Did you know that in the Netherlands we use an average of 124 liters of water per day? We use it for showering, doing the laundry, drinking, flushing the toilet and cooking. Because the Netherlands has an unlimited supply of clean drinking water, it is important to take a moment to consider others who have little to no access to it. After all, this is the case for 780 billion people worldwide. Together with Made Blue, we set up a wonderful partnership: for every Retulp drinking bottle, 1,000 liters of clean drinking water is realized for someone else. We had a short conversation with Machiel van Dooren of Made Blue whose enthusiasm we would like to share.
Made Blue works with 4 major charities specializing in clean water (Amref, Red Cross, World Vision and Simavi) and operates in 4 African countries and 3 Asian countries. In Africa, they operate in the Ivory Coast, Senegal, Ethiopia and Kenya. In Asia they are active in Bangladesh, Indonesia and in the spring they will start up a project in Vietnam. Together with the 4 charities, Made Blue determines which existing projects they can support. They look closely at current projects, which have proven to be efficient and effective. These existing projects are scaled up and expanded with the aim of optimally increasing the return of an ongoing project. Primarily deeply focused on technological solutions to deliver clean drinking water, Made Blue can measure exactly how many liters of clean drinking water are realized, delivered and used.
Each project is carried out using local products, local artisans and is supervised by a supervisor from one of the charity organizations.
Not only is a village tap or pipeline optimized, but jobs are created and people are educated about the importance and maintenance of these facilities. Because Made Blue can measure all the numbers very specifically, they can say exactly how many liters of clean drinking water are created by 1 project and we can say very precisely how much clean drinking water is provided by buying a bottle from Retulp. In 2017, Retulp donated a whopping 12 million gallons of clean drinking water.
In talking with Machiel, he told us about one of his favorite success stories
'In the slums of Addid Ababa in Ethiopia, we have realized a water kiosk. This is a small building with a few water tap points, showers and sinks. We made a local entrepreneur responsible for the management of this water kiosk and by charging a 'user fee' of 1 shilling to people who want to use it, this entrepreneur could maintain the water kiosk and earn a salary. We have now established this first kiosk 3 years ago and now the local entrepreneur is opening a second water kiosk in another part of the same slum on his own initiative and without any outside financial help. This is real sustainability! Self-supporting, self-sustaining and ultimately being able to grow on your own.'
Made Blue is a young organization that wants to enthuse as many companies as possible to join in making the world a little better. So far, Made Blue has helped to realize 2.5 billion clean drinking water and, in the words of Machiel, 'we are far from finished!'
