I thought getting people interested in the 4 Liter Challenge would be easy,
but based on my first two responses to an email I sent to a few friends and colleagues I quickly learned this was going to be tougher than I thought. The
first response I received was: “So basically, we get a gallon jug of water, don’t shower, do dishes, water plants, etc… just sit with our
gallon of water for personal consumption for 24 hours, hopefully sleeping ½ the time, right?” I could see my communication efforts needed some improvement
and if there was any doubt I received this email: “This is fine with a bunch of buddies camping, but not in my wife’s bed.” These people were raining on
my parade and I needed to do something about it quickly. It is always surprising to me people just don’t do things because I said so. It is a lesson I
have learned and relearned many times. So I decided to take my time and explain more carefully what the challenge was, how it helps and how they can contribute.
What is the 4 Liter Challenge?
Water is life but most of us just take it for granted. The average American uses over 105 gallons of water per day. This is a challenge to you to live
on just 4 liters (for my metric system challenged friends this is a little more than a gallon of water) for a day. This is 24 hours of water poverty, just
like over 800 million people in the world who live in water poverty every day. For 24 hours you use just 4 liters of water for everything you do. The challenge
kicks off on September 27, 2015 and runs through the month of October. This gives you lots of opportunity to participate.
How do I do this?
Fill a one liter bottle of water and use it for everything you do that day. This includes cooking, drinking, cleaning and bathing. You can refill your
bottle up to three times, but remember the challenge is to use 4 liters or less. Also, log on to 4liters.org and connect your social accounts. Then when you post experiences about the challenge they will appear on your timeline.
Post and fund raise
This is the fun part. You can share weird, funny, or inspiring moments from your day. You are encouraged to tweet with the hashtag #4liters. For each
day you take the challenge you can challenge 4 friends to participate too, or if they rather they can donate $40 dollars.
Where does the money go?
100% of every dollar you donate or raise is sent to a water project in the United States or abroad. You will receive a full report on the project once
it is finished. Dig Deep is the organization who designed the 4 liter challenge.
They are a human rights non-profit making clean water more available and sustainable in every community. I hope this was enough information to get you
interested in taking the challenge. I know my first two email responses are now on board but we still need your help. You can watch for my tweets about
the challenge @H2oTrends and I do hope you will join us.