Posts Tagged ‘Thirst Project’

In honor of World Water Day (Friday, March 22nd), BLANCO Design Council member Leslie Clagett of KB Culture has provided this interesting guest post. It’s a unique concept for an eco bath faucet by designer, Chanhee Han. (We have to disclose that this is not one of our exceptional BLANCO water saving faucets for the kitchen—it’s just super cool and worth a mention on this important date. According to the EPA, the bathroom is the largest consumer of indoor water. And so it is important to consider ways to save water throughout the home and not just in the kitchen.)

Please take a moment today to consider how you might save water at home. Whether it’s a water conservation faucet from BLANCO or something as simple as fixing a leaky faucet with a new ceramic disk cartridge (see our easy how to video!). We all can do something to help share water on our planet. Read more about water conservation from groups we love such as Water for People or the Thirst Project, take a shorter shower in the morning or think outside the box as Chanhee has with his unique concept below.

This faucet, a concept by Chanhee Han, addresses water-wasting in an intuitive and aesthetic manner. Based on the observation that people leave the tap on while soaping up their hands—sending liters of clean water down the drain—he devised the Seesaw to automatically separate the lathering and washing actions by virtue of its back-and-forth design. Pressing the left side of the faucet starts the flow of water; pressing the right side dispenses soap—it’s one or the other. Cleanliness and conservation can coexist.

A unique concept for the bathroom helps to save water.

BLANCO water saving kitchen faucets help save water beautifully.

Imagine This:

6:00am

Your alarm clock rings out its daily tone to rouse you from sleep and start your day. Your feet hit the floor, you make your way to your bathroom, turn the knob to turn on the shower, and step in as you wait for the water to shoot from the shower head. You wait one minute. You wait two minutes. You wait five minutes. Finally, you realize, the water is not coming. You turn the knob to turn the shower off and step out of the shower. Puzzled, you cover yourself with a robe and look to your sink. The faucet does not yield water. The toilet is empty. The thought takes a moment to settle in: there is no water inside your home.

As you fumble through your morning, you conclude that you just need to call a plumber to fix whatever is wrong with your water at home. You dress yourself and head to work, unbathed, teeth unbrushed.

On your way to work, you are taken aback as you watch your neighbors carrying 5 gallon yellow gas cans as they walk down the street in their suits for work. The first few people carrying the cans are weird, but as three becomes six and then ten, it becomes incredibly puzzling. Finally, you slow and park your car. All you can do is watch mesmerized as you follow the people to see what everyone is doing. Finally, after some time, it becomes apparent that everyone is headed to the large pond at the edge of your subdivision. The sight of everyone in your neighborhood knelt down, filling these cans full of water and heading back to their home is striking. What can they possibly be thinking?

This is just a small snapshot into the juxtaposed idea of what our lives would be like if we in the United States were forced to rely on local water sources as those in the developing world do. The water crisis isn’t even just one of a lack of water, but lack of SAFE water. Imagine if the water your drank might give you parasites, diarrhea, dysentery, cholera, or any number of diseases. Imagine if it might kill you. Imagine if you had to spend so much time hauling water every day that you were unable to hold a job, but still, you had to just so that your family could function.

This is the reality of the global water crisis. This is the reality for the nearly one billion people on our planet right now who lack access to safe, clean water.

The situation is real, but so are the solutions.

In just four years, we’ve led a college movement that has raised over $2.6 million that we’ve used to build freshwater wells in developing countries that have given over 100,000 people safe, clean water. Sustainability is our #1 Value at Thirst Project and we build incredibly stringent systems into our projects.

Today is Earth Day and a number of great conversations will be had about our global resources and how we steward them. I love that we’re having those conversations, but, I also believe that there are far more important conversations to be had about the PEOPLE of the world. I hope that we are a people that will be known for our love and compassion not just for nature or animals, but also for other people. I want to encourage you not only to conserve the water that you have, but to give water to someone else. Yes, turn off the faucet if you don’t need it. But realize that turning off your faucet does nothing to give someone across the world safe water.

You can be the difference between life and death for someone. As we celebrate this earth day, look around at all of the water resources you do and celebrate what you have. Celebrate the beauty of the planet as well as the people of the world who fill it.

Together, we can join hands to make a difference. Together, we can give water. Together, we can give life.

Seth Maxwell
President & CEO
The Thirst Project

(Like BLANCO on Facebook and BLANCO will donate $1 to the Thirst Project.)

BLANCO is proud to have participated in the Thirst Project’s second annual Thirst Gala in Los Angeles, CA. Actors from the casts of Glee, Teen Wolf, Grey’s Anatomy and Twilight attended the star-studded celebrity event. BLANCO helped the Thirst Project raise more than $15,000 which will be used to build 30 freshwater wells and provide 7,500 people with clean and safe drinking water!

Blanco donated the water-saving HYDRA faucet to the Gala’s silent auction. The HYDRA is designed to conserve 30% more water than conventional faucets and delivers a constant flow rate at 1.5 GPM using the latest water-saving technology!

Pictured is Seth Maxwell the founder/CEO of Thirst Project with Grey's Anatomy Star Chyler Leigh and her husband Nathan West.

BLANCO HYDRA Conserves 30% more Water