Bottled Water for Charity
People have a lot of mixed feelings about the whole bottled water for charity concept. When I first saw bottled water in the stores it was seen as an insane luxury item and scoffed at by much of the general public (at least my friends and fam). Now its everywhere in the marketplace with tons of options to choose from. It seems that since many bottlers seem to have the same assumption as most consumers (that they’re all pretty much the same) they’ve taken to other marketing angles. The connection to water and life is an easy enough leap that philanthropy would seem to vibe well with this concept and vice versa. Philanthropists are looking at water as a viable product to connect with donors. Lets take a look at 5 waters that have “giving” in their marketing.
1. Nika Water
Nika is one of my favorites. The labels are absolutely beautifully. They depict portraits of people from around the world as portrayed by artist Stephen Bennett. Operating out of La Jolla California and donating an amazing 100% of their profits to water projects around the world, these guys are tough to argue with (they had me at 100%). The water is sourced in the Sierra Nevada Mountains and Colorado River then filtered and bottled. Nika completes it projects working with reputable organizations like Free the Children and Project Concern and have operated in Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Nicaragua and more.
2. 1for1 Water
1 for 1 these guys have a pretty cool model. I haven’t tried them yet but their program sounds pretty interesting. While it’s not quite buy one bottle and donate one bottle exactly….”for every 75 bottles of 1for1 Water sold we are able to provide one person with access to clean, safe drinking water for life. This is done by way of a bio-sand filter installed in the home that can support multiple children and adults.” Their solution is actually better than what I was first thinking when I heard the name.
The thing I’m interested in trying is under the cap there is a code that you can punch into the site, and in 90 days you should be able to see the results of your contribution. Their first project is in Haiti and I’m interested to see how things pan out for this company.
3. Box Water Is Better
4. One Water
ONE is a much bigger company with products ranging from bottled water to had soap to condoms. Based in the UK and Australia One Water is sourced near the Welsh border. One Water contributes to a number of charities including Plan UK, Oxfam BG, and Opportunity International. Their donation model is a bit unclear they originally wanted to pledge .10 cents per bottle but were unable to control their margins at retail. I wasn’t able to find out exactly what percentage their contribution is but they have raised 7.8 million to date. If anyone has anymore info on them let me know.
5. Ethos Water
In the states Ethos is probably the most well known and the most controversial. Ethos was acquired by Starbucks in 2005 and was met with overwhelming support and also some harsh criticism. The brand carries the motto “Helping children get clean water” which led many to believe that ethos was a charity product and were disappointed to find that only .05 cents of each $1.80 bottle goes to fund water projects. Someone even went as far as to put up a fake Ethos site bashing the brand.
Some people argue that some profit is better than nothing but as a core part of their brand better transparency would have benefited everyone in the beginning. An issue which they have now corrected on their US packaging by stating how much of the profits got to projects. As with anything if you don’t like the brand don’t buy it. Your dollars are your vote and if thats not enough share your opinion I’d love to hear it.
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