Have you ever tried to go a day without water? I took on that challenge earlier in the year in honor of those who don’t have access to clean water and failed miserably. It’s a lot harder than you think. Even things like brushing your teeth, making coffee and flushing the toilet use more water than many people across the world have access to each day.
Nearly one billion people lack clean water, and every day 5,000 children under the age of five will die as a result. Wash Away Thirst, a new client of ours, is tackling this water crisis by donating one day of clean water to one person for every car wash at participating car wash locations.
This one-for-one-for-one campaign has united approximately 100 car wash locations under one philanthropic umbrella to provide five million days of clean drinking water to people in need. That’s pretty impressive!
Jim Dudley, owner of Wash Me Fast car washes and founder of Wash Away Thirst, is thrilled to connect car washes throughout Georgia, Florida, Connecticut, Texas and Alabama. Wash Away Thirst is partnering with Rotary International’s Water & Sanitation Rotarian Action Group (Wasrag) to provide clean water to areas that are in desperate need of this precious resource.
“Through this campaign, we will provide community members with the opportunity to make a difference in others’ lives by doing something as simple as going to a carwash,” said Dudley.
And Dudley has a great point. Since we first met him and the members of the International Carwash Association, I’ve learned that the car wash industry is on the forefront of water conservation practices, such as recycling.
Car washes in general, and particularly the ones participating in this campaign, are dedicated to practices that don’t waste water, but rather will recycle about 90 percent of the water.
That’s 90 percent more than I can recycle by washing my car at home and 100 percent easier and more philanthropic. It looks like I’ll be visiting Swifty Car Wash in Athens, Ga. quite a few times during the months of July to December!
To learn more about the Wash Away Thirst campaign, “Like” Wash Away Thirst on Facebook here and “Follow” @washawaythirst on Twitter here.
