Sustainability with Just a Drop

A community group celebrating a new water project

Our customers will (hopefully) know that we’re proud partners of the global water and sanitation charity Just a Drop. The price of every pack of toilet paper, tissues box, and kitchen roll we sell includes a donation to them. 

Their work has provided 1.96 million people with better access to water and sanitation, freeing them up to build communities, raise families, and pursue work and education without the fear of drought and disease.

And Just a Drop aren’t just building better water systems, they’re building sustainability into their projects as well. In 2024 their work was recognised by the Charity Times when they were shortlisted for their ‘Charity Sustainability Award’, so today we’re taking a closer look at some of the ways they’re making sure that water flows cleanly, abundantly, and more sustainably around the world.

Project leaders standing by newly built latrine in Cambodia

Carbon monitoring

The work of Just a Drop actively counteracts the results of climate change; their boreholes and rainwater traps secure a safe supply of water for communities whose traditional water sources are polluted or disrupted up as the temperature of the earth rises. 

So it’s natural that Just a Drop would be conscious of their climate footprint. And they're not just conscious of it, they publish it on their website, just like we do

Researching and calculating your CO2e footprint is laborious, take it from us! But if you’re an organisation that cares about doing better, it’s a necessary first step. You can’t manage what you don’t measure.

Just a Drop takes their climate monitoring seriously. With the help of experts at ecollective, they are tracking, analysing, and publish their carbon footprint.

With this number they can chart a course for reaching their goal of zero emissions by 2040 (our goal is the same!)

A community group celebrating the completion of a new latrine block

Interlocking Stabilised Soil Bricks (ISSBs)

When it comes to construction, traditional fired clay bricks are a CO2e culprit; making and drying clay bricks leads to soil erosion and huge emissions from the furnaces that fire them. A report from 2024 found that the emissions from kilns that dry bricks account for 2.7% of total global emissions! 

Enter Interlocking Stabilised Soil Bricks (ISSBs)! These marvellous blocks are made using a manual press, so they don’t need to be fired using fossil fuels. Plus, they can be easily made from sandy soil that is readily available in the areas where Just a Drop works, cutting down the transport involved in making them.

Just a Drop uses ISSBs for projects like building latrines, creating structures that are practical and durable with sustainability literally built into their foundations!

Tree planting

In the space of five years Just a Drop has planted 23,000 trees in the communities where they work, leading to a cascade of benefits for the environment and the people who live there:

Carbon sequestration: Trees naturally absorb CO₂e, helping to absorb some of the gases causing climate change.

Soil health: Trees improve soil quality, making it more fertile for crops.

Livelihoods: Many of the trees planted are fruit trees, so there’s more food and an extra income stream for local people. 

Shade: Anyone who’s spent time in a hot climate knows how essential shade is, for people and crops alike. Trees provide shelter and cooling from scorching temperatures and makes outdoor spaces more usable. 

A final benefit of tree planting is how it helps protect watersheds. What are watersheds, we hear you ask? 

People planting fruit trees

Watersheds

Watersheds or “drainage basins” are a natural part of the landscape; areas of land that drain and direct excess water from rainfall into bodies of water like rivers and lakes. 

But deforestation and farming can disrupt the natural working of watersheds, leading to floods and erosion when water isn’t properly diverted. 

That’s why Just a Drop combines tree planting with watershed protection. The roots of trees stablise soil and store water. This leads to healthier soils, better crop yields, and water sources that are less prone to running dry. 

A smiling man holds an armful of lemons

Award winning changes from a life-changing charity

From carbon monitoring to watersheds, Just a Drop is building sustainability into life changing projects all over the world. 

We’re so incredibly proud to support this work with every box we sell, and we look forward to seeing their sustainable innovations continue to flourish, along with the communities they work in. 

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