Over the last couple of weeks the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge has created a storm on social media, with thousands of people posting videos of themselves being soaked in ice water as a campaign to create awareness about the amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) disease. ALS is a type of motor neurone disease that causes motor neuron nerve cells to stop working, thus affecting a person’s ability to move. The Ice Bucket Challenge encourages people to drench themselves with a bucket of ice water, and then nominate other people to do the same, as well as donate to the ALS Association.
However, Matt Damon did his Ice Bucket Challenge a little differently. Instead of using a bucket of tap water, he used a bucket of toilet water to dump over his head.
The actor is also the founder of Water.org, an organisation that helps provide safe water and sanitation to communities in Africa, Asia and Central America. When Damon was nominated for the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge by Ben Affleck and Jimmy Kimmel, he realised that there was something about this new trend that just didn’t sit right with him.
“It posed kind of a problem for me, only because there’s a drought here in California but because I co-founded Water.org and we envision a day when everybody has access to a clean drink of water – and there are about 800 million people in the world who don’t – so dumping a clean bucket of water on my head seemed a little crazy.”
During his video, Damon explains his reasoning for using toilet water for his challenge and also shines a light on the 2.4 billion people on the planet who don’t have adequate sanitation. He also challenges anyone who thinks what he is doing is “disgusting” by saying that the water in the toilets in the West is much cleaner than the water most people in the developing world have access to.
“As disgusting as this may seem, hopefully it will highlight the fact that this is a big problem and together we can do something about it.”
Damon said he would still be donating to the ALS cause and went on to nominate his favourite actor George Clooney, his favourite musician Bono, and the “greatest quarterback of all time” Tom Brady.
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 Bucket Challenge Highlights Sanitation Issues){kind=link}