Introducing a drinkable book

I’m an avid reader of real books. You know, pages of paper between a paper or cardboard cover. While I get the need for electronic books, they’ll never be a replacement for an actual book you can hold in your hand, with paper pages you can fold over to mark spots you want to remember, pages filled with pencil notes and fingerprints in chocolate and splashes of water from reading in the bath.

I’m also very supportive of humanitarian causes, giving to others and helping whenever possible to reach out to give a helping hand to those in need.

So I was really interested in the Drinkable Book, which couples not only my love of books but the ability to touch a life in a developing country with fresh water.

The pages are printed on technologically advanced filter paper coated with silver nanoparticles. The ink is food grade. When the page is used as a filter for water, those ions actively kill diseases like cholera, typhoid and E. coli.

Each filter is capable of giving someone up to 30 days worth of clean water, allowing each book to provide someone with clean water for up to 4 years.

And the books cost just pennies to produce.

Right now, the book is a manual that helps people understand how to keep their water supply safe. But imagine if someday the books were literature, or poetry, or textbooks? Imagine being able to refresh the mind, body and soul – literally – with a book?

You can learn more about the project on the Water Is Life website.