If You Put Down Your Smartphones for 10 Minutes, a Child Will Get a Day’s Worth of Clean Drinking Water

If you literally put your phone down on a flat surface for 10 minutes, corporate sponsors like Giorgio Armani Fragrances will donate money to the UNICEF Tap Project that will then be used towards water, sanitation and hygiene programs in the neediest countries. According to the organization, “768 million people do not have access to safe, clean drinking water, and 2.5 billion people live without proper sanitation.”

To start the challenge, participants have to go to UNICEF Tap Project‘s website on their phones. The longer you set your phone down, the more donations will be made.

As the clock starts ticking, facts about global water use flash across your screen. Messages like “538 million emails have been sent in the time you’ve been without your phone” may tempt you to switch browsers. Or check Facebook:

But if you resist, then you will see a message like this one:

While you’re technically still using your phone during this challenge — you can still take screenshots and read every fact about water that appears on the screen — the point of the challenge is to keep you off social networking, emails, and texts so that you can learn about a greater cause and use your device to share it with others. And isn’t that much more satisfying than browsing the same-old pictures from the weekend?