Josh Lawson’s In the Raw script reading of “The Little Death” was staged at Cockatoo Island on Tuesday 21st February. The Little Death is a wickedly funny exploration of the five different lives of five different couples and the five different fetishes that make them…well, different.
Celebrated actors Susie Porter (East West 101, RAN), Bob Franklin (Thank God You’re Here, The Librarians), Damon Herriman (J. Edgar, Wilfred, Rake) and Don Hany (Offspring, East West 101) were cast for the live reading.

Thank you to the team at Cockatoo Island Film Festival for asking Water For Water to be apart of the night…check out some pictures from the live reading (and spot our bottles of water as well!)

- photos courtesy of Cockatoo Island Film Festival - check out the great work they do here.

 

Life's most basic need is water.

But every day, lack of access to clean water kills thousands, leaving others with reduced quality of life.

It does not have to be this way.

Do something today!

Here a few simple steps you can do to take action!

• Buy a bottle of Water For Water from any Gloria Jean's Coffee House and help Water For Water provide practical and financial assistance to communities who lack access to clean water!

• Become a fan/follower of Water For Water on Facebook or Twitter.

• Sign up to the Water For Water Mailing List

• Donate!

World-class surfers Taj Burrow, Jordy Smith, Owen Wright, Julian Wilson and Ozzie Wright busted out their best moves at the Boost Mobile Surf Sho at Bondi Beach .

Last year’s Boost Mobile Surf Sho was the first international surfing event to take place on Bondi Beach in over 20 years. This year spectators returned to the beach to watch a host of exciting aerial surfers from across the globe competing on the world’s most iconic beach in this free, fun-filled, three-day surfing event.

Bondi Beach provided a stunning backdrop for the event, with blue skies and crystal clear water. More than 30,000 spectators lined the beach to watch the surfing ,  soak up the festival atmosphere and witness Josh Kerr taking out the big prize.

Water For Water was the exclusive water supplier selling over 7000 bottles over the 3 days. 100% of our profits will go towards assisting communities who lack access to clean water.

A huge thank you to the team at Boost Mobile, Surfing NSW, all of our amazing volunteers, and all those who supported Water For Water at the Boost Mobile Surf Sho.

We can’t wait for next year!!

Along with our distribution partners, Gloria Jean’s Coffees, Water For Water donated 1000 cartons (24,000 bottles) of water to the people affected by the January 2011 QLD and VIC floods. Bottles were distributed through Gloria Jean’s Coffee houses to flood affected families as well as people volunteering in the clean up process. Water For Water is excited to help communities within Australia as well meet overseas need.

The Water For Water Team wish you and your family a wonderful Christmas!

We'll be taking a couple of days off to enjoy the sun & spend time with family & friends & we really hope you take the opportunity to do this too.

Thank you all for your support in 2010, we're looking forward to everything 2011 has in store and we cannot wait to share all of it with you!

 

 

I don’t know about you but my childhood memories revolve around water. Running through the sprinklers on a hot day, trips to the beach and a lot of sweltering afternoons in suburban swimming pools. MARIAM is an arts worker who grew up in the Philippines before migrating to Australia. We had a chat to Mariam about her chilhood memories.  

CHILDHOOD.
From age 4 to 13 I lived in Manila and Mandaluyong. In the neighbourhood I lived in there was crime, homelessness and poverty, so keeping your wits about you was a part of life.  People also got sick a lot due to contaminated water, so my family were always careful when drinking water at school, at other people’s houses, at restaurants. Basically, safe water meant warm water.

CLEAN WATER.
From an early age I got used to the idea that drinking safe water meant boiling it first. Water-related diseases were common, and sometimes you would see hints of bacteria floating in the water.Vegetables and fruits needed to be washed with hot water, you brushed your teeth with heated water and if you wanted to drink iced water (which is the tendency with Filipino weather) your ice cubes would need to be heated before freezing.

AUSTRALIA.
I was amazed at the privilege Australians have with their water supply! For so many years I was brought up to heat my water, to shower with pails and buckets, to conserve water, conserve water, conserve water! Then I migrated to Australia in 1996, and I didn’t have to do any of these things anymore. I could just put a glass underneath a tap and drink it straight away. The tap water was so clear, and naturally cold! I could launder my clothes in these machines, I could take regular showers and swim in pools.

WHAT’S IMPORTANT?
I believe people need to spare a thought for third world countries whose health and lifestyle suffer regularly because they do not share the same privileges. As capable, courteous human beings, we need to do whatever we can to help, even if it's through spreading awareness, donating to causes, and supporting products that are devoted to making a difference. So often people forget about the predicaments of our Asian neighbours simply because they are ‘out of sight, out of mind.' But the issue of water contamination is real, and people do die from drinking infected water, or not having proper access to sanitised water.

We in Australia are definitely in a position where we can make a difference, and I'm a big believer that even one individual can make an impact.

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!

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.