Matt Damon’s Get Blue Campaign Can’t Fix The Water Crisis Big Tech Is Creating

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(SeaPRwire) –

By: Oliver Hawthorne

The biggest unaddressed drain on global fresh water right now is U.S. data center expansion, fueled by the AI boom. Americans now say they would rather live near a nuclear plant than a data center, per Gallup. U.S. data centers consumed 17.4 billion gallons of water in 2023. That figure is projected to hit 38 to 73 billion gallons by 2028, according to the EPA. Communities in Georgia and Arizona have already pushed back against unauthorized public water draws by data center developers. The facilities cost the U.S. $25 billion annually in hidden health and environmental damages. They also make up roughly 50% of all U.S. electricity demand growth, which requires even more water to generate.

Water.org, co-founded by Matt Damon and Gary White, just launched its Get Blue campaign. Founding partners include Gap, Starbucks, Amazon and Ecolab. The campaign targets the 2 billion people globally without access to safe home water. It uses Water.org’s existing WaterCredit model, which funnels proceeds to small, affordable household water access loans. The loans have a 98% repayment rate, so capital revolves to fund future loans. $5 funds water access for one person, $25 covers a whole family. Water.org has already reached 90 million people, with a 200 million target by 2030. Gap consumed 28 billion liters of water in 2024, and will donate $5 per purchase from its limited-edition Get Blue capsule collection. A single cup of Starbucks coffee carries a 140 liter virtual water footprint. The chain will donate $0.25 per sale of its two new blue summer drinks between June 16 and July 7. Amazon’s AWS reported 7.7 billion gallons in primary water consumption. It lets Alexa+ users trigger a free $5 donation, and funnels proceeds from its Get Blue storefront and special playlist streams. Ecolab pledged $1 million total, half up front. Ripple uses its RLUSD stablecoin to speed up fund transfers to emerging market microfinance partners.

The campaign does not directly address the industrial water consumption of its partner brands. All consumer-facing donations will not offset the growing water strain from Amazon’s expanding AI data center footprint. The campaign launches with a viral #GetBlue TikTok challenge, and a rap video where Damon performs as alter ego “The Nomad”. The initiative will only avoid being written off as a summer-only cause marketing stunt if it pushes partners to hit their stated 2030 water reduction and replenishment targets.

Author bio: Oliver Hawthorne, Principal Correspondent for a leading international technology review, covering cloud infrastructure and corporate ESG accountability.