Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
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Clean Water now a Fundamental Human Right
This is definitely something anyone living in a “first world” country takes for granted, but the UN has recently declared clean water and sanitation to be fundamental human rights.
What does this mean in practice? Well, the resolution is non-binding, so probably not very much. According to the UN (and the BBC’s report), “about 1.5 million children under five die each year from water and sanitation-related diseases.” A little over 4100 children a day.
In context: a lot of small towns across the United States have a population smaller than that – if you’ve ever passed through one of them, imagine it disappearing overnight. That’s about how many people something as simple as universal clean water could save.
On top of this, according to the resolution 884 million people are without clean water, and over 2 billion people lack proper sanitation.
This is why we at WeDrink feel that selling reusable stainless steel bottles and challenging the environmental scourge that is plastic bottles is not quite enough. Eliminating plastic water bottles would do a huge amount for the environment, but only indirectly helps other people – so alleviate this, every one of our bottles gives a direct, transparent, clearly labeled amount to water relief charities, an environmental one-two punch that directly helps both the environment, and the people that live in it.
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Bottled Water Infographic
There’s an enormous amount of information about how harmful bottled water is, but recently the Huffington Post put up a great infographic describing how bad it is (link at bottom). I love infographics myself (but then again, I’m a big fan of shiny objects, too), and this one does a pretty great job of sounding off on the problems plastic bottles give.
Now, it’s pretty obvious that most people don’t drink plastic water because they think it’s any healthier for them – though companies like Fuji Water have likely built their niches around the idea. It’s about convenience.
Unfortunately, for some, convenience + environmentalism means reusing a plastic bottle – something that shouldn’t be done, due to chemical leaching from the plastic. Yes, it’s unlikely that doing this occasionally will really harm you, but as BPA has estrogenic compounds in it (nevermind the other chemicals going into plastic)… well, I’d rather let my body balance its own hormones.
So I’d say get a stainless steel bottle. No harmful chemicals, reusable, portable – well, except for waiting for the bottle to arrive, it’s just about everything you could want.
Check out the infographic. What do you think?
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In Memory – Matt King
I wanted to make a quick post in memory of Matt King, who passed away recently in a bicycle accident. Matt took care of most all of our product photography, working without any payment because he “believed in where [we] were going”, and just wanted to help out. He was excited just to take the pictures themselves, to help us out, never mind anything else. That’s the kind of guy he was, and that’s a kind of person – a kind of friend – that is very hard to find. I must admit, I’d taken his help, and his friendship, for granted, and he’ll be sorely missed.
For those of us lucky enough to have known Matt – he is truly irreplaceable. For those of you who never crossed his path, you can at least catch his photography here.
Matt, buddy, you know I’m no good at these things. Thanks for everything you’ve shared with us. Godspeed, sir. May the wind be in your sails,
Daniel
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The Space Above Yoga Studio – Friend of WeDrink
By: Mira Boykin
The thing about life is, it’s pretty busy. Pretty often. It seems like I’m continually trying to find ways to slow down, get still and remain present. That is, in fact, what drove me toward developing a yoga practice in the first place. The funny thing is, yoga is not immune to this “busy-ness” and this pace that our culture seems so accustomed to. Even yoga can be injected with our goals and results and our five steps ahead thinking. Unless we (including me) consciously make space to free ourselves, we might always be clinging to our ends, and completely forget the beauty of our process.
The Space Above is, in essence, a space that truly does embody the quiet appreciation for each moment, for each style of yoga practice, each varying different kind of bodywork and every kind of body, personality and style. An especially sweet space, it is continually opening itself up and giving back to its community. Each month, the studio owners, Kim Austin-Peterman and Lisa Meer-Lewis, create programming that attaches itself to some local charity or purpose, in an effort to further demonstrate: Yes, we’re all trying to feel good. Even those of us who can’t or don’t make it into this space, specifically. With their long, flexible and gracious arms, the studio owners, it’s teachers and their many bodyworkers, continue to embrace their student’s both on and off their mat, through their support of local artistry and musicianship and their constant one on one interaction with their practitioners.
Certainly, what they best demonstrate and communicate, in their open space is that yoga practices are changing, just like seasons and attitudes. Sometimes, we’re flowing and going, moving and needing to collect energy along the way. Other times, we’re seeking solace, stillness and momentary reminders that we are enough just because? We are enough. In grounding classes like Bliss and Restorative, students can begin a practice of quiet, slow and gentle movement. In vinyasa, flow and multi classes, students can develop into more intermediate and advanced practitioners. In participating in one of their workshops, students can certainly learn new concepts to take to their mats, but they can also contribute to their world, to their region and support efforts like The Norfolk SPCA, Dress for Success, The American Red Cross, and more.
The best thing about slowing life down a bit and really inhabiting the space of our lives is that we remember to connect again. To connect to our community, to ourselves, to our teachers and to the quiet observer inside us, that begged us to find yoga in the first place. I’m so eternally grateful to have a physical space in Norfolk, my home town, to go to for such connection.
Check out all that’s filling The Space Above.
Also…meet the souls that make the space happen or check us out on facebook. -
Water Facts Vol. I
Let’s start this week off with some of the more unusual water facts:
- Water is an increasingly limited resource – only 1% of the world’s
water is accessible and drinkable. (Various sources)- In addition to all the other political complications between Tibet and
China – the Tibetan plateau contains enormous reserves of glaciated
water, and sources 10 of the largest Asian rivers. It’s estimated to
be a source of fresh water for up to a quarter of the world’s
population. (Link)- Fiji, thought of as a tropical paradise where a particularly exotic
brand of bottle water is from, has notably had a number of water
shortages/crises throughout some of its western cities in the past 10
years. (Link)- Fiji is looking to India to manage its water, an area in which water
wars have been forecast due to a lack of water.
(Link, Link)- In Somalia and Ethiopia, throughout 2004-2006, at least 250 people
were killed in varying clashes over water wells, after only a three
year drought. (Associated Press. 2005. “At least 16 killed in Somalia
over water, pasture battles.” AP. June 8, 2005.)- Bottled water isn’t healthier than tap water, nor does it taste
better, but 50 billion bottles are still drank in the US alone every
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Great Pacific Garbage Patch: Cancer of the Ocean
“Around 100 million tons of plastics are produced each year, about 10 million tons of which ends up in the sea” -Greenpeace
The ocean’s a big place. Problem is, it’s almost too big. Hard to notice when something’s wrong, and when we’re the cause of it. Because you see, the ocean has a terrible cancer growing in a place known as the North Pacific Gyre. Because of the immense scale and, therefore, expense of studying this problem, scientists are inconclusive of the exact present dangers, but threats to the entire ecosystem could become very serious very quickly if this Great Pacific Garbage Patch continues on its current path.
Source: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
In oceanography, a gyre is a large vortex created by vast rotating ocean currents. The North Pacific Gyre in particular is formed by the North Pacific Current, the California Current, the North Equatorial Current, and the Kuroshio Current. What’s unique about this particular gyre is that, in conjunction with other currents, it becomes the final destination for runoff trash from nearly all of Asia and the west coast of the Americas. It can take up to 5 years for the currents to float this trash here, but it all eventually makes it; and this heap of plastic has been growing for over 50 years.
First thing that needs to be cleared up, is that while The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is estimated to be twice the size of Texas, it isn’t a physical plastic floating island that you could jump off your boat and run around on. It is instead classified as an area with embarrassingly high levels of plastic bits suspended near the surface of the water. But this is nowhere near something to give a sigh of relief to. Because, unfortunately, given the entire spectrum of sizes and depths of this suspended waste, plastics are being mistaken for lunch by animals all up and down the food chain, introducing toxins to multiple levels of the ecosystem.
To me, the issue that stands out more so than any other is of course the plastic’s relation to the ocean’s plankton. ‘Cause if we can all think back to grade school for a minute, we can remember how plankton is the backbone to the entire food chain: zooplankton being the initial prey for nearly all fish larvae. Mess with the plankton: everything and everyone feels the effects; and in the first paper documented in his 1999 study of the Garbage Patch, Captain Charles Moore found 6 times more plastic fragments by weight than the associated zooplankton. Not good. Now, while the plankton reservoirs are denser to the north of the Pacific Gyre, this is still very frightening news, and shows the potential for the tumor that is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch could go virus-esque lytic on us in a moment’s notice.
Things To Remember:
- Every square kilometer of ocean hosts roughly 120,000 pieces of floating plastic – UN
- The world produced 300 billion pounds of plastic each year, about 10% ends up in the ocean – Greenpeace
- Plastic constitutes 90 percent of all trash floating in the world’s oceans – LA Times 2 Aug 06
- It is estimated that over a million sea-birds and one hundred thousand marine mammals and sea turtles are killed each year by ingestion of plastics or entanglement. – Greenpeace
So what sort of stuff can we do to help fix this? Well, it really all comes down to the little things that we all can chip in on, such as:
- Get a reusable grocery/shopping bag or two. These things are as ubiquitous as crazy hats in an Alabama church on Easter Sunday, so get some and remember to use them!
- The obvious one: recycle, recycle, recycle. Any plastic that doesn’t make it in the “blue bin”, or at least the trash can, gets into our waterways and eventually the ocean. Every time.
- For heaven’s sake, stop buying plastic bottled water. Get a reusable stainless steel bottle and save the oceans and some money in the long run!
- We’ve all got travel mugs, so let’s keep them with us as much as we can, and stop buying disposable cups at Starbucks and 7-11 (and don’t forget the discounts they offer for bringing your own mug!)
- No more disposable dish-ware and utensils. Fellow bachelors, I know it’s way easier to use plastic stuff, and doing dishes is no fun, but let’s grow up and ditch the plastic forks, plates, and cups.
Because no one wants to end up like this guy
Cheers,
-Andrew
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Of Late
What our competitors do with their money.
Let’s be completely honest – giving large portions of money to charity doesn’t exactly leave much breathing room in the ol’ budget, and it’s easy to see something like WeDrink as coming off as scam-y, or just plain impossible.
Trust us, we understand that. That’s why we’ve spent almost a year now working on the behind-the-scenes structuring of WeDrink to ensure that you get an affordable WeDrink bottle – in fact, almost equal in price to many of our competitors’ bottles – while still managing to give to charity. And not just a dollar here or there – 4 out of 6 of our bottles, as well as our ceramic mugs and koozies, give 50% of the sale price to water-relief charities.
50% of sale price – not of our profits, like, well, just about everyone else.
What about the other two bottles? They’re about half the cost of our other bottles, and let you decide how much you give – our WeDrink Choice line. We take care of the microdonation – you get a legit bottle and the satisfaction of knowing your purchase – your money – your bottle – is working to save lives.
But yeah, how do we manage this insanity? We may as well sell our wallets on fire, right?
Not so much. We accomplish this in a few ways, none of which are particularly nefarious, but today there’s one in particular I want to note: we’re not dumping money into marketing campaigns.
Back when WeDrink first started, we experimented with Google Ads, Facebook Ads, and various other means of paying for traffic. Then we became a sponsor to DailyBurn’s CEO Fitness Challenge, we sponsored the All Good Music Festival in the summer of 2009, and we found ourselves reaching more people than ads or expensive marketing campaigns ever could. Word of mouth is a tremendous force, and we’re thankful for every nudge and “hey, check this out” people send each other.
In light of this, we cut the ads, released the WeDrink Choice bottles, and decided that getting the word out about WeDrink should depend on someone we know we can rely on.
You.
Doing all we can,
Daniel
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Good Faith Business Practices: WeDrink Bottles for America’s Economic Health
by Andrew
In 2005, Americans spent $9.8 billion on bottled water, according to the Beverage Marketing Corporation analysis.
That’s right, I’m gonna go ahead and use the CNN/NBC/FOX tactic to let the weight of big numbers really fall by reiterating that this is 9,800 Million dollars we are wasting on a product that isn’t even any better than tap water.
Yeah I said it, Tap Water! It costs $0.002 per gallon (up to 10,000 times less than bottled water), and has stricter safety and health standards than bottled water!
If there’s anything that’s gonna pull America out of the economic rut we’ve found ourselves in, it’s by thinking of ourselves as one big family unit, with money coming in and out amongst other countries. And the more we can trim from our family budget, the better off we’ll all be.
This is one of the main reasons that Dan and I founded WeDrink. We didn’t want to start a business that would ultimately just move money around between folks, creating little net value.I’ll spare you all the rant full of econ jargon by keeping it short and sweet: We wanted to build a business that would also have an immense positive net impact on the economic health of a great many Americans.
By choosing to boycott the waste of plastic bottled water, and instead drinking tap water and taking it to go in a reusable stainless steel water bottle, you could be saving $1,000 to $2,000 per year on bottled water costs for a family of four.
And that’s just the beginning. We have yet to discuss the environmental impact of choosing stainless steel bottles over plastic (see: The Great Pacific Gyre Garbage Patch), or let alone the immense charitable benefits of WeDrink (the sole characteristic that lets us stand out from all the other stainless steel bottle companies).
But those are all stories for another day. For now, let’s just think about all the money we could be saving.
Best,
-Andrew -
Haiti Relief
Occasionally, something truly shocking occurs in the world, something that surpasses the petty politicking and celebrity feuds over millions of dollars that dominate our evening news.
Unfortunately, these occasional events pale in comparison to the reality of the 2010 earthquake in Haiti.
The International Red Cross estimates that about three million people were affected by this 7.0 earthquake from 25 km outside of Port-au-Prince, the capital and largest city in Haiti. 300,000 were injured, and up to another 3-400,000 didn’t make it through the event. An event of such magnitude hasn’t been seen since the Indonesian tsunami killed over 200,000 people in 2004.
In light of such tragedy, we here at WeDrink are committing all of our charitable contributions, normally given to our water relief charities, to the relief efforts being conducted by the International Red Cross in Haiti.
Giving all we can.
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Adventures of WeDrink at All Good 2009, Day Four: At This Point We’re Sleep-Deprived Zombies
Well, this was to be it. The last day, the last chance to spread the word of our charitable stainless steel bottles.
Saturday Night we saw Green-Man running around, so we just had to give him a free Green WeDrink Bottle.
I had gone to sleep somewhere between 4 and 4:30AM after the Umphrey’s McGee concert, it having been the first time I’d left the booth since Wednesday. Woken up one final time by the heat and bright morning sun after just two hours of sleep, it was time get things cranking.
Sunday was to be huge. Primarily because it was the last day, and people didn’t have to play the stretch-your-budget game anymore. Read the rest of this entry »
