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YC Graduate GiveMeTap Offers Free Water, Footfall Data For Stores, AND Helps Africa

 Despite the growth in reusable water bottles, keeping them refilled is tough. Ironically, consumers either end up buying a plastic bottle of water, are forced to use a toilet to refill, or feel obliged to buy something from a store before asking for a refill of water. GiveMeTap is a new graduate of the Y Combinator accelerator with a rather clever idea. It sells and produces stainless steel… Rea…

The importance of community involvement in development is becoming more and more apparent as new innovations are being created to solve some of the biggest problems. 

It's so cool to see this being applied to the issue of water and education in Kenya!

As published on FastCoexist by Adele Peters

When it rains, most buildings shed the water away. But for the last 10 years, two designers have been working on perfecting a new form of architecture that does the opposite: Waterbank buildings harvest and store as much rainwater as possible.

A new school campus in Kenya based on the design will collect 1.5 million liters of water a year—more than enough to provide water for all of the students and support garden plots in a region where clean water can be hard to find. Every building on the campus, from dorms and classrooms to a soccer stadium, is designed to harvest water and channel it into underground storage.

Though Kenya's climate is semi-arid, the architects say there is enough rainfall each year for the population. "Many people who don't have access to clean water, and this is true in Africa, are living in regions where it's raining at least 600 millimeters per year," says Jane Harrison, co-founder of PITCHAfrica, the nonprofit that designed the new buildings. "And that's a very strange fact. The issue, of course, is that the water evaporates and it's erratic, so people don't have it when they need it."

The architects are taking a different approach than many water nonprofits. "A lot of focus tends to be on the problems of water being solved by technological solutions," says Harrison. "But one of the big factors with water is social. The idea that there needed to be a social approach—a community approach to water—was important to us."

When the project first began in 2004, the architects had the idea to combine water collection with soccer—since soccer brings communities together. "I think the more we began to look at Africa, the more we began to think about the incredible power that football has there," Harrison explains. "It really does cross over many social differences and brings a large and diverse audience together. And we felt that if you could couple that kind of energy and attention with the huge need of water, it would be powerful."

In 2010, the team built a prototype of a water-harvesting soccer stadium during the World Cup. For the last four years, they've been working on bringing the architecture to life in Africa, and experimenting with creating different types of community buildings, since they quickly realized that the design could work well with more than stadiums.

First to be built was a four-classroom school in Laikipia, Kenya, which was named the"Greenest School on Earth" last year. With careful planning, it was possible to build for the same cost as a typical rural school of the same size. The new campus built this year replicates that project at a much larger scale—and includes the team's first actual soccer stadium as part of the design.

Next year, the nonprofit hopes to release Waterbanks OS, an open-source operating manual that explains how to design, build, and use a Waterbanks building—including how to manage water supply in the dry season so the water doesn't run out.

The technology could work in many parts of the world, the designers say, including places that seem too dry and those that actually do get plenty of rainfall, but struggle with pollution. "This is surreal, but we've now been approached by organizations working in the rainforest in Peru," says Harrison. "These are communities who do not have access to clean water because of what's been going on in the rainforest. Our relationship to water is very skewed. I think part of our larger mission is to start to draw attention to that."

Many of you may have seen the 'SOLD OUT' signs all over the GiveMeTap shop page. Not only are our best selling blue bottles out of stock, but also our silver bottles. We have many of you on our waiting list, hoping to be able to help us hydrate the world with your bottle purchase. Since it has been a couple of weeks since we've had this problem, we thought that we should keep you guys updated on what is going on at GMT HQ.

Firstly, do not worry! Our depletion of stock is not a bad sign, it is actually a great symbol of a pretty awesome month! Throughout August, many of you may have seen GiveMeTap posters while travelling up and down escalators on the London Underground. This was a result of an extensive marketing campaign across approximately 40 stations, in order to promote GiveMeTap.

This led to an amazing surge in sales across our website and during our GiveMeTap events in Central London. It also led to some unexpected partnerships with large and small companies across London, the UK and even Internationally. Things were pretty awesome. They still are. 

This all now means that we are able to fund another water project in Ghana. It is all so very exciting to see all your purchases make such a difference [more news on that soon]. However, what it also means is that that our stock has depleted quite unexpectedly, leaving us with few bottles available. 

As a small business, managing stock and inventory can provide quite a hefty challenge. There is an art to understanding when to buy stock and in what quantities - and this is an art we are yet to master with our limited resources. What we have realised, is that as we grow, managing this will be critical. Our next batch of bottles will be ready to order by mid-october, so watch this space!

We thought it was about time that we start sharing more of our journey as a start-up social enterprise with all of our GiveMeTappers. Everyday we are learning new things and developing the business. Thanks for supporting us on our journey to hydrate the World. Keep being awesome.

Well spotted, Anusha! The GiveMeTap sticker, loud & proud in Shepherds Bush.

See ya, Monday!

MindTheTap: Fast Growing Social Enterprise on a mission to keep Londoners beat the heat on the Tube.

This summer, to combat the dangers of heat on the Underground, and reduce the 750 annual faintings, GiveMeTap has launched its own London hydration campaign called MindTheTap. Building on the TFL’s recent ‘Beat the Heat’ programme, GiveMeTap are creating a network of cafes and restaurants around major tube stations, where commuters and travellers can get free refills of tap water, on the go, with their stainless steel GiveMeTap bottle.

Faintings often occur due to lack of water facilities near the underground leaving commuters with the burden of splashing out on expensive bottled water or going without. Having access to free flowing tap water is a sure-fire way to help Londoners beat the heat and keep the underground running smoothly. 

When moving to London after University, GiveMeTap’s founder, Edwin Broni-Mensah, experienced first hand the difficulties with water accessibility on the underground and felt that something needed to be done to tackle dehydration. 

Edwin says “London is in the middle of a much-anticipated heatwave and we think it’s time people on the underground had better access to water, in a more sustainable way. At the same time, we're helping thousands of people across Africa get access to clean drinking water.”

 As the Mayor of London tackles the issue of ventilation on trains, GiveMeTap aims to improve the possibilities for the public to make their own difference through a simple purchase. Water refill points, which GiveMeTap call ‘Taps’, can be found outside each of the stations, including the busy Victoria Line. Already, they’ve partnered with 150 taps across Central London who will happily refill GiveMeTap water bottles for free.

Over the coming weeks, GiveMeTap will be visible along the escalator panels in the hottest stations and the company states that it aims to have refills point within 400 meters from each Zone 1 station.  Finding your nearest Tap can be done with a few finger taps using their new App available on iOS & Android.

As a social enterprise, GiveMeTap’s social agenda does not stop at tackling heat exhaustion in the UK. For every GiveMeTap bottle purchased, GiveMeTap can provide clean water to a person in Africa. To date, GiveMeTap has completed 8 water projects in across the continent, providing over 4000 people with clean drinking water. Thousands of Londoner’s have already helped save lives by joining the movement including large corporates such as Deloitte, HSBC & Pizza Hut.

Can you have your water bottle and eat it too?

Inspired by techniques from molecular gastronomy, three London-based Spanish industrial design students created Ooho, a blob-like water container that they say is easy and cheap to make, strong, hygienic, biodegradable, and edible.

Here is their video showing how to chow down on the blob which costs only 2 cents to make!

As reported by Co.Exist

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It is awesome to see innovative solutions to plastic waste being discovered everyday. Edible Packaging is a brilliant move towards a truely sustainable product. However, I do wonder how the Ooho would live in my bag without bursting onto my Kindle!

Maybe this solution is better for home use, replacing plastic bottles in the fridge and for those people who don't have access to quality tap water.

Sustainable solutions do not necessarily have to mean that bottle packaging has to disappear, but that the bottle doesn't have to be disposed of to the detriment of our Planet. This is why solid portable solutions such as stainless-steel bottles may fare better on the way to work when placed in the same bag as your other prized possessions!