I’ve been introduced to some interesting new online friends since joining the Radical read-along, and Amy is one of them. Recently Amy bought a super cute belt, felt convicted for spending $28 on something as trivial as fashion, and decided to sell it and give the money to blood:water mission, an organization that empowers communities to work together against the HIV/AIDS and water crisis. After reading her blog, other people wanted to join in the effort to release materialism and raise awareness for the water crisis in Africa, so ladies from all over the US signed up to “buy” the belt for a chance to wear it once and give the $28 to blood:water mission. Amy calls it the Sisterhood of the Traveling Belt, and so far $1260 has been raised, which will provide 1260 people with clean water for an entire year. Woo!
Amy’s project and blood:water mission reminded me of how blessed I am to have access to clean, safe, delicious beverages whenever I want them, without having to walk for miles to get them. And when I found out that $1 = 1 year of clean drinking water for an African, I definitely started to think twice (or ten times) about popping in to Walgreens for a $1.49 diet root beer. Or paying $1.19 for 16 ounces of water in a plastic bottle, when it is perfectly safe for me to drink straight from the tap for free.
I wanted to do something to contribute to the cause, but since there are some minor, ahem, differences between my waist and the dainty waists of the ladies wearing the belt, I thought I’d go a different route. Instead of taking a turn with the belt, I decided to commit to one month (9/20 – 10/20) without buying a beverage, and give what I would have spent on drinks to blood:water mission instead.
So how much money do I spend on drinks, anyway? I don’t have a daily Starbucks habit. I tend to drink water most of the time when I eat out. I drink coffee every day, but I usually don’t pay for it. And yet when I combed through the last month of my online bank statement, I counted $68 that I spent on beverages alone. Now, that amount is a bit inflated thanks to a trip to Universal Studios, where drinks are sold at around a 7,000% mark-up, but still. Nearly $70 on drinks in one month?! If $1 can provide clean drinking water for one African for an entire year, then the money I spent last month on drinks could have provided clean water for someone for essentially their entire life.
Um, yikes.
It’s a little sad that I even consider this a “challenge,” but it felt like it when I started. The first day I gave up buying drinks, I had a meeting at Starbucks, of all places, where the vanilla rooibos latte sweetly called my name the whole 90 minutes I was there. I put in ear plugs. A few days after that, I was at my last Marlins game of the season, melting in the billion-degree heat, and actually stole a chug of red Gatorade from a five-year-old to keep me hydrated. (I am not proud of my actions. And I am very sorry, sweet Luke.) But while I “struggle” with the temptation to spend $4 on hot water and a tea bag, and turn up my nose at the water fountains in Sun Life Stadium, scores of people in Africa are struggling to walk for miles every day just to get access to dirty water.
That is craziness. And I want to do something, however small that something may be in the grand scheme of things.
So who wants to join me? Who wants to give up frivolous drinks for a month and support blood:water mission?
October 10th, 2010 at 9:46 pm
You’re awesome, girl.