#InspyreChange - Clean Water Initiative
Pregis-Uzima Partnership
Some Pregis team members were independently going to Africa each year to help fight water insecurity. They saw first-hand the conditions that people are living in and were humbled to see how clean water, something we take for granted each day, can impact a community. The rest of the team at Pregis LLC was inspired by their story and we put together a plan to help. We’re partnering with Uzima, a non-profit that supplies life-changing water filters to communities that lack access to clean water. In 2018 Pregis LLC is donating a portion of US sales of our water-blue AirSpeed HC Inspyre packaging to Uzima with a goal of changing 50,000 lives with Uzima water filters.
About Uzima
Uzima means “full of life” in Swahili. It's a fitting name as Uzima Clean Water Mission is a non-profit organization that helps provide access to clean water to communities across the world with a water filtration system. By using Uzima's filters in conjunction with a two-bucket system people are able to collect contaminated water and turn it into clean, potable water. Uzima filters are currently in use in five continents and have made a significant impact by reducing or eliminating water-borne diseases, infant/elderly mortality rates and improving the overall wellness in those communities. When maintained properly, the filters have a 10 year life span and can have a positive impact on an entire generation!
Global Water Insecurities
Water insecurities impact 1 in 9 people across the world. It’s not the next big global crisis, we’re already there. The most important impact is health, water-borne disease is the world’s leading killer. But there are ongoing effects that aren’t always as visible – time, education, women’s empowerment and being trapped in a cycle of poverty are also tied to lack of fresh water. For example, in Africa alone women spend 40 Billion hours a year walking for water. Time that could have been spent on their education, working or building a business to support their family. And children lose 443 Million days of school a year due to water related illness. Access to clean water can be life changing to these people. Time spent gathering water can be spent on education, empowerment and making a better life for their families.
