Today’s the day: I’m boarding a plan bound for East Africa! I’ve spent the last few days in NYC for the SoapMasters event (which was insanely fabulous- wish you all could have been here!), but it’s time to head out for a few weeks with some of my favorite kids on the planet. Wondering why I’m heading back to Uganda? The details are in this blog post. This community has continued to rally around the project and, thanks to a few donations that have continue to trickle in, we’ve broken the $7,000 mark! My gratitude to all of the donors who’ve made this possible.
While in Uganda, I’m also going to be deploying the first-ever “Stink Sink.” What in the world is a Stink Sink? So glad you asked! Meet my friend Christopher of Stink Good Clean Fun. He just finished up my LBU: Secrets to Wholesale Success program and I’m really excited to see his company launch. Chris’ goal is to infuse your daily shower with a potent dose of happy while helping children battle disease in developing countries. As we moved through that LBU program, I had the privilege of getting to know Chris + his mission and the more I learned, the more excited I became! I sweet talked Chris into telling us more about his company + mission + how I’ll be helping launch the project next week.
What’s the big idea behind the Stink Sink?
One day, I was researching soapmaking on the Internet and came across a startling statistic that has since echoed in my heart. More than 2,000 children die each day across the globe as a result of complications and infections due to improper hand washing and a lack of access to soap and clean water. I was blown away. “Seriously? Hand-washing? That’s killing children?” I understand that diseases like cancer are difficult to solve, but HAND-WASHING? Immediately, I knew I wanted to do something to make a dent in this problem.
From that moment onward, I decided that the primary mission of Stink would be make an impact on the global hand-washing problem. Stink stands on what I like to call a “tripod foundation”: good, clean, fun. More specifically: do good, get clean, and have fun doing it! I had my mission and I immersed myself in the development of an inexpensive + highly effective + easily shippable hand-washing solution. Months of research and several prototypes evolved into the design that you’ll be deploying for us in Uganda.
What is it about this particular cause that compels you to act?
As a father of three young children, it really bothered me that individuals were dying from improper hand washing, something that seems so fantastically simple. Something that Americans often take for granted. This particular killer is completely preventable.
How will this project be funded?
Each sink costs $100 to build, and I use 10% from every Stink product to fund the sinks. Essentially, we are able to create and send a sink for every $1,000 of product we sell. We’re actively searching for retailers across the US who are interested in assisting Stink.
We’re also creating an interesting fundraising model. Individuals who are going overseas on service or mission trips can sell Stink products at wholesale prices. The profits are then used to fund their trip, and if they sell $1,000 or more, they have the opportunity to hand deliver a Stink Sink wherever their trip may take them.
How will Stink Sinks be constructed + delivered? Who will receive them?
All of the sinks are hand-built at “Stink Inc.”, in our production facility, by me. I’ve been fortunate enough to find very generous vendors, suppliers, and manufacturers who believe in our mission. Not only do they offer expert input, but they also offer us wonderful price breaks, enabling us to create the most effective sink at the lowest possible cost. It took quite a bit of work to get the cost down to that $100 goal, but we were able to do it without sacrificing any of the effectiveness. The filters on the sinks are pretty incredible! They remove 99.9% of bacteria and viruses.
Thanks to Lela, our first sink will touch down next week in Uganda and we’re also making arrangements to have our second sink delivered to Haiti. Each time we begin to fund a sink, we consider where it could be sent based on communication from organizations and customers, as well as opportunities around the globe of which we’re aware. If you know someone that could benefit from a Stink Sink in a developing country, then please leave a message in the comments and we’ll definitely be in touch!
How can we support your cause?
First, buy Stink products and help us spread the word. Our handmade soaps, bath bombs, salt scrubs and spray lotions are made with love + a dose of happy in our Nashville workshop.They smell good + do god at the same time!
Second, help us spread the word! Tell your friends, family, coworkers…anyone who would be interested in our products and doing good. As I mentioned, we’re actively searching for retailers and opportunities that could help us generate sales so that we are able to send more sinks to those in need!
Gah! A creative business with a heart for philanthropy = a company after my own heart. I’m really thrilled with the opportunity to help Chris launch the project and I’ll be posting pictures of the first Stink Sink in action. The next few weeks will also host an amazing series of guest blogs here at Luck Break:
September 19: A Meditation on Fear (Melyssa of The Nectar Collective)
September 24: The Power of Twitter (Jessika of Oh My Handmade)
September 26: Finding Your Happy (Tara of TaraSwiger.com)
October 1: The Art of the Blog Pitch (Danielle of Outlaw Soaps)
October 3: Healthy + Habits + Clear Head = Success (Jenn of Unurth)
October 8: Big Results on an Itty Bitty Marketing Budget (Victoria of My Curls)
October 10: The Principles of SEO (Padraic of Ryan Design Studio)
My journey begins today in NYC, through Amsterdam, Kigali and on to Kampala. I’ll pop in as often and I invite you to follow the trip through stories + pictures at my Facebook and Twitter. Wish me luck!
