Kmart and Water Intersect

I’ve been thinking a lot about water lately.  I’m training for my third marathon, so I’m always drinking water or thinking about drinking water.  I am so concerned about being without water, I run with a fuel belt that holds 32 oz of water on long runs.  I train with a team that has well-equipped SAGs (Support and Gear stops. i.e., water) every few miles.  It’s kind of silly when you think about it.  I am running because I WANT to and have access to unlimited water  during those runs.  783 MILLION people in this world do not have easy access to clean drinking water (United Nations, 2013).    I’m running for my health, and they are running for their lives.  To get water.  I am carrying it around my waist, and they carry it on their heads.   Water is one of those things that unites all of us.  Not a single living thing on this planet can survive without water. 

Kmart has begun their  Christmas advertising campaign…it is September.  It’s kind of brilliant, if you think about it.  It is advertising layaway for Christmas right now.  Not really promoting Christmas shopping per se, just layaway.  So that got me thinking about water again.  How are Kmart and water related,  you ask?  Well, every year, I post a link to Advent Conspiracy, an organization that promotes how “Christmas was meant to be celebrated, not regretted.”  They promote donations to Living Water International, an organization that provides access to clean water.  So, I thought, if retail companies (and it’s not just Kmart, all kinds of Christmas ads are already showing up in my mailbox and e-mail inbox ) are going to start promoting Christmas in September, then I am going to counter that by promoting Advent Conspiracy in September.  It takes planning to change the way we celebrate Christmas, so why not start now?  Watch videos here for ideas: http://www.adventconspiracy.org/.  Would you like to provide a microloan? www.kiva.org   Or provide families with a sustainable income? www.heifer.org   There are hundreds of worthy organizations.  If you need help, let me know.

Don’t get me wrong.  I love the traditions and decorations of Christmas.  I even enjoy picking out gifts that I know my loved ones will treasure.  I just don’t value the frenzied pace and the “buy, buy, buy” mentality.  I value relationships more.  Relationships take planning and time.  You have to carve that time out and protect.  That’s why I am promoting this now.  I am proposing not just a conspiracy but a revolution.  Who is in?