Although National Recycling Week 2010 has come to an end, Water For Water knows that recycling is a vital part of everyday life. With this in mind we have some tips for you on what to do with your empty Water For Water bottles.

1. Look out for Recycling Bins
Shoppers at many Westfield shopping centres can now recycle with ease with the recently installed new public recycling bins across their shopping centres so be on the look at for these!

2. Take it home
Water For Water bottles are 100% recyclable!!
When you’re out and about and have a Water For Water bottle, take it home for recycling if there are no recycling options around you.
90% of Australian households have access to kerbside recycling and we recycle around 70% of the beverage containers we use at home. For more information on Kerbside recycling visit: http://recyclingnearyou.com.au/ 

3. Ask your boss
If you work in an office make sure you have a recycling scheme. Companies like AMCOR Recycling and Visy Recycling can assist you if you don't. 

Water For Water love to see good use of recycled plastic bottles.

This year Nike diverted nearly 13 million plastic bottles from the landfill for the World Cup team jerseys, enough to cover more than 29 football fields.

We also think Radiohead’s Windbreaker Made From Recycled PET Plastic Bottles is pretty cool…


For some other crazy and wonderful ideas on what you can do with your empty Water For Water bottle head over to Design Boom. Check out Gulnur Ozdaglar's jewelry and other objects made from PET bottles!
 
For more information about recycling Planet Ark’s website is a great place to start!

Gloria Jean's Coffee has been kind enough to print some Water For Water frequent sipper cards!
They are out now so get in to your nearest store,  grab a coffee, a bottle of Water For Water and make sure you get your Water For Water frequent sipper card stamped today!
Here are some pic's of the card for you to check out...

Water For Water gave 600 bottles of water to the One80TC cycle challenge!
For over 30 years, ONE80TC has given young people between the ages of 18 and 35 years, who struggle with life-controlling issues, a second chance at life. The program aims to eliminate their self-destructive habits by meeting the needs of the whole person... not only dealing with the addiction, but also rebuilding their self-image, work ethic and relationships.
All proceeds raised went to ONE80TC. For further information on ONE80TC go to www.one80tc.org
Here are some pictures of some riders during the challenge...(spot our water bottles!)

Blog Action Day 2010 was held on October 15, 2010 and successfully brought the topic of water to over 5,600 bloggers from 143 countries, reaching more than 40 million readers.

Participating blogs included the White House Blog, the U.S. Department of State Blog, Mashable, the Official Google Blog, the Greenpeace Blog, and many, many more.  Corporate blogs, government-owned blogs, news blogs, non-profit blogs, and independent blogs joined Blog Action Day 2010.

Thanks to the team at change.org for putting on the event and making it a huge success!
Here is a very small collection of some of the blogs that impacted us at Water For Water…
 
“When I was nine, growing up in my native Bolivia, I paused one day from a particularly active game during recess to quench my thirst at the school tap. What I didn't know was that the water was contaminated. The price I paid for that innocent drink of water was a serious bout of Hepatitis and three months of missed school. Unfortunately, this type of story is all too common in the developing world. While I was lucky to have access to good medical care and recovered, around the world 4,500 children die each day from water related diseases. This is something we must change”.
-  Maria Otero serves as Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs.

"It’s amazing how resilient people can be, even in the face of an appalling lack of basic human needs like water. At the same time it’s amazing how confined they are without those fundamental things. Their universe remains small, because everything depends upon a source of water. People can’t take baths, they can’t wash their clothes. They can’t clean the pit latrine or their babies’ bottoms. Water, whatever its quality, is a precious commodity – to be planned for, waited for, fought for, and worked for".
- Defeat DD

"In Ghana today, over 25% of deaths in children are caused by diarrhea from contaminated water. Here some boys collect drinking water from a rubbish dump - it leaves little question as to why illness and death statistics are so high. It’s estimated that Ghana needs over $200million to kickstart the water and sanitation problems".


- http://hollisramblings.blogspot.com/

"Each day, millions of females begin their trek before sunrise to gather water of poor quality, lugging 75lb jugs back to their homes across rough terrain and jeopardizing their health in the process... Even something as simple as going to the bathroom can be risky for women whose homes lack toilets and must venture to a remote location, risking sexual and physical assault, because of inadequate sanitation infrastructure".
- NRDC Switchboard

"Water and sanitation access is truly a life-changing intervention. Not only do the long term impacts improve health and well-being, there are also lifesaving short term impacts as basic as alleviating the danger of drowning in old water holes or injury and contamination from improper latrine pits collapsing…The fact is that water is life for the people of developing countries and their future prosperity.   And we can make that happen".
- Ryan's Well Foundation Blog

"Blog Action Day is just a start, we need to build on the ripples created by our blogs so that we can achieve a world in which no wars are fought over water, no children die from a water related disease and clean water is no longer a luxury but a standard”.
- Maria Otero

We agree Maria...so lets get started – help us change the lives of a community in the Philippines! Soon we will be updating you on how you can get involved and how you can help. Sign up to our mailing list and we will keep you informed.

We live in a world where a human being dies every eight seconds due to the absence of clean water. This year on Blog Action Day we wanted to tell you a little about why Water For Water are working to give a community clean water in the Philippines.

The majority of people with no access to adequate clean water live in Asia.
40% of Filipino's have limited or no access to clean water. Less than 50% of the urban population has running water in their homes and 70% of the population makes do with boiling water or alternatively drinks unclean-water from taps.

With the rapid urbanisation of The Philippines, water supplies are fast deteriorating with only 33% of river systems still suitable as a clean and safe water supply and up to 58% of the country¹s groundwater now contaminated.

Water is generally provided unevenly among income groups, with formal supply systems being denied to poor communities who are forced to turn to water vendors and pay much higher prices. ‘If you live in a slum in Manila, you pay more for your water than people living in London’. United Nations Human Development Programme

As a result, the leading causes of deaths and illness in the Philippines are food and waterborne diseases such as bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A and
typhoid fever.

The statistics are high and the need is great but at Water For Water we believe that change is possible.

Water For Water want to help sustain and empower communities in areas where people don't have access to clean water in The Philippines. We have partnered with an organisation on a long-term sustainable water project that will have a positive holistic impact on the community. This means not just offering a quick fix solution, but encouraging a long term vision. We are about helping people get access to an essential natural resource that will empower individuals, families and communities.

Water For Water is building a community water station that will provide Filipinos with an alternative to unclean drinking water. The water station will generate business opportunities, employment and house a community centre for local families.

Building will start soon. Spread the word and sign up to our mailing list/twitter/facebook and we'll keep you posted on all things Project Philippines.

Blog Action Day is an annual event held on October 15th that unites the world’s bloggers in posting about the same issue on the same day with the aim of sparking a global discussion and driving collective action.

Blog Action Day asks bloggers to take a single day out of their schedule and focus it on an important issue. By doing so on the same day, the blogging community effectively changes the conversation on the web and focuses audiences around the globe on that issue.

This year the theme is Water!
Clean water is essential for our survival, but dangerously scarce. Nearly one billion people in the world today don’t have access to clean water!

Water For Water will be taking part!

So if you have a blog or know someone who does, on October 15th get blogging - visit the Blog Action Day website for more information.

Check out Water For Water’s first ever video!
Big thanks to Glenno, Nevs, Jimmy, Mags, DS, Kel43, Fezzdawg, Ben & the crew at Hills for working through the night & making it happen.
Also cheers to Bevan for kindly donating a lens for the evening, Joel & Jarred for their cameras and the very talented Dylan for the sounds.
Enjoy the video, share it around & DRINK WATER GIVE WATER.

While we were in the Philippines meeting with our NGO partners Justin Horo, Ben Smith and Jarryd Hayne from the Parramatta Eels were making a special guest appearance at Westfield Parramatta courtesy of Gloria Jean’s Coffees. Autographs were signed, photos were taken and bottles of Water For Water were enjoyed by the boys! Go the Eels!
(Photos by Ellen Antico)

Here are some pictures of our trip in the Philippines...
Up to 40% of Filipino's have limited or no access to clean water…
This weekend please go out and buy Water For Water at any Gloria Jean's Coffees, so that we can help provide Filipinos with an alternative to unclean drinking water.

This week Water For Water had a bit of fun with friend & Master Chef finalist Courtney Roulston at Gloria Jean's Coffees.