Water

Water doesn't usually appear on corporate balance sheets. But, that may change in the near future as investors begin linking water responsibility to companies' financial risk and overarching health. The increasing demand for clean water due to population growth, ecosystem pollution and disruption, economic development, changing consumption patterns, rapid industrialization and lack of sufficient wastewater treatment facilities isn't only hurting the developing world. It's beginning to take its toll on business and the economy. We not only need water to survive and for the global food chain, we need it for virtually all production processes. For example, a recent report by Ceres, points out that "vast quantities of ultra clean water are used to make the silicon chips that help power our computers, servers, and cell phones. Electric power plants depend heavily on water, and account for a staggering 40 percent of freshwater withdrawals in the United States."

Every year, there are 3.5 billion people who surfer from a lack of clean water. Of these 3.5 billion people, 3 million kids die each year. Michael Pritchard, in his TED speech, explains that “each day…there are millions of people who are forced to drink dirty water or face death.” In response to this tragic reality, he's invented “LifeSaver” bottle. Check out the following demonstration to see why it's a remarkable invention...