My Ice Water Challenge - A Reflection

"If I offer you a cup of water and bring you a glass of ice, 

I am trying to teach you patience."

- Jarod Kintz

     Most of us, in recent weeks, have logged into various social media sites and seen a newsfeed full of ALS Ice Water Bucket Challenges. For those of you who haven't enjoyed this phenomenon, there are numerous videos of people having buckets of ice water dumped on their heads. Of course, some are extremely funny, some are super precious; they bring us entertainment as we pray and hope we don't get nominated by a friend or two. It was started by one man who has ALS doing the challenge...then, shortly it spread across the world. Even the nuns were doing it. According to BostInno.com, the challenge has raised over 88.5 million dollars. It's absolutely amazing what this social media effort has done for the ALS Foundation. Of course, there's one troubling thing that I keep thinking about: the amount of water that has been wasted in doing the challenge.

     At first, I found the Ice Water Challenge to be entertaining. I thought it was hilarious watching people I know experience this cold water challenge. But the more and more it took place, the more and more I thought about the water. I have always LOVED water and if you've read my many blog posts about water, you already know about my desire to conserve water. I've done much traveling to countries where I couldn't drink the water...where the natives couldn't drink the water...because it was dirty and unhealthy. This past Summer in Peru, I learned that the people on the hills of Montenegro only get ten minutes worth of water a week. For many of us, that's only enough time in the shower to get wet. The more I experience in other places, the more I am grateful for the gift of water. Seeing all of the Ice Water Challenges got to me...look at all that water. I had to stop watching them. Then, I was nominated. Twice.

      According to the challenge, once a person is nominated, he or she only has 24 hours to complete the challenge. I was nominated twice, so I gave myself 48 hours to come up with a creative way to participate but also to spread the word about water conservation. So, after church last Sunday afternoon, I dragged my sister outside with the video camera and took the Ice Water Pitcher out of my fridge. I started in the back yard, thanking my nominators and giving my plug to ALS, as many other videos. But then I stated my claim about water conservation. Then...I challenged everyone to think about the water and about those who don't have. Then...I put the water back in the fridge and ended the video. My sister, who thought she was going to watch me dump a bucket of ice water on my head was a little disappointed but she mentioned that people were probably going to get mad about my video. I didn't care what kind of uproar it could potentially start. I just wanted to get the word out there. 

     I uploaded the video that afternoon and watched as my likes soared. Comment after comment came filing in thanking me for speaking out for the water. A few people even shared my video. For the time being, I wasn't catching any grief for the video. I was surprised. People were actually listening to my message. They were acknowledging the need for water conservation. I mentioned in my video that in California, the ALS Water Challenge was banned due to a prolonged drought season. Other places in the USA have banned it, too, due to water conservation needs. I thought, how fortunate are we in the US that we can ban such things when in other countries, dumping a bucket of water on your head would not even be thought of. I find it interesting that my pitcher of water that I put in the fridge is something out of which I would later get eight glasses of cold water to drink while in a different country, that same amount of water would be used to bathe an entire family. I started to think about all the buckets of water...that's a lot of baths for families in countries that don't have every day access to water. 

     As the days went on, a few of my friends started tagging me in videos. A close friend's mom tagged me in her ALS Water Challenge. The first thing she mentioned was that instead of filling her bucket up with water from the sink, she used collected rain water. My uncle was nominated and decided to do his water challenge in the garden so that he could water the garden at the same time. Matt Damon (not because of me...) even did something different and used toilet water...or so I've heard. Of course, I'm pretty sure he took a nice long shower after that one. But anyway the point is, people were starting to find conservative ways to partake in the ALS Water Challenge. I found it inspiring really. People were now giving a second thought to simply dumping water on their heads. Of course, it wasn't long before I met my first comment of opposition.

     The comment challenged me to take fewer showers and to brush my teeth once a day instead of twice a day. Now, while many people might be weirded out by that and think, ew the hygiene that won't happen, I, on the other hand, laughed. Not out of spite, honestly, but because for the past four years, I've made a conscious effort to reduce water in the simplest ways. I used to shower every day for at least twenty minutes. In high school, I reduced my showers to about ten minutes. Now folks, that includes shampooing and conditioning my wickedly curly hair. But when I got to college, I made a very conscious effort to shower every other day. No one ever said anything to me about me being smelly, so I don't anyone ever noticed. There are ways to be hygienic without showering every day. I know this may come as a shock to some people, but it's true. It takes one handful of water to rinse your face. It takes two spreads of deodorant not to smell. It takes one ponytail holder or a comb to make one's hair look presentable. I actually like to put my plug out there for the fact that it's actually better for your skin to shower every other day as opposed to every day. 

     There are other ways to conserve water in a day to day life. When you drink ice water, don't dump the ice in the sink when you finish the water. Let it melt and have more water. Patience. When washing the dishes, don't let the water run while you're not rinsing. Instead, fill the sink up and rinse in that. When brushing your teeth or washing your hands, don't run the water while lathering or brushing. If you really want to be conservative, turn the water off in the shower when you wash your hair or shave. Don't drain your pool at the end of the summer like my family does (yes, that was a BIG one because my pool was in the video). We mostly use the same water every year. When doing the laundry, use cold water (conserves energy) and use the lowest water setting. See? Plenty of things one can do. 

      Water is so important to me, not only because I LOVE being by the ocean or the river or the lake or the creek, but because I've experienced what it's like to be thirsty. Maybe it's because I've experienced firsthand what it's like to be a country where water isn't readily available to drink...or to bathe...or to wash hands. I've seen the great and amazing things the ALS Ice Water Challenge has done...I mean look at the amount of money it has raised and the awareness. But I'm challenging you to think about the water and the people who don't have the water before you simply dump a bucket of water on your head. Dump it over the garden, use rain water, make that your daily bathing, use a cup instead of a bucket, jump in the ocean when it's cold or the pool, do something different and do it for the conservation of the water.