Our Thirsty Story

the Problem
And
Our solution
The problem
We are using water at an unsustainable rate
Without changes in business practices,
by 2030, global water
demand will be
40% greater than supply
1
1
2030 Water Resources Group - Charting Our Water Future (2009)
In 2015, the world economic forum
ranked water crises as the
#1 risk to global society
2
2
Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN, global Water Scarcity Trends
In 2014,
farmers in
California reported
losses of US$2.2billion
as a result of water shortages
3
The New york times, as California drought enters 4th year, conservation efforts and worries increase, MARCH 17, 2015
3
In California, 4 trillion litres of water
is used per year to farm almonds,
4
Which is enough water
For The entire population of L.A.
to drink for1,405 years
4
Slate, The thirsty west: 10 percent of California's water goes to almond farming, May 2014
In 2015, São Paulo
ran out of water
5
5
Fusion, Living through the São Paulo water crisis, March 2015
“It was like a
horror film”
6
“We saw people behave like
animals”
“doctors… had to cut short dialysis
for patients with kidney failure” 7
6
The Guardian, são Paulo – anatomy of a failing megacity: residents struggle as water taps run dry, Feb 2015
7
The Telegraph, Taps run dry in Brazil’s biggest city as drought bites, Feb 2015
This is not a future we want
Image: Nacho Doce, Riot in Sao Paulo, Brazil
by 2030, Without changes
in business practices,
Demand for water will be
40% greater than supply
8
2030 Water Resources Group - Charting Our Water Future
8
We want to build a world where water is used
sustainably, where
supply > demand
But HERE’S the CHALLENGE:
95% of the water we use
everyday is invisible
9
9
National Geographic, Water footprint calculator
95% of the water we use everyday is
Invisible
Cotton Suit
14,763 litres
Combined invisible water footprint
Cotton shirt
3,690 Litres
28,429 Litres
Mobile Phone
912 Litres
Coffee, 200ml
140 litres
This is more water than you
have drunk in your
entire lifetime
10
Cotton socks
924 Litres
Leather Shoes
8,000 Litres
10SOURCES:
Thomas M. Kostigen,The green blue book: the simple water-savings guide to everything in your life, 2010
The japan times, researchers study products’ water footprints, 2010
Natural awakenings, Water Water everywhere… but will there be enough?, 2011
Chicago Tribune, Study finds nearly half of Americans not drinking enough water, 2013
Food surveys research group, Drinking Water Intake in the US, 2011
[The average American drinks 924.3ml water per day (3.9 cups at 237ml per cup) = 337.3L in a 365-day year. At this rate, it would take the average American over 87 years to drink 28,429l of water]
companies and Individuals need to
work together
to create a shift in purchasing behaviour,
with consumers favouring
water-sustainable products
Millennials are one of the
most influential
consumer groups in the world,
With a combined purchasing power of
US$2.45 trillion
11
11
Barnes, N., Lescault A, Millennials drive social commerce: turning their likes, follows or pins into a sale
But 90% of them
don’t know there’s a water crisis
12
12
Penn Schoen Berland, Our commissioned market research : found that less than 10% of China’s youth considered water scarcity to be a vital issue
THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT When they know…
88%
78%
80%
change their
purchasing decisions
consume less waterintensive food
pay a premium for waterfriendly products13
13
Penn Schoen Berland, Our commissioned market research : after exposure to Thirst’s educational campaign
So how do we achieve this?
By arming companies and
individuals with knowledge
through education and media
Sharing Knowledge
We are educating the next generation of consumers and global leaders
about the water crisis and encouraging and facilitating engagement in
the solution. We encourage active learning and participation and
inspire action.
300,000 people
have been reached by our events, workshops
and activities
100,000 students
have graduated from our education modules
We are working with
120 Schools
across China
INSPIRING creative Solutions
We run innovation competitions across China, inviting students to
come up with creative high-tech and low-tech solutions to waterrelated problems in their homes, schools and communities, as well as
in manufacturing processes.
Following our successful pilot projects, in 2015 we have expanded:
500 students
participated in our pilot
and we have grown our most recent competition to
16,000 students
from
16 schools
Building A COMMUNITY
To encourage ongoing learning and build a community of water
conscious consumers, we have established a network of active Clubs groups of young people sharing water saving messages with the
broader community and inspiring others to save water.
The Thirst Club network is our grassroots community - a powerful
resource that supplements our media awareness campaign, and
provides an opportunity for young people to participate in meaningful
offline activities. This is critical to building a sense of community.
We have already built a network of:
120 Clubs
across
18 Provinces
In China
In order to increase our reach and create global change, we will set up:
500 new clubs in the next 3 years
5,000 within the next 5 years
Mass engagement
Celebrating World Water Day we created an image of a dragon using
1,000 graduates from our education program. An aerial shot of this
event, as well as clever messaging, achieved mass media coverage.
We repeated this with a second dragon in Harbin with 1,967 students.
Our iconic water dragons have had mass media coverage. In total, we
have achieved:
250 million
online impressions
a Guinness
World Record
Trended #1
On sina weibo
(China’s version of Twitter)
But this isn’t enough
We need to create
Global awareness
Of the water crisis
now
Going global
We will make history, by launching a solo run covering 1680km of the
harshest climates on the planet.
7 deserts
on
7 Continents
In
7 weeks
for
1 reason:
Water
This campaign will generate significant media exposure to the global
water crisis, as well as our solution.
We have already generated interest from broadcasters and outlets
such as National Geographic Channel, BBC, and ABC.
RECRUITING WATER HEROES
In conjunction with out 7 deserts campaign, we are launching Water
Heroes. This is an ongoing campaign to build a global community of
people and companies pledging to preserve and conserve the world’s
water supplies.
Members of our community who take action to reduce their water
footprint or conserve water are our Water Heroes.
In the case of corporates, the Water Heroes site will allow us to
highlight corporate companies leading their field in saving water.
We want to recruit
10 million water heroes
within the next 3 years
and spotlight
10 brands
leading in water sustainability
Our vision is to build a
grassroots community of
water-conscious citizens
Change purchasing habits
To Create a
water sustainable world
Timeline
Phase 2 - ongoing

Educate 10 million people

Expand collaboration

Spotlight 10 brands leading in
water sustainability
2012
2013
2014
2015
Phase 1 – Complete
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
Phase 3 - Future
•
Educated 100,000 Millennials

Consult with brands to build blue supply chains

Reached 250 million people via media

Expand our community

Collaborated with 100+ schools

Launch and promote brands in collaboration with

Established 120 Clubs
existing companies to fulfil demand by our

Piloted Innovation Competition
community of water conscious consumers
The journey has already begun
We are thirsty for
change
Join our community
PR@thirst4water.org