Water & Air – Filter Systems News

“When you take water, give water.”

This simple concept is the foundation for the UNICEF Tap Project, founded during World Water Week of 2007, to raise funds for millions of children around the world to gain access to clean water. As we’ve mentioned in several of our posts, millions of people lack access to this basic need. In some nations, women and children must walk more than five miles a day just to collect water for their families. This lengthy process prevents them from other opportunities; children are kept from school, and women are kept from performing other basic, but necessary, domestic duties. Water charities like UNICEF’s Tap Project exist to raise money to support clean water and sanitation solutions in developing countries.

Since World Water Week 2011 is next week (March 20-26), we thought UNICEF’s Tap Project would be the perfect charity to feature on our blog to mark #charitytuesday on twitter. What’s unique about this project is their way of raising money. UNICEF partners with hundreds of restaurants across the U.S., asking patrons to donate $1 each time they order free tap water, during World Water Week. Since it’s inception in 2007, UNICEF Tap Project has raised more than $2.5 million toward clean water solutions.

And this year, UNICEF is teaming up with celebrities on a special “Celebrity Tap Project.” Singers, Rhianna and Taylor Swift along with Selena Gomez, and Entourage actor, Adrian Grenier are bottling tap water from their homes. Each $5 donation made to the UNICEF Celebrity Tap Project will give supporters a chance to win a limited edition Celebrity Tap Pack, featuring one bottle of water from each of these celebrities’ home faucets.

While we don’t normally support bottled water, or the celebrity endorsement of bottled water, this is an interesting way to draw attention to the need for clean water in developing nations. It also conveniently drives home the point that most bottled water is nothing more than tap anyway. Even if it comes from a celebrity, we’re willing to bet that most people wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between their home tap water and the variety that came out of Taylor Swift’s faucet. Still, we can’t help but applaud these four celebrities, and UNICEF, for their innovative efforts.

This #charitytuesday, we are taking a break from Water Charities to pay tribute to our first ever featured “air charity.” The American Lung Association held their first Fight for Air Climb in Cleveland, this past Saturday, March 5, 2011. Climbers, walkers, runners, firefighters and supporters of the ALA challenged themselves by climbing the 42 flights of stairs in Terminal Tower (804 steps total), in an effort to raise money to support the fight against lung disease. The goal was to raise $80,000 to support lung health, research and advocacy in Northern Ohio. Together they raised over $40,000, and the option to donate is still available on the Cleveland Fight for Air Climb event website.

Fight for Air Climbs are unique events for the ALA, taking place in large towers in cities across the US. Lung cancer is the number one cancer killer in America, and the ALA is dedicated to helping people know what is needed to manage and take control of asthma and other chronic respiratory ailments. We at Filters Fast are dedicated to this cause as well, and know that indoor air quality can be a key factor in the development of chronic lung illness. Take care of yourself by making sure your environment is free from harmful air pollutants. Clean regularly and change your air filters on a consistent basis. You and your family may also want to consider investing in one or several room air purifiers for your home, especially if you suffer from allergies or asthma.

Show your support publicly, by signing up for a Fight for Air Climb in a city near you.

For Justin Bieber’s 17th birthday, he asking all of the “Beliebers”  to celebrate his birthday by donating to the Justin Bieber’s Charity: Water page. Justin is asked that his friends, fans and followers donate $17 to charity: water. The money will be used to build clean water projects in developing countries.

“Together, we’ve made a big difference for many causes,” Justin wrote on the page. “Did you know that about 4,500 kids die each day from waterborne disease? By building clean water projects for villages that need them, we can prevent this! I want to make my birthday matter this year — let’s make it so more kids can grow up to have a 17th birthday like me. Join me to make a change.”

Of course, Justin Bieber isn’t the only celebrity working to provide clean water to those who need it. For Adam Lambert’s 29th birthday, he set out to raise $290,000 through his own charity: water page. He did that and more. He extended the challenge to his fans, and as of this writing, his page has received $295,500 in donations.

Alyssa Milano’s mycharity: water campaigns raised over $92,000 for her 37th birthday in 2009, and another $39,551 for her 38th birthday at the end of 2010.

On Sunday January 30, a crew of seniors, aged 56 to 84, set sail on the An-Tiki, a raft constructed of water pipes. The purpose of their 70-day, 2,800-mile voyage: To raise 50,000 pounds for WaterAid, an international, nonprofit organization that partners with local organizations in 26 countries in Asia, Africa and parts of the Pacific Region to implement safe water, sanitation and hygiene education in rural and urban areas. WaterAid helps establish clean water systems, while also enabling families to maintain them, ensuring long-term, sustainable success for all parties involved.

While sailing on saltwater, the An-Tiki crew hopes to raise awareness of the fact that it is fresh water that keeps us alive, but it’s also fresh water that many people in the world lack access to. While on board, the crew will have plenty of water, but will also collect rainwater and convert saltwater into fresh, to remind themselves of its importance to our livelihood. While raising money for clean water, these men also hope to demonstrate that adventure is just as suitable for seniors as it is for youngsters. It is impressive to note that the oldest gentleman in the crew, An-Tiki Captain Anthony Smith, has been a traveling adventurer for nearly all of the 84 years he’s been alive.

The An-Tiki is a testament to the importance of clean water, just as the Plastiki has been a testament to the importance of plastic waste reduction – and we thought this unique effort deserved this week’s spot in our featured water charities, in honor of #charitytuesday on Twitter. To support Antiki in it’s fundraising efforts for WaterAid, make a donation online through the An-Tiki Just Giving page. To track the voyage live online, visit the An-Tiki Yellowbrick Satellite Adventure Tracking page.

This week, in honor of #charitytuesday, we have chosen to feature Water is Life. I wrote a brief summary of their work in our Water Charities List, but we felt like this was such a unique cause that they deserved a bigger spotlight.

Water is Life has developed a filtration technology that filters dirty water through a straw in three stages. When the straw is immersed in water (like a normal drinking straw), it filters particles, membranes and molecules in the first chamber. Then as the water is sipped through the remaining chambers, an iodine filtration system eliminates disease, and charcoal grates remove any bad tastes to provide fresh, clean, safe water. The system filters particles down to 15 microns in size.

The Water is Life straw has proven to be effective against waterborne diseases such as typhoid, cholera, dysentery, guinea worm and diarrhea, and each straw filters water for one person for up to an entire year.

However, the straws are just a short-term solution to those that need immediate assistance. 6,500 people – 5,000 of whom are children – die daily due to the lack of access to clean water. Water is Life distributes the straws as a temporary fix, while they work to develop long-term sustainable solutions like water wells, sand filters and other technology, combined with hygiene and sanitation assistance in each village.

If you would like to donate to Water is Life, you may do so directly on the website. Each straw costs $10. Volunteers may also get involved by hosting  a fundraising event, or by joining a Water is Life team and traveling to distribute straws in Kenya, Ghana, Haiti and other countries.

Stay tuned to learn more about a special charity project that Filters Fast will be hosting in the coming months. In the meantime, promote the Water is Life cause to your friends by sharing this post on Facebook and Twitter!

“Wine symbolizes fortune in our society. Our goal is to give the fortunate population an opportunity to fight for those who can’t fight for themselves.” – Wine To Water

Wine to Water is based on the story of Jesus' first miracle where he turned water into wine.

Doc Hendley, founder of Wine to Water, dreamed up the concept of this water charity while bartending and playing music in nightclubs in Raleigh in 2003. The dream became reality in 2004, when he held his first fundraiser – a wine event that helped him pay for the installation of water systems in Darfur, Sudan. In fact, Doc was living in Darfur in August of that same year, installing the systems, himself.

Wine to Water is based on Jesus’ first miracle of turning water into wine at a wedding. When the host ran out of wine, Jesus told the servants to fill six stone water pots with water and draw some out for the headwaiter of the party. When the headwaiter tasted the water that had been turned into wine, he called the bridegroom and said to him, “Every man serves the good wine first, and when the people have drunk freely, then he serves the poorer wine; but you have kept the good wine until now” (John 2: 9-10). Wine to water seeks to allow Jesus to turn this miracle around for the needy people of the world who don’t have access to clean water by turning the funds raised from the sale of wine into clean water projects.

Wine tastings are the main type of fundraiser event supported by Wine to Water; however, Doc encourages anyone to be creative – to get involved by hosting other types of events as well, such as “a benefit concert, a fundraising dinner, a 5K race or walk, or school dance.” Doc fullfilled this dream the only way he knew how at the time: by playing music and pouring wine; now he encourages others to use their unique talents for the common goal.

Wine to Water has helped to provide clean water to people in 9 countries since 2004. Those who don’t wish to host an event can still donate to the cause directly on the website. The organization also makes and distributes their very own wine – Old Vine Zinfandel and Estate Chardonnay – by the bottle or by the case. A portion of all proceeds from every bottle sold goes toward supporting clean water and sanitation efforts.

Since Tuesday is #charitytuesday on twitter, we thought we’d do a weekly feature on one of our favorite water charities. Today we’ve picked one that’s not on our original water charity list: World Walks for Water. It’s a global event that takes place from March 19-22 of this year, that aims to raise awareness of the world’s clean water and sanitation crisis. Anyone may participate in this global demand for strong government action to stop the needless death of thousands every day.

I think of it as a peaceful protest for clean water.

Millions of women and children miss out on the chance to get an education due to the poverty that ensues from a lack of access to clean water. They must spend hours a day traveling to and fro to collect water for their families – water that is dirty and will likely make them sick – and even more hours a day caring for their sick loved ones. Though many water charities exist and are working to solve this crisis, corrupt politics can often ruin even the most sincere charitable efforts. World Walks for Water stands up to those politics, by demanding that these issues be ignored no longer.

Those of us who are more privileged take clean water for granted. What’s worse, rather than investing in technology that purifies water in safe, healthy ways, our governments use toxic chemicals to disinfect our water. (Fortunately, there are companies like Filters Fast that provide ways to filter them out.) World Walks for Water is a chance for all of us to stand up and demand that the world’s entire population, rich or poor, have access to safe water and sanitation. It’s an event that unites people from all walks of life.

You can join the online walk directly on the website. Online walkers are featured on the home page with cartoon characters holding water jugs and walking in a straight line. Each time your mouse rolls over a character, a quote, like “taps and toilets for all,” or “children at school, not walking for water” is displayed on his or her water jug. To join this colorful cast of characters, simply visit the website and fill out the form. Then, if you want to sign up to participate in a walk in your area, or even organize your own walk, you can do that from the website as well. We just joined the virtual walk and are pretty excited about it.

Join the walk for water, and tell your friends by retweeting this post!