Can you believe it, World Tap Water Week is upon us again? Probably not since we just made it up. Yup, we’ve invented a new tradition called World Tap Water Week because it’s high time the world celebrated humble, tasty tap for the everyday hero it is.
Of course every hero needs a villain to battle, and in the case of Tap it’s the arch criminal Mineral. Breaking the cardinal blog rule of never mixing fairytale with superhero genres (actually we just made that up too), it’s like the emperor’s new clothes. Mineral water does untold environmental damage, tastes exactly like tap water and costs 1000 times as much. And yet people across the world fall for the mineral water myth and think they’re buying something crucial to their health or self-esteem when they’re not. Someone’s gotta tell ‘em the emperor’s got nothing on!
In fact, in a global media exclusive, Green Thing can finally reveal the secret recipe for all bottled mineral water. Take two hydrogen atoms, mix in one of oxygen…err, and that’s it. There’s no other way to do it – no special blend of herbs and spices, no way you can taste the difference. Because…. it’s water. Which is why paying to drink water that’s transported around the world in little plastic bottles is crazier than a basket of buttered balloons.
So to kick off the world’s first ancient ritual of World Tap Water Week we’ve distilled the world’s most brilliantly refreshing tap campaigns, products and ideas to delight and inspire you. Divided into seven taptastic themes (Green Thing likes magic 7’s), we will this week present the best, the worst, the silliest, the strangest and the downright amazing things about the wonderful world of tap. Look for the following this week:
Top 7 Campaigns: Brilliant minds working on brilliant comms, all for the love of tap.
Top 7 Product Designs: Splash yourself all over with watery innovation.
Top 7 Shocking Tap Facts: Did you know that Will Smith demands to be showered in Evian before a photo shoot? True story. Allegedly.
Top 7 Criminal Mineral Ads: Lies, damned lies and bottled water advertising.
Top 7 Films: A collection of the best films about bottled vs. tap.
Top 7 Infographics: Because a picture’s worth a thousand words.
Top 7 Ingenious Ideas: Oh how we wish we’d thought of these ourselves.
Anyway, now it’s official. From now on, World Tap Water Week happens every year in the third week of August. At least on planet Green Thing it does. And now, ladies and gentlemen. It’s time. Time for tap…
Katherine Hui is currently the Social site editor at Green Thing, a web-based public service in London that inspires people to lead greener lives through creative content.
Before this, she worked as the Development Manager at Social Innovation Camp, an organization that encourages people to use web and mobile-based technology to mobilise social change. She oversaw 300 ideas submission and helped build 20 prototypes – five of which have gone on to get further funding or investment.
Katherine’s came over to the UK form Canada in 2007 for an MSc program at the London School of Economics. Before arriving in London, she managed a small environmental start-up in Vancouver called the Canadian Climate Change Alliance.
Katherine is football mad. She is a loyal supporter of Arsenal FC, plays for Islington Borough Ladies FC and coaches for Gunners in Islington in her spare time. Her second favourite hobby is kite surfing and she can sometimes be found chasing the wind.
