1. (NU) - Growing up on the Mis-
sissippi River, Chad Pregracke,
Living Lands & Waters Founder,
experienced first-hand what pol-
lution was doing to our nation’s
rivers. Despite being 17 years old
with no business experience, Pre-
gracke secured his first sponsor-
ship -- $8,400. More than 20 years
later, Pregracke’s dream has be-
come a reality. Pregracke, his crew
and more than 87,000 volunteers
have collected 8.4 million pounds
of debris from America’s rivers.
Living Lands & Waters, the
world’s leading river cleanup or-
ganization, has partnered with
Elkay, an American-owned and
operated leading manufacturer of
plumbing and wood products, to
further its environmental mis-
sions -- working every day to
make America a beautiful, sus-
tainable place to live and work.
“Mr. Pregracke is truly an
American hero, and his mission
perfectly aligns with our sus-
tainability efforts in product de-
velopment,” said Ted Hamilton,
Elkay’s vice president and gen-
eral manager of Emerging Mar-
kets Plumbing Channel. “We
both are committed to keeping
America a beautiful place to live
and work, and to making it easy
to do the smart thing.”
Elkay’s ezH2O bottle-filling
stations provide fast and conve-
nient access to clean drinking wa-
ter -- making it easy to use a re-
fillable water bottle while on the
go. These stations have refilled
more than 2.8 billion water bot-
tles and can be found in K-12
schools, college and business
campuses as well as airports,
parks, sports facilities and fitness
centers across the country.
“I can’t tell you how many
thousands of plastic bottles I’ve
fished out of the river over the
years. Some shorelines are 2-
feet deep in garbage and it can
be like that for miles,” said Pre-
gracke. “Our rivers are a na-
tional treasure, and it’s great to
be partnering with a company
that makes a product right here
in the United States that pro-
vides an easy way to eliminate
waste, helping future genera-
tions enjoy our nation’s rivers,
just as I have my whole life.”
Since Living Lands & Waters
was founded in 1998, it has
grown to be the only “industrial-
strength” river cleanup organiza-
tion like it in the world. Spending
up to nine months a year living
and traveling on a barge, its crew
hosts river cleanups, watershed
conservation initiatives, work-
shops, tree plantings and other
key conservation efforts across
the country.
It has never been easier to
make a difference. Carry a re-
fillable water bottle and refill it
at an ezH2O bottle filling sta-
tion. And join in the important
work of Living Lands & Waters.
For more information, visit
www.elkay.com/ezH2O.
Message in a Bottle? More Like
a Message About a Bottle…
ENVIRONMENT
NewsUSA
Elkay and Living Lands &
Waters partner to help keep
America sustainable.
Pictured: Ted Hamilton (Elkay) & Chad
Pregracke (Living Lands & Waters).
NewsUSA
YouTube Video URL: https://youtu.be/AC6UtGmD4ZQ