In just a couple of weeks, we’ll kick off Save a Drink, Save a Life. For 40 days, we’ll ask you to give up your drink of choice and drink water instead. Erin tells us why participating won’t just benefit people in Africa.

It will be pretty easy for you, though, won’t it? Isn’t it quicker to get a glass of water than it is to brew a pot of coffee? Isn’t it easier than driving to the grocery store to lug home a case of pop that you then have to find room for in the fridge? Isn’t it less of a hassle than waiting in line at the Starbucks drive-thru?

Well, maybe it’s not “easy” for you to drink that much water. You don’t like the taste of it. Try as you might, you just can’t drink the recommended amount on a daily basis.

But who doesn’t like a good challenge, especially a healthy one?

Did you know you should be drinking half of your body weight in ounces every day? Do you know why you need so much?

For one thing, water is critical for circulation. Oxygen levels actually increase when you’re hydrated.

Water also increases the production of new blood and muscle cells, and balances the lymph system, which helps your body perform daily functions and fight infection.

Water naturally cushions your joints, reducing inflammation and back pain.

Water alleviates dry skin and promotes clear skin by purging the toxins from your body.

Water allows your body to better absorb nutrients by purifying the colon.

Water helps with weight loss by boosting your metabolism and acting as a natural appetite suppressant.

Water even increases your energy. When you feel sleepy throughout the day, it could be because you’re not getting enough water. Just a 2 percent drop in water can cause your energy level to plummet 20 percent!

Plus, for these 40 days, it even benefits our friends in Africa, allowing all those health benefits to be multiplied.

You see, if you lived in one of the countries in Africa where we partner, you wouldn’t be able to walk a few feet to one of the multiple faucets in your home to fill up an ice-cold glass of water to quench your thirst or take advantage of some health benefits. Instead, you would likely have to walk a really long way, wait your turn, take time to fill a jug or bucket, then carry (or roll) the now-very-heavy container all the way home. Then when you finally had the opportunity to take a drink, there’s a good chance it wouldn’t even be clean.

But because of your decision to accept this challenge to drink only water for 40 days, that will change.

Because for 40 days when you reach for your normal drink of choice and grab water instead, you can give the money you normally would have spent to bring clean water to people in Africa. Then, at the end of the 40 days when you’re feeling really good from all that water, you can feel even better. Because all the money you saved will provide water to someone in Africa.

That means when you save a drink for 40 days, you’ll also save a life. And not just yours.

Get started at saveadrink.org.