NIKA Water Company
NIKA Water Company is a San Diego-based bottled water company that produces a premium bottled water but donates 100% of its profits to support clean water and sanitation projects in the developing world. NIKA was started by San Diego residents Jeff Church and Mike Stone after Church visited Kenya with his family in 2007. After seeing the impacts of the global clean water crisis first hand, Church also saw how relatively simple the solution was. “When we got to Kenya, our children just resonated. We were inspired by how much a dollar of donation can do to improve lives. For $20, you can basically bring clean water to someone for the rest of their life.”
NIKA Water Company has already committed over $300,000 to finance projects in Kenya, Uganda, Sri Lanka and Nicaragua. NIKA Water Company works primarily with non-governmental organizations such as Free the Children and Project Concern International to implement its poverty alleviation programs.
NIKA Water Company currently offsets 100% of its carbon emission by supporting a reforestation carbon offsetting project in Nicaragua and has been certified as CarbonFree® by Carbonfund.org. In addition, NIKA is currently switching its product line to 100% recycled PET plastic from virgin PET.
NIKA Water Company is actively involved in the Southern California community, typically at street fairs, farmers markets and in store demo's in natural foods outlets such as Whole Foods Market, Henry's Farmers Market and Jimbo's Naturally. NIKA Water Company has also created a "Campus Rep Program" where students at schools throughout the country can contact NIKA to implement their own on campus program to support NIKA and create awareness about the global water crisis.
Social Business
NIKA is a new type of company that is commonly referred to as a “social business” or “social enterprise”. These types of businesses are organized with a purpose beyond simply generating profits. Their objectives are oftentimes referred to as triple bottom line: social, environmental and financial. These businesses are oftentimes led by a social entrepreneur who recognizes a social problem and uses entrepreneurial principles to organize, create, and manage a venture to make social change. The most commonly known social business is Newman's Own. In NIKA's case, the company donates 100% of its profits to help bring clean water to those in need. Instead of having to raise funds to build wells or other water related project, consumers can purchase NIKA bottled water and the profits will go directly to alleviating the effects of the global water crisis. This CREATES philanthropic sustainability simply by making a different consumer purchase.
The Water Crisis
The world water crisis is a term used by the United Nations and other world organizations to describe the global scarcity of clean water. The UN estimates that about 1 billion people lack access to clean water and another 2.6 billion lack access to safe sanitation, causing many negative societal impacts, including waterborne diseases, gender inequality, educational deficits and economic disadvantage. Together, such effects perpetuate the cycle of poverty, as women and children are forced to walk several miles each day to collect often polluted water, hindering education and income generation. Inadequate access to clean water also causes millions of deaths annually, primarily among young children. The majority of these deaths result from preventable diseases such as diarrhea, compromising a community's overall health and productivity.