In recognition of Giving Tuesday and timed to coincide with November being National Native American Heritage Month, the  Nalgene Water Fund (NWF) is pleased to donate an additional $10,000 to DigDeep, a human rights organization working to ensure that every person in the United States has equitable access to clean, running water and safe sanitation forever. This donation supports DigDeep’s Navajo Water Project, helping to bring hot and cold running water to the 1 in 3 Navajo Nation residents who currently lack access to clean water and safe sanitation.  

This recent donation is on top of more than $80,000 in donations that Nalgene Outdoor has raised from the sale of its limited-edition “Tó éí iiná” (Water is Life) limited-edition bottle series created by Diné designer Jaden Redhair. The first “Tó éí iiná” bottle design was introduced in 2020 and the current “Tó éí iiná” (Water is Life) Winter design featuring a coyote is Redhair’s second in the limited bottle series with Nalgene Outdoor. With every sale of a Tó éí iiná” (Water is Life) bottle,  $5 goes to  support local nonprofits addressing the water crisis on the Navajo Nation. To date, all of the generated funds have gone towards supporting DigDeep and the work of other nonprofits trying to achieve greater access to running water and sanitation on the Navajo Nation.

“I wanted to create something that speaks to people who don’t know about the Navajo Nation, so they learn to appreciate what makes our land and way of life so special. This version of the “Tó éí iiná” (Water is Life) design is a visual representation of one of the stories that we tell during winter before the last frost gives way to summer sometime in May,’” says Jaden Redhair, the Diné designer who created the limited edition series. “The design encompasses the sacred need for nature. We Navajos were the original caretakers of the land in what is now known as Arizona. Water is an essential source of understanding how the land works and how to sustainably live off it – to grow food, to nourish the circle of life. Nothing can exist without water. And still, so many Navajo live without access to running water today.  My hope is that my designs can change this for my people.” 

“It’s difficult to imagine living without running water in your home, but for many on the Navajo Nation, their daily way of life includes going to great lengths to conserve water or traveling great distances to retrieve it for the well being of their family and livestock,”  says Elissa McGee, general manager for Nalgene Outdoor. “Access to clean, running water is a fundamental human right that Nalgene Outdoor upholds for all.  We’re so pleased to make this donation on behalf of The Nalgene Water Fund and to continue to raise money for the Navajo Nation through the sale of Jaden’s latest Tó éí iiná bottle design.”

Limited quantities exist of the Tó éí iiná” (Water is Life) Winter Series bottle exclusively at Nalgene.com. This “Giving Tuesday” give the gift of water in both a beautiful and unique reusable water bottle.  $5 from every purchase will go toward water efforts on the Navajo Nation.

The NWF supports domestic communities struggling with access to clean water by partnering with grassroots nonprofits to raise funds and awareness. Since its inception in late 2019, the NWF, with the support of Thermo Fisher Scientific, has contributed more than $660,000 in financial and in-kind donations to programs in Navajo Nation, Benton Harbor, MI and most notably to helping establish the Flint Community Water Lab in Flint, MI, a unique water quality testing program.