March 28, 2012 – When Suzanne Collins wrote her book The Hunger Games, her depiction of the future Panem – a world focused on self-preservation due to lack of food and clean drinking water – may not be as fictional as we’d like to believe. The New York Times Best-Selling novel is now quickly becoming one of the top-grossing movies this year. In it, the story addresses what happens when a world is fraught with natural disasters, drought, storms and global warming. As part of Panem’s “peace” treaty, young adults between the ages of 12 and 18 are called upon to be Tributes in a fight to the death.
AquaNew, the founder of Watt-Ahh®, has a different mission. You can go without food for a couple of weeks; however, life extinguishes within days without clean water. We’d rather offer you Thirst Games – where our Tributes fight for immediate life survival that unfortunately is occurring throughout the world today.
Here is the frightening truth:
- By 2025, 800 million people will be living in regions of the world where water is scarce, and two-thirds of the world population is predicted to live under these stress conditions as a result.
- 1.1 billion people (approximately one-sixth of the world’s population) have no access to safe drinking water.
- 2.2 million people, living in developing countries (primarily children), die each year from diseases related to lack of access to safe drinking water, inadequate sanitation and poor hygiene.
- Half of the world’s hospital beds are filled with people suffering from water-related illnesses.
- The average distance that women in Africa andAsiahave to walk to collect water is three miles, and tens of millions of children cannot go to school because they must fetch water for their families on a daily basis.
- An estimated 6,000 children die each day from diseases related to a lack of clean water.*
The water we drink today is the same water the dinosaurs drank. There is no new water.
What is Thirst Games? AquaNew is committed to producing and distributing its life-giving Watt-Ahh® on a global scale and educating people through environmental and social awareness. Now, through May 30, 2012, AquaNew® invites youth ages 12 to 18 to be voluntary Tributes in Thirst Games, a challenge to provide ideas for worldwide change.
Rules: Submit your conservation or fundraising ideas (or tell us about one you’ve already done) in 800 words or fewer for a chance to win. The winner will receive 12 bottles of Watt-Ahh® and four free movie tickets to see The Hunger Games. AquaNew® will also donate $200 to ChildHelp® in the winner’s name.
Have you participated in a volunteer project where proceeds were donated to a world organization providing clean drinking water to seriously drought-stricken areas?
Want to give people tips on keeping our rivers and lakes clean?
We want to hear about it! Email your story to: Inquiries@AquaNew.com. Winners will be announced on Facebook and on AquaNew.com no later than June 15, 2012.
*Statistics can be confirmed at: Unwater.org, Unicef.org and BluePlanet.org