November 10, 2010

If you can count on a Starbucks on every corner, you can also count on finding a bottle of Ethos water inside. They are the plainly packaged bottled waters promising that, simply by purchasing one, you can help make a global impact. Ethos ensures that 5 cents from every bottle sold in the United States (10 cents in Canada) will go to improving both the water supply and sanitation standards in developing countries. To date, those pennies have created a combined pot of more than $6.2 million. The money flows from the stores into the Ethos Water Fund (part of the Starbucks Foundation), where it is distributed in grants to various nonprofit, water-focused organizations. One grant, for example, paid to build a gravity-fed water system in a rural, mountainous region of Honduras. Newly installed pipes now bring water from rain and natural springs to the homes of people in need, as well as to their community center. Locals, for the first time, have hygienic latrines and a basin with a spigot.