By Dan Avery
August 26, 2014 / 11:57 AM
Like many other celebrities, Matt Damon was nominated to take the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge—by his pals Jimmy Kimmel and Ben Affleck.
But with many parts of the globe suffering from drought, he was conflicted. (Matt's caring like that.)
So, he did what any good humanitarian would do: He used toilet water instead.
"It posed kind of problem for me," Damon explains in the video below, "Not only because there's a drought here in California. But because I co-founded Water.org and we envision the day when everybody has access to a clean drink of water—and there are about 800 million people in the world who don't. So dumping a clean bucket of water on my head seemed a little crazy."
Instead, Damon used water from his toilet bowl rather than from the faucet—keeping his conscience clear and underscoring the point that so many people still don't have access to clean water. (In fact, toilet water in America is still more sanitary than the drinking water in much of the developing world.)
Of course, Damon's toilet will refill itself—so ultimately he's using the same amount of water as anyone else taking the challenge. But he's managed to raise awareness about an important issue without taking anything away from the fight against ALS.
And to be honest, we'd still take him home to bed. Toilet water and all.
To donate to the fight against ALS click here. To learn more about providing clean water to the world, visit Water.org
