New York City : High Five: Scott Harrison
High Five: Scott Harrison

Drink to That

06.26.2009

Submitted by bdisylvester on Thu, 06/25/2009 - 11:00pm.
The Bite:
If you see Scott Harrison swigging a reusable water bottle, toast him with yours - or just give him an eco high five. In 2004, this former-nightclub-promoter-turned-photojournalist joined the org Mercy Ships and, after seeing the lack of clean water in poor nations he visited, started his own NY-based org called charity: water. He's since helped dig and fix wells, install filters in ponds to trap sand and dirt, and set up rainwater collection for over half a million African, Indian, and Central American peeps. Cheers to that.
Why water?
Scott: Amazingly, 1 billion people in the world don't have access to clean and safe drinking water. That's 1 in 6 people. We are fighting hard to change that and have funded 1,300 projects in 14 countries that will serve 740,000 people.

What are you working on right now?
Scott: We're building a new and very cool website called mycharitywater. People can register their birthdays, weddings, [and marathons to get [charitable gifts of] clean water out there to the people who need it.

Would you rather vermicompost or put a bucket in your shower?
Scott: Oh come on, I spent a lot of time in Africa. I love bucket showers.

Which NY eco-warriors are you a fan of?
Scott: We're fans of Summer Rayne Oakes's work, and the Samples for (Eco)mpassion store that Ike Rodriguez set up.
Wanna Try: 
You can spot Scott scooping up organic veggies - green peppers are his fave - at Dean & Deluca in SoHo, 560 Broadway (212-226-6800).

Map It

Cocktail Fact

The first U. S. water plant with slow sand filters was built in 1872 in Poughkeepsie, NY.

Small Changes Add Up

If 10,000 NY Biters donate $20 to an eco charity such as charity: water, we’ll give 10,000 people in a developing country clean, safe drinking water for 20 years.

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