Campaign Story

What happens when you ask “what if?”

What if there was a really good shot we could make RVA cleaner, healthier, and stronger using a little courageous creativity?

There is better than a good shot and that is what Richmond Water represents.

A Growing Problem

It was just an idea on December 26, 2022. What started as a frustration about water consumption from plastic turned into Richmond Water, a viable solution to a problem. The reality is, plastic bottles of water are the default option in many cases. If not at home, at work, at conferences, at concerts, at festivals – wherever people gather, water is sold in plastic bottles.

Growing in volume every year, the amount of water sold in plastic containers in 2021 reached 15.5 billion gallons in America alone.

There has to be a better option and we can make small shifts in our choices that improve things over time.

A Local & Sustainable Solution

Richmond Water is providing local artesian water in a durable, collectible, recyclable aluminum bottle, designed by local artists with $.50 from each bottle produced going to local nonprofits. The water comes from our partners at Virginia Artesian Bottling Company in Hanover County, Virginia, and is filtered and bottled in a facility run entirely on solar energy.

Our sustainable water solution doesn’t solve the problem without an abundance of places to refill, so we’ve begun a campaign to repair existing public refill stations (we’re currently in talks with Bon Secours & James River Parks about two broken refill stations and making progress). We will also install free Richmond Water-branded public refill stations to amplify sustainable hydration options for RVA.

A Community-Driven Project

As we distribute our sustainable bottles in the community, we will introduce rotating bottle art, paired with rotating nonprofit beneficiaries, selected by our customers through an online voting process.

With your support in this campaign, Richmond Water will go from a 10,000-bottle campaign to a full-production run of 250,000 bottles, reaching across community bridges to support at least four more local artists and nonprofits. 

When you support this campaign at any level, you’ll get a vote on future artists and nonprofit beneficiaries. Voting will commence for full-production artists in mere weeks.

Water will be available by the case in April and individual bottle rewards will be available at our public pickup events scheduled throughout the year. Our market schedule will be released in April.

Swag will be available at or around our Classified Launch Party in June. Details to follow. (We’ll help you find a buyer for your ticket if you can’t be there on the selected date.)

Our launch party is being planned by early email subscribers at a private celebration on April 15. They will be selecting the venue, libations, food, music, and quirks that will make this party a true RVA event. Get your tickets now through this campaign. They won’t get less expensive as our event budget grows.

The Future of Water Summit in the Fall of 2023 will be a panel discussion and convener of community leaders to discuss our drinking water supply and the challenges we face as a community to provide and encourage healthy drinking water options. We’ll discuss topics including waste, sanitation, fluoridation, municipal water safety, emissions associated with water distribution, and more. We’re in discussions with some exciting panelists and will update campaign supporters as we have developments.

Expect even more truly Richmond and truly transformative events as we launch more local artists, celebrate more local chefs, promote more local makers, and jam out with more local musicians in our pursuit to create a better community.

Ham on Your Can

Please join us in this sustainable celebration of local art, local artists, and local doers who make Richmond rich and help us shape the future of hydration in Richmond. Support our campaign for as little as $5 and get a limited-edition bottle featuring art from Hamilton Glass and a vote on a future artist and charity. Back this project in a bigger way and help us select a future artist for $4,000 and a future nonprofit for $5,000. Every supporter of this campaign will get at least one standard bottle of Richmond water and a vote.

Read More

Watch the Full-Length Documentary, 167 Plastic Bottles