just to quench our individual thirst but also as a resource for data centre cooling, should we not give this apparently innocent aspect of our lives greater consideration?

Eddy has been helping me out on a sustainability project I am working upon. He may be The Grumpy Old Man, but he’s got a heart of gold. How many others might you know who fall into that category?

On a related economic note, my wife told me that a 500ml bottle of Pennine water in a local supermarket cost her 39p. The same bottle in a shopping centre not five miles distant was £1. I know there’s money in O2, I just didn’t realize there is quite so much.