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AUSTIN (KXAN) – FreeWater was launched earlier this year and offers environmentally friendly water bottles and cardboard boxes. The company can provide water free of charge because it uses cans and cartons as advertising space. The company prints advertisements directly on the cans and boxes.
With every drink, the company donates 10 cents to a nonprofit based in Austin, Well Aware. The money will be used to build water wells for people who do not have access to clean water. The latest 2017 data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that there are approximately 785 million people around the world.
In a statement, Well Aware employees said, “FreeWater is a fantastic brand partner for Well Aware. You are helping to provide clean water to so many in our East African partner communities. On average, every US $ 15 provides one person with permanently clean water through our projects. So if 10 cents of every FreeWater bottle is used for our mission, it means that every 150 bottle supplies one more person with this vital resource – so that they can survive and thrive. It’s a profound effect. We are honored to work with FreeWater and look forward to partnering with them to bring clean water to those who need it most. ”
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Well Aware’s first project with FreeWater, due to be completed by the end of this year, will repair an existing well at a Kenyan school. By the end of the year, FreeWater employees expect to have distributed over 30,000 of these free water bottles. It’s not just free water, the company founder said this is just the beginning.
Josh Cliffords said the company’s goal is to eventually create a free supermarket and provide the community with free food, drink, clothing, medicine, computers, transportation, and travel – all possible through advertising.
“It’s a complete 180 degree advertisement because our goal is not to bother people, but to make them happy,” said Cliffords.
At the moment the company is working solely on its marketing activities and distributing it in popular locations such as the Hike and Bike Trail, Zilker Park and Barton Springs. Early next year, the company will install three vending machines in Austin that will offer free water.
The water is being outsourced by a manufacturer in California and Georgia, but they plan to build a facility here in Austin at some point and have their own spring water source in the years to come.
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