If Greg Hadden’s Levi’s could talk, he thinks they might complain about not being washed very often. Not a huge surprise, as Hadden, one of founders of the Drop-A-Brick project, is on a mission to help Californians — and people around the U.S. — conserve water.
Preserving this precious natural resource is an issue LS&Co. cares deeply about. We’re committed to reducing our own water impact, and we also want to help educate consumers about how they can reduce their environmental impact through their clothing care practices … or their flushing habits.
Creating a Massive Bowl Movement
According to Hadden, the Drop-A-Brick project began as a joke about the old conservation trick of placing a brick in the tank of a toilet to displace water, and thus use less when flushing.
The project’s founders, a group of San Francisco-based entrepreneurs, simply couldn’t resist a little good old-fashioned bathroom humor. They thought the double entendre poop joke of “dropping a brick in the toilet” was hilarious. Hadden readily admits the group’s sense of humor isn’t always the most refined. No judgement. Regardless, the group figured the joke might activate people to take simple steps to conserve our most previous natural resource.
“While very simple, it’s actually an extremely effective way for a household to save thousands of gallons every year,” Hadden said. “If enough people did it, we’d save save hundred of millions of gallons every day.”
A public awareness campaign, and a smarter alternative to the standard clay brick, was born.
“We created the product because, as it turns out, placing bricks in the tank of your toilet can actually cause more problems than it solves,” Hadden said. “Bricks have been known to dissolve, clogging valves and damaging delicate toilet components. We wanted to save water, not destroy toilets.”
The group considered less destructive brick alternatives, like filling a milk carton with gravel, but didn’t want to risk losing the poop-joke connection (who can blame them?). They decided to create their own brick, the Drop-A-Brick. In addition to being safe to use and easy enough for every Californian to implement right now given the drought emergency, Hadden said the group also wanted a product that was eco-friendly, light and inexpensive to ship.
“We ended up creating the smartest toilet brick ever designed. Which to us, is pretty hilarious and right in line with our goal, which is make water conservation fun, or at least provide you with a way to laugh in the face of our current water disaster.”
The resulting product made of eco-friendly rubber and ships flat in a small envelope. A hydrogel additive (similar to the stuff that makes disposable diapers absorb) makes the brick swell and get heavy when it’s dropped into a toilet tank.
Want to Drop-A-Brick in your toilet? Act Now!
Currently, the team is crowdfunding Drop-A-Bricks on Indiegogo, with a deadline of Oct. 31 to meet their fundraising goal. On the site, people have the option to buy Drop-A-Bricks in addition to donating extra bricks to drought-stricken locations throughout California.
“The best outcome imaginable would be if millions of people used Drop-A-Brick and it created a (ahem) massive bowl movement across the nation.”
Now that’s a movement we can get behind.
