The DROP Campaign

[Zach]

Find out more at www.youthnoise.com/drop

The Goal of DROP is to amplify the voices of young people in raising awareness of our water crisis, build a strong coalition based movement, and find unique and innovative solutions to fixing it"

From the East Village to East Africa, there is one issue that clearly transcends these disparate communities: the crucial need for clean water. Whether it is access to water for villagers in Tanzania, declining reserves across the United States or industrial pollution in China, the future of this indispensable resource is anything but secure.

The world is now facing what many respected experts agree is an impending global water crisis. On a planet with vast oceans, plentiful lakes, running streams, and tap water that apparently flows without end (at least in the developed world), one might ask – what water crisis?

But did you know:

•Over 1.1 billion (yes billion) people live without clean water and that 2.6 billion live without adequate sanitation?

•Almost 70% of states in America anticipate water shortages by 2013 (just 5 years from now).

• Half of U.S. groundwater is already contaminated by pesticides and 20% of America’s water supply is lost to leakage (America’s water infrastructure is deteriorating – experts estimate it will require $1 trillion [yes TRILLION] to bring America’s water supply system up to date)


With this in mind, YouthNoise has developed DROP, a campaign focused on bringing creative young people together both on and offline to develop actions with local, national, and international impacts on the water crisis. DROP is a campaign that engages communities of young, passionate leaders in a nationwide program designed to increase awareness about the conservation and access issues related to water. These young leaders will work both on and offline to explore water issues within their local communities and beyond, while developing real-world projects that the DROP website will highlight, support, and amplify to a wider community.
But YouthNoise knows we can’t do it alone. We place an emphasis on building a strong coalition of partners and supporters that not only bring knowledge and passion to the topic of water, but have original ways for involvement and taking action. Our goal is to insert the creative minds of young people into the conversation around the global water crisis in a strong and empowering way.

Hosted and co-sponsored by the Communications, Design and Technology Department at Parsons, The New School for Design, we are launching DROP with a summit in New York City, where we will convene 75-100 young leaders and students from the local area to begin addressing the issues surrounding this essential resource. Highlighting existing youth-led water projects, while inviting participants to create their own projects, DROP will provide online tools and resources to help our summit participants amplify the reach of their projects.

So check out the DROP site, explore what others are doing in the world of water issues, and if you live in the NYC area apply to attend the summit and/or come to our evening fundraising event – which is sure to be an A-list destination for all sustainability-minded New Yorkers!