Most of us take for granted the clean water that runs from our kitchen sink into our coffee pot as we brew our fresh fair trade and organic coffee each morning.

Rarely do we consider how lucky we are to have such a luxury – clean water flowing into our homes! While over 1.1 billion people – a sixth of the world’s population – do not have access to potable water, international conglomerates are bottling water from our nation’s fresh water sources and selling it in plastic bottles that will be left in the trash heaps of the earth for generations to come.

Access to clean fresh water is a fundamental human right. Water fulfills our most basic need to exist. Yet, millions of people each year die because they do not have a supply of fresh clean drinking water.

Women bear the largest burden as they must search out the closest source of water and carry it back to their homes – many times walking over 2 hours just to carry enough water for a family of 4. While mother’s toil to provide their families with water, young children are too frequently victims of the world water crisis - 1 child dies every ten seconds due to water-borne illness.

In our many travels to the origins of the worlds’ finest coffees, the breadth of the world water crisis has become very evident. Many coffee growers, although buoyed by the price they receive for their fair trade coffee, still do not have access to safe, clean drinking water. In recognition of the daily struggle for survival that many of the world’s 25 million coffee growers face, Higher Grounds Trading Co. has created the Water Carrier’s Blend.

With each purchase of the Water Carrier’s Blend, Higher Grounds will give $5.00 to support the construction of sustainable water systems in coffee-growing countries. Partnering with NGOs in coffee growing communities and here in Northern Michigan, Higher Grounds is helping to bring freshwater to those without.

Collaborating with CATAS (an international grassroots organization providing technical assistance and the construction of appropriate technology water projects in Chiapas, Mexico) and volunteering on the steering committee of the Chiapas Water Project, we are working to create direct links and financial resources to combat the global water crisis while supporting the struggle for indigenous autonomy and human rights in Chiapas, Mexico.

Click here to purchase the Water Carrier’s Blend now.