Matt Damon did the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge – with toilet water. Gross right? What would compel a person to do such a thing?

Well, in fact, Mr. Damon’s reason was pretty sound.

For those unaware, aside from being a mega movie star and BFFL to Ben Affleck and George Clooney, Matt Damon is one of the most recognizable advocates for global sanitation and access to clean water, and has co-founded an awesome organization focused on addressing this crisis- water.org.

Matt Damon, rightly noted that Western toilet water is often cleaner than drinking water in many parts of the world. He used the platform of the Ice Bucket Challenge to shed light on the fact that an estimated 748 million people around the globe don’t have access to clean drinking water and that 2.5 billion people are living without proper sanitation.

His message is extremely important and here’s a tangible way you can get involved! Visit the Toilets Before Templeswebsite and support India's Prime Minister Modi's initiative to install a toilet in every Indian household by 2019. The plan calls to strengthen India's ability to improve access to clean water and sanitation to the 600 million Indians who lack access to sanitation.

Thanks Matt for taking this opportunity to raise awareness about something so many of us take for granted.

To read more about Toilets Before Temples click here.

----

Natalie Prolman

Side note: Matt Damon we love you, but please turn your phone.