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In a small village outside Cape Town, South Africa, school children drink from untreated surface water. This contaminated water is the only option, as there is no piped water in the school grounds. The inexpensive LifeStraw® water filter, manufactured by Vestergaard-Frandsen, is a simple solution to providing safe drinking water for their school.
Eartheasy, using funds set aside from consumer purchases of LifeStraw, is working to help bring this efficient water filtration technology to communities in need of safe drinking water. Eartheasy’s donation of $10,000 will provide safe drinking water to 400 families in African communities for three years until wells can be built.
Eartheasy works with The Rotary Foundation, the parent organization of over 34,000 Rotary clubs across the globe. The Rotary Foundation has a matching funds grant program in which Eartheasy’s donation of $10,000 was included in a matching grant to a total donation of $37,000. The overall donation will provide training and distribution of LifeStraw Family water filters for over 1,150 households, meeting their need for clean water for over three years.
Consultation with local health authorities and community leaders is a critical part of the donor program, ensuring that the donations address recipient needs, and donor activities are appropriate to community planning strategies. In South Africa, the Sea Point Rotary chapter in Cape Town will be incorporating Eartheasy’s donation into their Safe Water Project which has a goal of providing 10 million liters of safe drinking water to nearby communities through the distribution of LifeStraw Family water filters.
Safe Water Project Co-ordinator Dr Tony Davidson reports that his team has identified areas in Grabouw and Swellendam, outside Cape Town, as initial recipients for this donation. Initially, 200 families in at-risk communities around the two towns will receive filters. In addition, the community of Muxima in Angola has been chosen for the distribution of 200 LifeStraw Family units.
Eartheasy’s donation of LifeStraws to those in need is ongoing. Prior to this donation to Rotary, Eartheasy donated LifeStraws to emergency workers in the city of Padang, Indonesia during local flooding last October. Funds for this donation were also made possible by customer purchases of LifeStraw, a portion of which is set aside by Eartheasy for humanitarian causes.
Eartheasy would like to thank Dr. Rad Fisher of the Pantano Rotary Club, Stephen Copek of The Rotary Foundation, and Dr. Tony Davidson of Sea Point Rotary.
About LifeStraw
LifeStraw® water filters convert even the dirtiest water into safe drinking water. LifeStraw is easy to use, and requires no electricity, batteries or replacement parts. The personal version is ideal for out-of-home use by hikers, campers or people displaced by natural disasters. LifeStraw Family®, used in homes, provides an average family of five with safe water for at least three years. The personal version of LifeStraw is currently available to consumers in North America in many retail stores, while LifeStraw Family will be available to consumers shortly. For the purposes of the Africa donor program, the LifeStraw Family filters were donated. In Indonesia, the LifeStraw Personal filters were donated.
About Eartheasy
Eartheasy.com is a family run company dedicated to promoting sustainable living. In addition to publishing guides for sustainable living, Eartheasy is the North American wholesale distributor of the LifeStraw products. A portion of LifeStraw sales made on Eartheasy.com are donated to those in need of clean water.
