As Hurricane Dorian crawls across the Atlantic, Anheuser-Busch pressed pause on beer production to can emergency water instead. Hurricane Dorian made landfall as a category 5 storm, devastating the Bahamas. It will continue to pound the coasts of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia through Friday. Storm surge warnings are posted from Florida’s eastern coast up to North Carolina.
Clean drinking water is one of the biggest threats a hurricane leaves in its path of destruction. So, ahead of Dorian's arrival, the company donated 100,000 cans of emergency drinking water to local communities in Florida at the request of the American Red Cross. Originally, Florida was expected to get hit much harder by the hurricane which is why relief efforts were only sent there.
Instead of providing people who are already facing a natural disaster with plastic bottles, that will only add to the plastic pollution disaster, they’re giving them cans. Aluminum cans are one of the only materials in the consumer and industrial waste stream that can be endlessly recycled.
Since the emergency drinking water program’s inception in 1988, Anheuser-Busch has provided communities affected by natural disasters across the U.S. with more than 81 million cans of water.
What can you do to help?
The Bahamas were devastated after the storm hovered over the Abaco Islands and Grand Bahama Island for two days. Now, even before the rebuilding process begins, immediate aid is needed. Here are a few ways you can help:
- Send canned water and other needed supplies to a collection place, like this one.
- Make a donation to World Central Kitchen. The organization is currently in the Bahamas cooking hot meals and serving them to anyone in need.
- Create and donate sustainable hygiene kits. Things you can include: bamboo toothbrushes, toothpaste tablets, bars of soap.