Yesterday was World Water Day.
One day officially set aside to consider the state of worldwide water quality and resources available for providing clean, safe water for everyone on our planet. It is humbling to know that still there are billions of people without access to this elemental necessity. Meanwhile in our corner of the world, clean water is essentially a commodity, something easy to take for granted. Here at Earth2o, we make sure we don’t.
In the States, it’s rare to hear about large scale water scares. Community water systems are, on a global scale, very good (yes, even with our sometimes shaky infrastructure), and breakdowns that do occur amount to inconveniences compared to what many populations face. Health concerns can still exist even here, but on the whole we get to choose our water on how we want it to taste and where we want to get it.
We believe this part of the water equation is very broken. If you choose not to drink tap water (can’t get it, it’s dirty, etc.), you should at least have access to verifiably pure, naturally produced, unprocessed, sustainably sourced water. Period.
Our mission is to educate people about what truly good water should be like. Where is it sourced: from a single source, or many (so it has to be treated for inevitable impurities)? What are those sources: naturally protected, unprotected (from the elements)? How much energy goes into “tapping” those sources: drilling down, how far, how often? What kind of energy goes into the treatment process: what kind of resources, how much water is “spent” in cleaning it? How much energy goes into transportation of that water: from source, to processing, to retail shelf?
We believe the less of all the above, the better. We can say that because we’re lucky: Earth2o comes from the naturally occurring flow of a single aquifer in Central Oregon. We don’t “pull” it out. It’s filtered by nature and comes to us in a 100% already pure state. We expend zero energy in “purifying” it.
Yes, it’s our business, but this is water worth sharing. So we bottle it, from half-liters to 5-gallons. In plastic bottles, with as small a carbon footprint as possible: eliminating packaging waste wherever we can, sourcing recycled PET for our new bottles, etc. Used responsibly, plastic bottles still prove to be the most environmentally-friendly package for any liquid beverage. But given their potential environmental impact, our goal is to change that dependence and lead the category in more innovative packaging practices.
Our issues are a fraction of the larger scale conversation going on during World Water Day. We write this as a reminder that we have a long way to go in ensuring everyone has access to clean, safe, drinkable water. It’s a big idea, much bigger than a bottle.
What’s your take on it all?
Three inspiring projects that are changing the future of clean water here, via Fast Company.
Learn more about the United Nations Educational Programme’s World Water Day 2010 here.
