ALS Ice Bucket Challenge Adds to the Water Deficit

“I nominate Johnny, Susan and Brad…You have twenty four hours to complete this challenge.” In today’s social media, thousands of individuals are being nominated to take on the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge that seems to be sweeping the nation. The point of this social craze is to raise  awareness to join against the fight on Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), otherwise known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, that can be detrimental to the carrier by affecting nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord.

 Nominees are dared to pour an entire bucket filled with blistering cold water, over themselves, make a donation to the ALS Association and continue the cycle by nominating more individuals. By using social media as a platform to bring awareness, it quickly sparked the attention of millions of Internet users globally. But now after gaining such exposure, could the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge potentially cause more harm than good?

With every nomination, is another gallon of water dumped, estimated at about over 5,000,000 gallons to be exact. There recently has been much speculation and controversy that the Ice Bucket Challenge is adding to the water deficit in areas like California, where nearly 81% of the state is currently undergoing strong drought climate. I think what is so ludicrous about this whole ordeal is that people lost focus on the subliminal message behind the movement. It has gotten to the point where doing the challenge is the “hip” thing to do and has particularly gotten most of the participation of younger audiences who frequently use social media. People are only doing it for the sake of doing it and being a part of the norm. 

I personally have asked several nominees, around my age, as to why they were doing the challenge let alone if they have contributed in a small donation. And you know how they responded? Every single individual went blank. None of the contestants who I spoke with knew exactly what the Ice Bucket Challenge was for.

That is exactly the reason why I am so against dumping water for this particular cause because it is doing more harm than good in areas that are in need of water. Do not get me wrong, I think that the intention behind the challenge is amazing because it is innovative and grabbed the attention of audiences all around the world. But unfortunately, the message was lost as it gained popularity at an alarming rate. There are plenty of other successful methods for bringing awareness to health issues that have an impact on individuals like dedicating a color or a date in honor of it.

 I read articles and listen to public podcasts on social and geographical issues like how clean water is scarce in other countries and it is disheartening to see the United States dumping excessive amounts of water. It is such a shame being apart of a nation that takes for granted one of the most essential things in order to live. I think what we need at this point is to be proactive and find ways to conserve our water to make up for the gallons of water dumped. Now that most are familiar with the disease if we continue to go the path we are headed, we are going to have make a whole new Ice Bucket Challenge for our drought..only this time without the ice!