SAN FRANCISCO CREATIVE COMMUNITY COMES TOGETHER TO
‘DROP-A-BRICK’
IN CALIFORNIA WATER CONSERVATION MOVEMENT
Rising Sun Energy Center Brings the Time-Honored
Tradition Of Dropping A Brick In The Toilet Tank to
California Toilet Flushers Statewide
SAN FRANCISCO, CA, (NOVEMBER 24, 2014) – With California in a water crisis, two San Francisco Bay Area non-profits have teamed up in a unique initiative to save California communities water. Rising Sun Energy Center, a leading green workforce development organization, and Project: Drop-A-Brick, a public service initiative providing water-saving devices to the public, will now be dropping bricks in toilets across California to save millions of gallons of water a year.
These are not regular bricks, mind you. The Drop-A-Brick product is a Silicon Valley take on the long-standing conservation tradition of placing a brick in the toilet tank to displace, and in turn, save water. Unlike a real brick, the Drop-A-Brick is an ecologically-designed and green-friendly brick that is light to ship, safe to use (it doesn’t destroy toilets like standard clay bricks) and consistently saves half a gallon on every flush.
The partnership will see Drop-A-Bricks being donated to Rising Sun Energy Center to install in California homes through its youth employment program, California Youth Energy Services (CYES). As part of a youth development and green jobs training program, CYES offers no-cost in-home energy and water education and hardware installation to homeowners and renters alike through its Green House Call service.
This comes at a time when California is desperate to save water in every way possible. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, toilets are the home’s biggest water waster, consuming 30% of water usage. The average toilet flush in California is a little more than one gallon over the Federal standard, meaning that California alone is needlessly wasting 106 million gallons of water daily. The Drop-A-Brick device is a simple, low-tech solution to a serious problem.
“Communities in Europe and Australia are provided similar water-saving devices by their local governments because it’s such a no-brainer – we waste more drinking water by flushing toilets than we do showering,” says Drop-A-Brick co-founder Gregory Hadden. “We believe that California residents also deserve a simple and inexpensive way to conserve water that doesn’t force people to replace their toilets – a major expense for many. Our partnership with Rising Sun makes it possible for Bay Area residents to start saving gallons of water every day, while saving money on their water bills.”
The relationship between the two organizations will extend beyond simple distribution of the Drop-A-Brick. Rising Sun’s adult training and employment program, Green Energy Training Services (GETS), which provides intensive job skills training to low-income adults with barriers to employment, is exploring opportunities to deepen the partnership by offering job training focused on the green production of rubbers and plastics, and connecting graduates with potential employment opportunities with an industry leading green manufacturing company, Level 2 Productions.
“As the water crisis in California continues to grow, we are looking to deepen our impact at both individual household and city-wide levels. Drop-A-Brick represents a fantastic opportunity for water savings through simple education and the installation of a water saving device,” says Jodi Pincus, Rising Sun’s Executive Director. “We believe that by partnering with Project: Drop-A-Brick, Rising Sun will be able to further its mission to empower individuals to achieve environmental and economic sustainability for themselves and their communities.”
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About Rising Sun Energy Center
Rising Sun Energy Center is a 501c3 non-profit organization headquartered in Berkeley, California, operating throughout California, in Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Joaquin, Solano, and Sonoma counties. Rising Sun is a workforce development organization focusing on training, employment, and green career pathways for both youth and adults. Rising Sun Energy Center’s mission is to empower individuals to achieve environmental and economic sustainability for themselves and their communities. For information regarding Rising Sun Energy Center, please visit our website at http://risingsunopp.org.
About Project Drop-A-Brick
The Drop-A-Brick movement is the brainchild of a multi-agency collaboration between Tube Media International, Level2 Industries, barrettSF, and Pre-Future, four shops representing San Francisco’s advertising, manufacturing, and production industries. The movement is being self-funded through an Indiegogo program, with the goal of saving millions of gallons of water and to help those worst hit by the drought. Through Indiegogo, the bricks are being sold at cost and sponsors can donate bricks to communities devastated by the drought. [https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/drop-a-brick-in-your-toilet]. So far, press has called it “the cleverest crowdfunding campaign in history.”
