Jaden Smith’s Clean Drip
Flint, Michigan has been without safe water for 5 years. Contaminated water has been running through the rusted pipes of homes, schools and hospitals. Multiple charity campaigns have been ran to distribute bottled water to the locals. Along with that, the state of Michigan began providing the city with free cases of water in 2016. It has been estimated that upwards of 10 million bottles have been donated to Flint since the beginning of their crisis. These charitable reliefs have helped the city dredge through tough times.
Although the water bottles have made a huge difference, they were only a transient solution to the bigger issue. Michigan stopped funding water deliveries to the city around spring of 2018. They made the decision to close their distribution centers after tests results showed lead levels in the water falling below federal guidelines. This would be great news for locals of Flint but, for good reason, they are guarded with skepticism. With mass media coverage dwindling, it seems as though the city has been left as yesterday’s news. Luckily, Jaden Smith hasn’t forgotten a thing.
Like many, what occurred in Flint struck a cord with Jaden. He made Flint’s water his top priority. In 2018, both him and his father donated a total of 5 million bottles. As of late, charity supplies are declining at a noticeable rate. So the young mogul came up with a more permanent fix to keep the city afloat. Jaden released a video on his instagram of a light blue machine sitting on a street corner. That machine is called The Water Box, an automatic filtration system that can clean 10 gallons of water in 1 minute. The purity of the water is tested weekly and can be publicly referenced online.
For now there is just one Water Box in commission, but Smith ensures this is only the beginning.
Although the water bottles have made a huge difference, they were only a transient solution to the bigger issue. Michigan stopped funding water deliveries to the city around spring of 2018. They made the decision to close their distribution centers after tests results showed lead levels in the water falling below federal guidelines. This would be great news for locals of Flint but, for good reason, they are guarded with skepticism. With mass media coverage dwindling, it seems as though the city has been left as yesterday’s news. Luckily, Jaden Smith hasn’t forgotten a thing.
Like many, what occurred in Flint struck a cord with Jaden. He made Flint’s water his top priority. In 2018, both him and his father donated a total of 5 million bottles. As of late, charity supplies are declining at a noticeable rate. So the young mogul came up with a more permanent fix to keep the city afloat. Jaden released a video on his instagram of a light blue machine sitting on a street corner. That machine is called The Water Box, an automatic filtration system that can clean 10 gallons of water in 1 minute. The purity of the water is tested weekly and can be publicly referenced online.
For now there is just one Water Box in commission, but Smith ensures this is only the beginning.
“Working together with people in the community, experiencing the problems and designing something to help them has been a journey I will never forget. We are planning to deploy more Water Boxes in Flint and other communities facing similar challenges.”This is a monumental step foward in finding long term solutions for the city. A million thank you’s are owed to Jaden Smith for having the compassion and ambission to seriously better the lives for the people of Flint.
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