ROCHESTER, NY (September 29, 2022) — The Nalgene Water Fund (NWF) today announces a new design within the “Tó éí iiná” (Water is Life) limited-edition series created by Diné designer Jaden Redhair.  Five dollars of every bottle sale will continue to go toward supporting local nonprofits addressing the water crisis on the Navajo Nation. 

According to The Navajo Water Project, 30% of Navajo families live without running water. Incredibly, they are 67 times more likely than other Americans to live without running water or a toilet. Nalgene Outdoor partnered with Redhair in 2020 to create the first artist-designed, limited-edition bottle for the NWF. After record sales and multiple rounds of reprints, the NWF has donated nearly $80,000, to date, to two nonprofit partners on the Navajo Nation that work to make safe drinking water more accessible, DigDeep and Community Outreach and Patient Empowerment (COPE).

“I’m so pleased that my passion for design can educate so many people outside of the Navajo Nation about the essential role of water in our culture and continue to help raise funds toward improving access to clean water for our people,” says Redhair, age 22, an accomplished Navajo artist and recent Stanford University graduate, born for the Jemez Clan. 

The new limited-edition “Tó éí iiná” (Water is Life) bottle is available exclusively at Nalgene.com and retails for $20. The 32-ounce Sustain bottle is made from Eastman’s Tritan Renew material derived from 50% recycled plastic. Like all Nalgene bottles, it is leakproof, dishwasher-safe and ready for all of life’s everyday adventures.

“We’re thankful to have partners like Jaden Redhair who can create amazing designs and DigDeep and COPE who can immediately put the money into the Navajo community creating jobs, installing water systems, and benefiting the Navajo people,” says Elissa McGee, general manager, Nalgene Outdoor.

The NWF supports domestic communities struggling with access to clean water by partnering with grassroots nonprofits to raise funds and awareness. As Nalgene Outdoor proudly makes its products in the USA, the fund aims to support local communities. NWF donations are not just monetary, but also in-kind support with a focus on benefiting the community and infrastructure for future success. Nalgene Outdoor created the reusable water bottle category over 50 years ago with a simple idea that we can refill drinking water in reusable containers to help the environment. Yet, clean water for all is critical to this mission.  

Since its inception in late 2019, the NWF, with the support of Thermo Fisher Scientific, has contributed more than $650,000 in financial and in-kind donations to programs in Navajo Nation, Benton Harbor, MI and most notably to helping establish the Flint Community Water Lab in Flint, MI, a unique water quality testing program.

DigDeep

DigDeep is a national nonprofit organization working to ensure every American has access to running water and sanitation inside their homes. Thus far, the Nalgene Water Fund has supported DigDeep’s Navajo Water Project , a community-managed utility alternative that brings hot and cold running water to homes on the reservation that are not connected to piped water or sewer lines. The $47,500 donated to date supports DigDeep’s work to install running water inside homes on the Navajo Nation (which spans the corners of Utah, New Mexico and Arizona) and have also helped to fund water truck deliveries, truck maintenance, and staff training, including CDL training that is offered to Navajo technicians wishing to become licensed water truck delivery drivers. DigDeep’s Navajo Water Project is Indigenous-led and locally staffed.

COPE 

Community Outreach and Patient Empowerment (COPE) is a non-profit organization working to address health disparities in Navajo Nation through community-based outreach and food security initiatives. During the height of COVID-19 in 2020 and 2021, the NWF donated nearly $30,000 in critical funding and supplies to help install water refill stations and provide carboys (large vessels) to transport water from source to residence in one container. Recently, the NWF donated an additional $3,000 and 100 30-ml Nalgene sampling bottles to help fund a new pilot COPE program. The “Student Citizen Water Project” empowers six students to collect water samples in Nalgene water bottles in some of Navajo Nation’s most marginalized areas. Data from these results are currently being analyzed to prioritize the placement of the filtered water refill stations donated by the NWF. 

This student-centered approach models The Flint Community Lab, also a recipient of NWF support, and a first-of-its-kind, community-based water testing facility in Flint, Michigan. A novel concept — for the community, by the community — the Lab relies on high school students to collect water samples. A multi-generational approach, this concept builds trust in the process where younger members work side-by-side with elders to help assess water safety. The Flint Community Lab who has generously offered to test the water for COPE using their state-of-the art testing equipment.

You have several younger siblings. What is your hope for them as they continue to grow up on Navajo Nation?
I hope that my siblings strive for their goals and contribute to help the Navajo Nation thrive. They each have their own path and wherever that may lead them, I’ll be there to support them.

You’re an amazing young man! What is your hope for the future?
I hope that through my efforts as a designer and engineer, I inspire more native youth to make it a mission to help their communities in any way they can. We need to take care of our nation so that future generations will persevere and thrive in an ever changing world. Our culture is what holds us together and positive change will have everlasting effects for years to come.

The NWF supports domestic communities struggling with access to clean water by partnering with grassroots nonprofits to raise funds and awareness. As Nalgene Outdoor proudly makes its products in the USA, the fund aims to support local communities. NWF donations are not just monetary, but also in-kind with a focus on benefiting the community and infrastructure for future success. Nalgene Outdoor created the reusable water bottle category over 50 years ago with a simple idea that we can refill drinking water in reusable containers to help the environment. Yet, clean water for all is critical to this mission.

In late 2020, Nalgene Outdoor partnered with Diné designer Jaden Redhair to create a limited-edition “Tó éí iiná” (Water is Life) bottle, from which $5 of every sale was committed to raise money for solutions to help resolve the water crisis across the Navajo Nation. After record sales and multiple rounds of reprints, the Nalgene Water Fund is pleased to announce that it will donate an additional $36,000 between two nonprofit partners on the Navajo Nation, DigDeep and Community Outreach and Patient Empowerment (COPE), bringing the growing total over two years to nearly $80,000 in support.

The majority of the most recent donation will aid DigDeep, a national nonprofit organization working to ensure every American has access to running water and sanitation inside their homes. $33,000 will go directly to DigDeep’s Navajo Water Project , a community-managed utility alternative that brings hot and cold running water to homes on the reservation that are not connected to piped water or sewer lines.  The donation is in addition to nearly $14,500 previously contributed by Nalgene Outdoor to DigDeep’s Navajo Water Project, and will help DigDeep achieve their goal of installing water systems in 200 homes across the Navajo Nation this year. 

Helping 200 Homes Get Running Water

On the Navajo Nation, DigDeep Home Water Systems bring clean, hot and cold running water to homes previously without water access.  First, the Navajo Water Project team installs a 1200-gallon water tank underground at each residence and connects it to basic plumbing inside the home. If the house is not connected to the power grid, the DigDeep team will also install a solar power unit that powers the water system, as well as lights and charging ports inside the home.

The 1200-gallon water tank is buried to prevent freezing and protects the water from contaminants. Inside, the system includes a sink, water heater, filter, expansion tank, pressure gauge, drain line, leach field and, optionally, solar power and lights.

The tanks are refilled by  DigDeep’s network of locally-managed water trucks that transport safe drinking water from EPA-approved water access points to the home.  Water deliveries are another initiative supported by Nalgene Outdoor donations.

Creating Critical Jobs

DigDeep’s Navajo Water Project is Indigenous-led and locally staffed. In addition to supporting Home Water Systems, Nalgene Water Fund donations have also helped to fund staff training, including CDL training that is offered to Navajo technicians wishing to become licensed as water truck delivery drivers, as well as water truck maintenance and deliveries.     

In addition to its support of DigDeep, Nalgene Outdoor’s latest donation will also include an additional $3,000 and 100 30-ml Nalgene sampling bottles to Community Outreach and Patient Empowerment (COPE), a non-profit organization working to address health disparities in Navajo Nation through community-based outreach and food security initiatives.

In 2020 and 2021, Nalgene donated nearly $30,000 in critical funding and supplies to COPE. to install water refill stations and provide carboys (large vessels) to transport water from source to residence in one container.  

Nalgene Outdoor’s most recent donation will help fund a new pilot COPE program,  “Student Citizen Water Project” that  will empower six students to collect water samples in Nalgene water bottles in some of Navajo Nation’s most marginalized areas. Data from these results will then prioritize placement of the filtered water refill stations donated by the Nalgene Water Fund.  

This student-centered approach models The Flint Community Lab, also a recipient of Nalgene Water Fund support, and a first of its kind, community-based water testing facility in Flint, Michigan. A unique concept — for the community, by the community — the Lab uses high school students to collect water samples. A multi-generational approach, this concept builds trust in the process where younger members work side-by-side with elders to help assess water safety.

The NWF is proud to connect COPE’s student testing program with The Flint Community Lab who has generously offered to test the water for COPE  using their  state-of-the art testing equipment.

World Water Day, held on March 22 every year since 1993, raises awareness for the 2.2 billion people worldwide living without access to safe water and advocates for the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 6: Sustainable access to safe water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) for all by 2030.

For many, the day focuses attention on the world’s most impoverished, underdeveloped nations. But would it surprise you to learn that nearly 2.2 million+ people living in America — the most developed nation on Earth – also lack daily access to clean water, running toilets, and plumbing that the rest of us take for granted?

We create signature Nalgene bottles – sometimes beautifully designed by local artists – to raise awareness and funds to help U.S. communities impacted by the growing domestic water gap. We also use the heft of our website, social media, paid and earned media to educate the masses and implore them not to take for granted the water that runs so easily from their tap. 

By the numbers, the U.S. water crisis is startling: 

• 1.4 million people in the United States and 250,000 people in Puerto Rico lack access to hot and cold running water, a sink, a shower/bath, or a flush toilet. An additional 553,000 homeless people lack equitable access to running water and sanitation in America.
• More than 44 million people in the USA are served by water systems that recently had health-based Safe Drinking Water Act violations.
• African-American and Latinx households are nearly twice as likely to lack complete plumbing than white households, and Native American households are 19 times more likely making race the strongest predictor of water and sanitation access in the United States.
• Lack of adequate water infrastructure is the root cause, not living off the grid and the problem extends across the whole USA.  Entire communities from California to Pennsylvania lack access to water and sanitation because of historical and geographical factors in the United States.

Source: Dig Deep’s and the U.S. Water Alliance’s 2019 report entitled “Closing the Water Access Gap in the United States” 

These statistics only scratch the surface on the full extent of the problem so the Nalgene Water Fund is also hard at work putting the dollars we raise through the sale of our Nalgene Water Fund bottles to work with local nonprofits fighting to right this wrong in US communities:

• Flint, Michigan: In 2020, through a partnership with Freshwater Future and Thermo-Fisher Scientific, the NWF donated more than $650,000 to the Flint Community Lab in state-of-the-art laboratory instruments, critical funding and reusable bottles used for both water sample collection and continued use at home.  In 2022, the NWF will send a second installment of 7,000 Nalgene bottles for collecting local water samples for testing.
• Navajo Nation: In 2021, the NWF partnered with Jaden Redhair, a local Navajo designer to create the “Water is Life” bottle, which to date has raised more than $45,000 toward efforts to improve access to clean water on the Navajo Nation in partnership with two Navajo nonprofits:  C.O.P.E and Dig Deep. In 2022, the NWF is working with Redhair on a second “Water is Life” bottle design whose funds will again benefit Dig Deep’s Navajo Water Project, ultimately aiding in better sanitation systems, job training, and employment opportunities.
• Benton Harbor, Michigan: In 2021, the NWF contributed more than $16,000 to install eight water refill stations that filter out lead in schools and also send nearly 3,000 Nalgene bottles to schools located in Benton Harbor, MI.  The NWF’s donation ensures that all students in grades K-12 have access to clean drinking water and bottles to drink it from. In 2022, water samples from all the fountains will be taken monthly and shipped to the Flint Community Lab for testing to determine filter maintenance and keep the refill stations working hard! 

This World Water Day, when much of the world is reflecting on water challenges overseas, the Nalgene Water Fund (NWF) will continue to focus its efforts on helping the more than two million Americans that lack access to running water, indoor plumbing, or wastewater services. 

Hard-hit domestic areas include Navajo Nation and Flint, MI, where contaminated water sources, infrastructure, affordability, and more threaten the basic right of clean water for all.  Inequities to clean water access are not isolated to just these known areas, however, as its increasingly a struggle across all parts of America. 

Water inequalities can impact anyone. Even you. So it is important that Americans realize and raise awareness for the nation’s growing water crisis. That is why the NWF strives to educate and raise the necessary funds for local nonprofits to tackle the water gap in their communities.  

How can you help?  Get educated and help Nalgene spread the word!

According to Dig Deep’s and the U.S. Water Alliance’s 2019 report entitled “Closing the Water Access Gap in the United States,” where you live, your race, and your income affects your access to clean water. Some important stats to note and share from this report include:

• More than 2 million Americans live without basic access to safe drinking water and sanitation. This number includes: 1.4 million people in the U.S., plus 250,000 residents in Puerto Rico, that lack access to indoor plumbing (hot and cold running water, a sink, shower or bath, or a flushing toilet); and 553,000 homeless people in the U.S.  who may lack equitable water and sanitation access.
• Race is the strongest predictor of water and sanitation access. Nationwide, Native American households are 19 times more likely than white households to lack access to complete plumbing, while African American and Latinx households are nearly twice as likely.
• Poverty is a key obstacle to water access. Lower-than-average household income makes up higher percentages of households lacking complete plumbing access, regardless of race. The same holds true with higher percentages of residents without high school diplomas. 
• This crisis is not about isolated individuals or households living “off the grid,” but instead about entire communities lacking access to clean water and safe sanitation.

From your home to Navajo Nation, you can help by purchasing Nalgene’s new Tó éí iiná” (Water is Life) bottle

Rochester, NY – The Navajo Nation, America’s largest indigenous tribe, has more than 300,000 residents – the vast majority of whom do not have running water in their homes. Some must travel over two hours to a grocery store or community center for access to water. On average, Navajo Nation residents use about seven gallons of water a day – that includes drinking, cooking, bathing, and other hygiene. For reference, the average person in the U.S. uses about 100 gallons of water per day! For most in Navajo Nation, water is precious and must be transported into the home from an outside water source.

The Navajo Nation (Diné) people have a core belief that “Tó éí iiná” (Water is Life); and that water is truly sacred to all living things. Nalgene Outdoor, the “original” reusable water bottle that has encouraged a refill-to-reduce lifestyle for 75 years, agrees! In 2019 Nalgene established The Nalgene Water Fund to help raise awareness that “access to clean water is a challenge that we face right here in the United States, right in our backyard. Not just in struggling nations abroad,” explains Elissa McGee, General Manager for Nalgene Outdoor.

The exclusive bottle is a way to involve Nalgene fans in a mission to support the Navajo Nation, expanding the Nalgene Water Fund’s greater commitment:

• The launch of the Nalgene Water Fund’s new Tó éí iiná” (Water is Life) bottle, from which $5 of every sale will benefit future solutions to combat the Navajo Nation water crisis. The new bottle, designed by Jaden Redhair, 20, member of the Jemez Clan and life-long Navajo Nation resident uniquely captures a striking landscape of Monument Valley framed within the map of the Navajo homeland.

“The design symbolizes the sacred role water plays in the Diné people’s lives,” says Redhair. “I hope it draws attention to my people’s plight. Right now, on Navajo Nation more than 300,000 people struggle daily because they do not have access to running water.”

“We hope that through the sale of the new Nalgene Water Fund bottle, we help to raise awareness and support for the Diné people and create a lasting, life-changing impact on their health and well-being,” adds McGee.

Every Nalgene bottle is BPA- and BPS-free, durable, leak-proof, dishwasher safe and made in America with its tried and true, one bottle and one cap simple design that has become iconic to Nalgene.