Hey Californians,

Since we’re facing one of the most severe droughts in history, in the interest of water conservation, I propose the #ColdShowChallenge as an alternative to raise money for ALS (also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease) research. Here’s why:

You save water & energy.

According to the Washington Post, the United States has wasted 5,000,000 gallons of water for the #IceBucketChallenge. To illustrate the water cost, let’s do some numbers:

Assuming an average family in Africa’s arid region can survive with around 4 gallons of clean water/day, a typical village in Africa has 50 families. 5 million gallons of clean water can sustain 5,000,000 gallons/4 gallons = 1,250,000 families in a day. That’s 1,250,000/50 = 25,000 villages a day, or around 833 villages for an entire month!

5 Million Gallons of clean water can sustain 833 villages in Africa for an entire month.

You save time.

• To do the #IceBucketChallenge properly, you’ll need to go to a store, buy a pack of ice, find a bucket, put ice in the bucket, set up a camera, then pour ice bucket on your head.
• To do the #ColdShowChallenge, all you have to do is set up camera, go to your shower, turn on the shower for 5 seconds. Tada!

You get all the social media awareness and fundraising raising benefits for ALS.

• By sharing your #ColdShowerChallenge on social media, you still get to raise awareness for a great cause.
• Want to show all your friends that you care and you look great in a wet t-shirt? #ColdShowerChallenge can do all that, without the time and the extravagant consumption of water.
• For added benefit, you appear like an outside-of-the-box thinker who’s considerate for the environment by choosing the #ColdShowerChallenge instead of #IceBucketChallenge

Most importantly, you still get to donate to ALS!