Environmentalists have campaigned against bottled water for many years now, arguing that not only is purchasing water in disposable plastic bottles wasteful, it is also up to 1,000 times more expensive than tap water, and not necessarily safer to drink either.
A UK-based social enterprise, GiveMeTap, offers one more reason to ditch bottled water - buying one of the company’s reusable steel water bottles can help fund the installation of water pumps in rural areas, giving give someone in Africa five years of clean water.
The initiative was started in 2010 in the UK by Edwin Broni-Mensah, who was at the time a doctoral student in Manchester. A stringent fitness regime had Broni-Mensah, whose parents are from Ghana, drinking five litres of water a day.
The difficulty of getting free tap water from cafes in the UK, combined with the knowledge that clean and safe tap water was not even available in many countries, led Broni-Mensah to set up GiveMeTap in London. The initiative launched in San Francisco in January, where it has brought more than 170 cafes on board as ‘Taps’ to date. The American city is GiveMeTap’s first major location outside the UK.
Close to 800 shops in 150 cities around the world - primarily in the UK and San Francisco - have signed up as ‘Taps’, which means they will give free water refills to anyone who walks in with a GiveMeTap bottle. The location of these Taps are logged on a mobile application, and about 40,000 bottles have been sold worldwide.
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We want to highlight this and show that small purchases, such as that of a water bottle, can make a big difference to someone else’s life across the world
Edwin Broni-Mensah, founder, GiveMeTap
This has helped fund nine water projects which give access to clean drinking water to 5,334 people in Africa, and saved 6 million plastic bottles from ending up in landfills, says GiveMeTap.
“No longer will people have to still purchase a bottle of water somewhere, or use a toilet, or feel as though they have to purchase something from a store before asking for a refill of water,” adds Broni-Mensah.
Proceeds from bottle sales are channeled into building water pumps in African countries including Ghana, Namibia, and Malawi. This is done through donations to non-government organizations in African countries which are familiar with the needs of local communities.
A bottle costs between US$18 and US$20 in GiveMeTap’s online store. The company explains in its annual report that it keeps a monthly tally of bottles sold and once there is enough to fund a water pump, it donates the money to a local NGO partner in Africa.
A hydrologist is consulted before a water pump is installed to ensure a secure water supply, and a local ‘water committee’ made up of village elders and women, who are trained to maintain and repair the pump when needed.
The inclusion of women in the decision-making process helps empower them, says GiveMeTap. For example, beneficiaries of GiveMeTap’s water pump projects report that access to clean water has helped improve community health and hygiene, enabled families to save costs on buying soap to compensate for dirty water, and freed up more time for women to pursue education and work opportunities.
Speaking to Eco-Business shortly before the United Nations’ World Water Day 2015, themed Water and Sustainable Development, Broni notes that “water is the bedrock of development in rural Africa, and having access to clean water will undoubtedly improve lives forever”.
“We want to show that small purchases, such as that of a water bottle, can make a big difference in someone else’s life across the world,” he adds.
Companies can also purchase custom-branded GiveMeTap bottles in bulk as part of their sustainability initiatives. Multinational analytics firm Tableau Software, for example, recently purchased bottles for 2,000 staff members across the United States, Singapore, and other countries.
The company hopes to expand the concept to Asia in coming years.
“Many fast growing Asian countries are realising problems of water scarcity and the environmental impact of waste,” says Broni-Mensah, adding that entrepreneurial projects, combined with local knowledge and support from businesses, will help provide effective solutions to these challenges.
