Drink Tap Water to Give Kids Clean Water

As the rainy season wanes in the Pacific Northwest, our water-focused student club at Oregon State University has decided to promote the UNICEF Tap Project. The Tap Project, which began in 2007, is held during World Water Week from March 21st to March 27th. The aim is bring awareness to and collect donations for water and sanitation challenges faced by children around the world. Nearly 4,100 children die each day from water-related illnesses. Through the Tap Project, restaurants collect one dollar for each glass of tap water usually served for free and provide these donations to UNICEF.

Above Photo: Tap Project volunteer looking for participating restaurants.

We spent a couple of days walking around encouraging restaurants and coffeehouses to get involved. Four restaurants and two coffeehouses have agreed to participate. This is the first year of the Tap Project in our area. Restaurants are a great venue to reach a diverse group of people. The campaign might present the opportunity for someone in the United States to think about a young child in Zambia (or Bangladesh, India, Sudan… ) and their lack of water and/or sanitation. And, with the UNICEF Tap Project, we are giving people the chance to help alleviate the suffering of children worldwide.

If you want to engage your city in the Tap Project, visit the UNICEF Tap Project website at www.tapproject.org.

Denver Water – PSA-a-thon Series

We’re back again with more great Public Service Announcements (PSAs) relating to water for the PSA-a-thon Series. The first two PSAs featured (on rainwater harvesting and the Tap Project) were great. But the third batch in the series is pretty fun, as well. Today’s PSAs were created by Sukle Advertising + Design for a Denver, Colorado water conservation campaign.

As an added bonus, here is another one of Sukle’s clever ways to teach people to conserve water.

Another about the shower.

And another about, ummm, drinking water.

LA Tap Project – PSA-a-thon Series

Yes, it’s true.  I am a sucker for any great Public Service Announcement (PSA) relating to water. If produced right, sometimes these PSAs have the ability to intrigue me, bring a smile to my face, educate me, and move me to action or even to tears.

Because I love PSAs about water so much, I am going to feature them on Water for the Ages in a PSA-a-thon Series. Be sure and check out the first in the series: a PSA on rainwater harvesting made for television in India.

The second in the series, today’s PSA, is a little out-of-date but neat nonetheless. It was created for the Tap Project, an outreach effort each year from March 16 to March 22, to raise money for UNICEF’s water programs. Enjoy.

Tap Water for Global Water

Advertising that will raise awareness of the global water crisis while raising money for UNICEF’s campaign to provide clean drinking water to children in developing countries, sounds better than consumerism to me.

The second annual Tap Project ad blitz will soon arrive in papers and magazines of over twelve US cities including New York City, Boston Chicago, Cincinnati, Dallas, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, New Orleans, Portland, OR, Richmond, VA, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, and several cities in South Carolina, as stated in the New York Times today. Several notable advertising agencies will be producing the outreach material pro bono.

Posters, ads, lapel pins, etc. will highlight fund-raising to begin Sunday, March 16th through Saturday, March 22th. Participating restaurants will invite customers to donate a minimum of a dollar for tap water normally free.

As the Tap Project web-site states, “For every dollar raised, a child will have clean drinking water for 40 days” through UNICEF project implementation. The project is set to coincide with World Water Day on March 22, 2008, an annual event promoted by the UN to promote public awareness of global water issues.