We are Homies For Hydration, a social enterprise born on Reddit that sells products to fight water scarcity around the world. AUA!

What do you think about nestle?

We'd rather not think about nestle.

I like my water really cold. Are you guys working on that?

Our bottles will be made out of insulated stainless steel. They should keep your water cold and crispy

How do I make my spouse a hydro homie?

Have you heard about our lord and saviour Water?

Or tell her about Kidney stones.

Tell her how the surgery goes.

Tell her how uncomfortable she'll be for four to Six weeks depending on the number of surgeries required and when the Stent gets off.

(My stent will be taken off tommorow, I went through 3 surgeries, 1st the Shockwave which ain't that bad, second a Stent Implant so my tract can get broader and third where they Took off the stone finally)

Very happy for you!

Can you talk more about creating a non profit? How do you select your charities? Also where, and how can we contribute?

Our project started in the r/hydrohomies community and so we wanted them to be as involved as possible - they helped choose a name, a design and a cause to support. We got a few suggestions of charities to donate to, and after doing some research, the community voted for WaterAid. If you'd like to donate to the charity directly, you can do so here, they really do great work and we're proud to be supporting them.

As for helping us out, aside from heading over to homiesforhydration.com, you can spread the word and follow us on social media (twitter, facebook, insta) or even on our discord, which is a great place to hang out, get updates and send in suggestions!

Thanks! I really love the designs you and the community do a Great job.

As a person who has helped a number of charities and non profits over the years this resonates with me a lot

we're not a registered nonprofit, firstly because it is a process that also takes more time than we wanted to wait to get this started

It’s a bit easier in the US but still hard. One thing I would recommend is a public ledger since this is not really a mandate until you fully register as a non profit, it can be hard to “trust” with so many scam charities. Anything you can do to show you’re above and beyond, will go a long way to earn trust.

Thanks! For sure, transparency is a key question for us, and we'll definitely be working towards that, e.g. by making our financial accounts publicly accessible.

Having the company itself with its articles of incorporation and charitable objects was one thing we wanted to have to hopefully help demonstrate we're serious about this.

Awesome:

Now tell me about this bottle! Why is it ideal for hydration and what features will it have!

This bottle is made of insulated stainless steel. You can drink from it, and it keeps your cold drinks cold and your hot drinks hot! It can also carry a wide range of liquid, from very cold water to hot water, including lukewarm! It also has a friendly octopus to remind you to hydrate!

Why sell merchandise instead of just soliciting donations?

Because it's a good way to raise awareness and encourage people to find out more.

Many people are already interested in buying merchandise, so it makes sense to sell it and donate the profits! Our recent success shows that our idea seems to work.

How do you feel about r/waterniggas being banned?

It's safe to say that we enjoy the current community and its name r/HydroHomies. I personally didn't know about the subreddit before it "changed" its name.

How is the water situation in 3rd world countries?

Is there a possibility to resolve any issues minus government 'help'?

So bad there's a pretty lengthy wikipedia article about it.

Considering the scale of this problem, it's going to take a very united effort from individuals, communities, NGOs, and yes, governments. Specific regions obviously face unique challenges, but this is very soon going to turn into a global issue, and so we'll all need to play a part.

I like luke warm water. Am I weird ?

Yes. But as long as you're hydrated...

If you're dehydrated it's best to drink water closer to room temperature, since you're body doesn't have to work as hard to get it to body temp.

Or at least that's what a 19 year old corpsman told me during a long run.

Ah yes, the eternal debate, which is better: better hydration or better taste? We will sadly never have the answer...

Say I bought a $35 CAD t-shirt from you, how much of that $35 goes to you and how much to the charity? I noticed the website says all profits and not the terrible "part of all proceeds" which often equates to mere pennies on the dollar.

That's a great question. This is pretty ballpark and based on a tentative budget we'd put together but we're looking at something like 65% net profit (so including core costs and cost of production/shipping) which will then be donated - so around $22? The actual figure does depend on a variety of factors (like which products are most popular) so it's slightly tough to say right now!

Having said that, we're not taking a salary from this, so nothing is going to us personally.

Having said that, we‘re not taking a salary from this, so nothing is going to us personally.

What is the incentive for you then?

It may seem naive but helping out others ?

Is it possible to volunteer for you guys?

We're just starting up and already have a nice core team, but could definitely use more help! If you wish to participate in the project, you can join the discord server and help us by sharing designs, ideas etc...

Do you do anything with water filters and/or funding to fix plumbing etc to avoid the excessive plastic waste from water bottles?

We don't sell water filters, and the charity WaterAid we support right now mainly focuses on problems like providing clean water. In the future, we might consider also supporting other charities that focus on other problems, like excessive plastic waste

When do you expect to ship the water bottles?

As soon as possible! We're about to start production and so it depends on how quickly the manufacturer can turn this around, but we're hoping to be able to get our first shipment out towards the end of the month. It's definitely a matter of weeks rather than months!

Have you considered using sustainable material for your merch? Things like organic cotton and recycled polyester cut down on tons of wasted water and pollution.

We strive to make sure things are produced in an ethical and environmentally friendly way. As we've started up, we've gone with a few suppliers like Contrado and Bella&Canvas who have focused on this, but I do believe we can do more, and so will regularly review our supply chain to make sure it remains as good for people and the environment as possible.

How do you select which charities to support?

The first charity was picked by the community on our discord, but we are constantly looking for new charities to support that could enable us to have a bigger impact, so if you have any suggestions, the discord is where it's at!

Is Justin Wren's charity on your list?

We're gonna look into it

What innovations in the water scarcity space do you feel could potentially change the way in which people access clean and safe drinking water?

Someone else in the thread mentioned salt, and actually I think that's an interesting area. Considering saltwater is 97% of the world's water, if we can turn some of that into drinking water in a cost effective manner, that could really make a difference. The challenge so far has been in terms of cost and how much energy is required in the process, but there's been some recent developments which hopefully will lead to having a more affordable method for desalination.

What are your thoughts on the Resnicks, and how they've created a monopoly on water?

Don't know too much about the Resnicks, to be honest! But from what I can tell, he's not the only one with a huge influence on water...

For us, water is a basic human need and having access to it is a fundamental human right. The idea of someone or some corporate entity just owning this resource is just... inconceivable.

Would you ever consider raising and using money to drill boreholes in rural villages in different countries that are in need of clean water? I know this wouldn't be through a charity and that would take a bit of planning, background checks, etc. So not sure your thoughts!

Maybe! Once we've raised some more funds and the organisation has grown a bit we'll do some research to try to figure out what's the most impactful way for us to use our cash - we're confident there's great organisations out there already, but maybe it'll turn out that we can be more effective by doing the job ourselves!

I get that! I did some work in a sub saharan African country and the village I worked with constantly tried getting help through NGOs and the govt but that was often hard for some strange reason. Drilling companies exist so it seemed like if the money would have just been there it would have been a much easier process to get the boreholes. If you ever go that route hit me up!

Will do!

Ensuring access to clean drinking water often goes hand to hand with safe sanitation and hygiene, especially for women. What should organisations do so that these interrelated goals are met?

That's an excellent question and I'll point to what WaterAid have said on the subject on their website. I think it comes down to working very closely with a local community, understanding its culture and local challenges and working with that community to find the solutons that work best for it.

Is it possible to join you guys? Make other make people drink water sounds like a good life purpose.

You can help out on our discord by offering ideas, designs, participating in seasonal events and just generally hanging out!

We don't have a water scarcity problem. We have a salt problem. Do you intend to do any work in the desalination industry? Because sorry to say but selling one use water bottles is just a bandaid especially considering how polluted our world is by plastic.

Our bottles will be stainless steel and therefore reusable ;-)

For the moment, our donations are going to WaterAid which work around water related problems in many ways, which you can find on their website. We're looking towards helping out plenty of charities, and every suggestion is welcome on our discord. But we're definitely interested in doing more research and trying to find out how we can have the biggest impact possible!

What’s your favorite water?

Straight from our reusable water bottle!

Alright Homies, thank you for all your questions, it's been fun!

If you're interested in future updates or have any more questions, you can follow us on our socials (twitter, facebook, insta) or hang on our discord.

And of course, stay hydrated!

Did you ever think r/HydroHomies would make a difference in the world?

(note: I'm pleasantly surprised)

At least for me (H20P), never before two months ago!

Haven't you done this already?

An AMA? No, but u/donolivo has made a post on r/hydrohomies about us that hit the front page, so that might be what you're thinking about.

As you have said, all proceeds go directly towards charities, however what are your plans for marketing, the more people know about it, more proceeds go to helping people out. What are your plans for spreading the message?

Good question! Our immediate plan is to focus on building up a community and growing organically on social media, especially on Reddit. We’ll see how far that takes us!

Two questions; one, when do you think your bottles will come out? I might order one. Second, what things can I do to help? I know you said in another comment, we can join the discord and share ideas and designs, but what specifically do you need as of now?

We're about to start production on the bottles and so it depends on how quickly the manufacturer can turn this around. It's definitely a matter of weeks rather than months!

As for help, the team we've got has a good range of skills, and really, following us on social media or joining the discord are great ways to help. If you want to be more involved though, send over a DM and let's have a chat!

Doesn't homie have a negative connotation associated with people of color in inner cities? Why would you call it that? It sounds racist. Friends sound more inclusive and relevant.

We associate ourselves as part of the community r/HydroHomies, so it made sense for us to call ourselves Homies for Hydration. We definitely have no intention of being racist! To us, the word "Homie" rather has positive and friendly connotation.