Live from my Porcelain Throne! #FlushForGood

I’ve just got to dive right in here: this is a very multi-faceted post. Try to keep up! You see, this post is about toilets. But(t) it’s also about doing good and saving lives through American Standard’s Flush For Good ™ campaign, which is an effort Emily and I can really get behind. (Plus, we get to make potty jokes. See what I did there?) And lastly, this post is also a GIVEAWAY post! To get you excited about helping us spread the word about Flush For Good™, we are offering the chance to win a $200 gift card to Home Depot!! Are you interested now? It gets even better! Because this is such an important effort, I  was inspired to make a video for you, while sitting on the crapper, to give you the (poop) scoop on what Flush For Good ™ is all about and why it’s so very needed. So check this out:

All joking aside, the sanitation issue is an epidemic in developing countries. As you heard me say, around the world 3 children die every minute as a result of dirty water and poor sanitation. It’s sobering and humbling to think of all the comforts our children enjoy that also keep them healthy that all of us take for granted. There are many mothers around the world who are not so fortunate and bear unspeakable losses brought by unsanitary toileting and water supply contamination. So, how can we help from our corner of the world?

Well, you guys are helping just by reading this post! The toilet geniuses (really, they are!!) at American Standard developed a sanitary toileting system that can be installed over the unsanitary latrine pits that most undeveloped communities use when nature calls. These pits are open and so insects get in and out, spreading disease. The sanitary pans designed by American Standard close off the pits while still allowing waste to go into it, so that waste and only waste goes in the pit and nothing comes back out. In honor of Mommin’ It Up, American Standard is donating TWENTY of these systems to communities in need around the world! And in honor of YOU, our readers, they are donating TWENTY MORE! That’s 40 communities who will now have access to sanitary toileting because you are reading this! That’s huge, you guys.

We can also help by spreading the word about Flush for Good™ to all of our friends and family! It is really, really, really, important to get the word out about this campaign. American Standard has made this very simple through their Facebook page. For every 100 likes or shares, American Standard will donate a sanitary pan system to a community in a developing country. If you’re in the market for a new toilet, you can also help by purchasing an American Standard Champion Toilet. This high-efficiency toilet uses only 1.28 gallons of water per flush instead of the usual 1.6, so it conserves water – which is great for our environment and your water bill. In addition, for every Champion Toilet purchased, American Standard will also donate a sanitary pan system to a community in a developing country (so you can save lives by buying a new john! Rock on!)

Another way we can help? Taking a pledge to conserve water. Maybe you’ll pledge to remember to turn the water off while you’re brushing your teeth, or to only run your dishwasher when it’s full. Flush For Good’s Facebook page has all kinds of great pledge ideas, and again, if you pledge and share, you are doing your part to help bring a sanitary toilet pan system to a community in need.

As you can see, American Standard makes it really easy to support the Flush For Good™ program, but in case you need a little incentive, they are also letting us give away a $200 Home Depot gift card!! WOOOHOOO!! (By the way, if you’re at a Home Depot anytime soon, make sure to stop and check out the high-efficiency Champion line of American Standard toilets!!) Here’s how to enter to win 200 big ones to Home Depot (three ways to enter!!):

1) Entry #1: Go to Flush for Good™ and take a pledge & share it! Then come back to this post and leave a comment telling us what your pledge is.

2) Optional 2nd entry: Tweet about this giveaway (you can copy & paste this): “Help save lives! Enter to win a $200 Home Depot gift card from @momminitup @jennyitup #FlushforGood @AMStandard” and leave a comment on this post with your tweet URL.

3)  Optional 3rd entry: Click to re-pin our pin of this post! Then come back here and leave a comment on this post with the URL of your pin.

ONE winner will be chosen at random on Monday October 7, 2013 at 6pm EST. GOOD LUCK, and have fun spreading the word about Flush For Good™! To see more about what wonders a sanitary toilet can do, please watch this short video about Flush For Good’s sanitary toileting pans on YouTube.

Thanks, American Standard for letting us be a part of #FlushForGood!