Ode to the Ice Bucket

If you've been on social media this summer, you may have seen videos or posts about the latest viral craze: the Ice Bucket Challenge.

The challenge's purpose is to raise money and awareness for ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease. It entails taking a video of yourself "challenging" a few friends or family members to either dump a bucket of ice over their head within 24 hours, or make a donation to ALS if they decline the challenge (or both).

Getting people to rally for a cause is always difficult, and activities like the Ice Bucket Challenge are fun ways to spur donations. According to The New York Times, people shared more than 1.2 million videos on Facebook between June 1 and August 13.

That's a lot of frozen water.

One of the many criticisms of the challenge is that it wastes water, a resource that is growing ever scarcer. It seems quarrelsome to knock a method that has brought in so much money for a debilitating disease, but there are ways to raise awareness or donations for a cause that don't involve squandering such a valuable resource.

Here's my challenge to you: Whenever you can, in whatever amount you can afford, consider donating to one of the below charities, all of which work in some way to bring clean, safe water to those who lack it.