Dear fellow Earthlings,
Happy Earth Day!
The entire LARQ team would like to thank you for keeping up with our journey from the very beginning when LARQ and the “self-cleaning bottle” was just an idea in Justin’s head. We continue to work long and hard to develop amazing products that the world is just beginning to catch wind of. With that success comes our continued support and effort to reduce our carbon footprint for a better tomorrow.Â
We understand that there is not only an opportunity here, but a need to make strides to improve our impact whether that’s from giving back to nonprofit organizations that supply clean water for communities in need or eliminating plastic from our lives and from our oceans. We’ve only got one planet — we need to work harder to save it.Â
Since founding LARQ in 2018, our mission is to create stunning yet innovative products that help people access clean water easily and sustainably. It’s 2021 and no one should be reaching for single-use bottled water yet 1,000,000 plastic water bottles are purchased per minute — and we wonder why climate change is getting worse.
“Pure water from a self-cleaning bottle” is not just a catchy tagline for our self-cleaning LARQ Bottle — it means that there is a better way to get clean water without the need to grab bottled water whenever it seems convenient. It means that every time you need water in the backcountry, it’s at your fingertips. It means that every time you travel, you don’t have to worry about what’s lurking in the water. It means that you don’t experience that funky water bottle smell when you haven’t washed it in more than a day. And it means that no matter where you are, public spigots and fountains suddenly become less intimidating to refill from, especially in this day and age. This the essence of why we do what we do — so that people like YOU can access clean water easily and never have to reach for single-use plastic ever again.
You can say we’re on a mission to eliminate single-use plastic, but the work doesn’t end after you take a sip from that LARQ Bottle. Behind the scenes, our outstanding team is working to raise awareness on ways to work towards more sustainable practices and help our fellow human beings access clean water anytime, anywhere.
The work continues.
Our impact so far
As we’ve grown, we’ve never lost sight of our philanthropic values. LARQ is a proud member of 1% for the Planet, a network of business and nonprofit organizations that seek to give back and protect our planet by a number of means. Through 1% for the Planet, we’ve been able to support various environmental and social causes that we are passionate about including bringing water to communities in need, stepping in to help in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and even reducing ocean-bound plastic pollution.
Since being founded in 2018, we hit the ground running.
- In the beginning of COVID-19 pandemic, PPE had run out and we decided to step in to help. We partnered with Direct Relief to provide emergency response aid and PPE to first responders and healthcare professionals.
- We also brought lasting clean water to more than 3,000 people in East Africa with the help of Well Aware, to-date. Well Aware builds wells in East Africa that provide clean water. Their work has helped improve education rates and reduce waterborne disease rates.
- In partnership with 501CTHREE and our official ambassador, Draymond Green, we brought lasting clean water to Draymond’s hometown of more than 2,000 people in Flint, MI, USA.
- With the help of our fans and partners, we have reduced plastic waste by 3.3 million lbs, reduced our carbon footprint by 7.8 Million lbs.
- Our partnership with Plastic Bank helped intercept a whopping 1 million ocean-bound single-use plastic water bottles and provided a living wage to families in developing countries like Haiti, the Philippines, and Indonesia.
- Supported the NABU “Seas Without Plastic” project, working with fishing vessels to reduce marine litter in European waters.
And in 2021, we’re happy to announce that we’ve partnered with CarbonFund to introduce global carbon neutral shipping and returns! We may not be perfect, but we are taking steps in the right direction, and we intend to continue these strides as we grow. Our commitment is to you and our planet.Â
Taking global shipping carbon neutral, equal to carbon absorbed by:
- One thousand acres of forest over one year
- 248 tree seedlings grown over 10 years
That’s a whole lotta green.Â
With CarbonFund, we’re able to offset carbon emissions through various projects such as reforestation, energy efficiency, and investing in more renewable energy.
There is no Planet B. (No matter what Elon tells you)
Sustainable habits, no matter how big or seemingly small can make a major impact. The key is that we do it together to make for a healthier Earth for our future. We only have one planet. Let’s not continue to destroy it.Â