The ClimateHound Pack: FreeWater
Fighting the global challenge of climate change will demand bold innovation and radical rethinking in every aspect of modern life – and that’s why we were thrilled to welcome the game-changing FreeWater as a ClimateHound launch partner. Josh Cliffords, founder and CEO, is pioneering a new kind of entrepreneurship, putting people and the planet first.
“FreeWater is the world’s first free beverage company,” Josh says. “Our water is free because the packaging is ad space that pays for the water plus a 10 cent donation to build water wells for people in need. We will never use plastic bottles but recognize that aluminum and boxed water has an impact, too, and ClimateHound is helping us mitigate those emissions.”
FreeWater grew out of Josh’s experience as a humanitarian aid worker in Europe and his realization that the world still had a long way to go in ensuring safe and affordable drinking water for everyone. Back home in Austin, he pioneered a groundbreaking approach to raising support and awareness for this global need: By offering companies an opportunity to pay for promotion of their products and services on metal and paper packaging of water, he gives businesses a way to get their brand in front of consumers, he gives consumers access to free water at Austin’s many venues, events, and public spaces, and he gives funding to Well Aware, an organization that drills wells around the world for communities in need.
Minimizing environmental impact has been at the heart of FreeWater’s mission from the beginning.
Minimizing environmental impact has been at the heart of FreeWater’s mission from the beginning. Aluminum and paper packaging, while not perfect, are more sustainable than plastic bottles – and the company aims to eventually cultivate, manufacture, fill, distribute, and recycle all its beverages in 100% hemp cartons from the same location. Certifying as carbon neutral through ClimateHound has been an important step on that journey.
“As FreeWater rolls out crowdfunded vending machines around the Austin area, they will be supporting their local community with access to a vital part of daily life while generating the same outcome at a global scale through further water well construction,” says ClimateHound founder Palmer Fox. “We’re inspired by the way that FreeWater is reshaping its sector of the food and beverage industry, and pioneers like Josh and our other partners will help us to reshape the food and beverage industry as a whole.”