Pictured above: Lilah McDonald at the installation of the Narrow Neck Beach drinking fountain on April 9.
When 14-year-old Lilah McDonald set her sights on changing the world, she started with something simple, but vital – drinking fountains.
Earlier this month, the young social entrepreneur and host of NZBusiness magazine’s podcast Sustainably Ever After celebrated a major milestone: The installation of two brand-new drinking fountains at Narrow Neck Beach and Bayswater Park on Auckland’s North Shore. Thanks to her passion for the environment, and funding from her social enterprise, Water Us, these fountains were donated to Auckland Council through Lilah’s charity, The Public Water Foundation.
It’s a vision Lilah has nurtured since she was just nine years old. A family trip to Europe opened her eyes to the abundance of public drinking fountains overseas – and highlighted a stark contrast back home. “I noticed this giant bank of drinking fountains in one of the towns over there, and I thought it was interesting because I’d never seen anything like that in New Zealand,” she says.
When Lilah researched the situation on her return, she was shocked. New Zealand, it turned out, had only one drinking fountain for every 3,303 people. “At the moment, New Zealand is very behind on the amount of drinking fountains we have compared to other countries around the world,” she says. “I wanted to change that.”
Her solution? Combine environmental advocacy with business smarts. In 2021, Lilah launched Water Us, a social enterprise selling environmentally friendly toilet paper, with 50 percent of profits dedicated to funding drinking fountains. Through a successful PledgeMe campaign, she raised enough to order her first container of product, and within a year, had funded two fountains.
The journey wasn’t without its challenges. Originally, Lilah planned to seek business sponsorships to fund the installations. “But then COVID-19 hit and companies didn’t exactly have extra money to fund projects like mine,” she says. Undeterred, she pivoted to direct-to-consumer sales with Water Us.
After several years of collaboration with Auckland Council, the first two fountains were finally installed on April 9. Melissa Powell, Chair of the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board, praised Lilah’s perseverance: “She is business-minded, future-focused, resilient, patient and has overcome so many hurdles to bring this project to life. What an amazing young woman she is to get this project into reality.”
For Auckland Council’s Senior Project Coordinator Maegan du Rhone-Brace, working alongside Lilah became a passion project too. “A water fountain is a small but really impactful way to just give back to the community. It’s had its challenges but it’s also been really rewarding knowing that someone who’s so passionate about getting water fountains installed meant that it was a passion project of mine too.”
Lilah’s bigger mission is far from over. “My first goal is 100 new fountains around the country in the next two years. It may have taken four years to install the first two, but this is just the beginning.”
For Lilah, every fountain installed isn’t just a victory for the environment, she says that it’s a stand against plastic pollution and a step towards healthier communities. “Often when people don’t have access to free water in public spaces, they will buy sugary drinks, which come in plastic bottles. Kiwis throw out around 828 million plastic bottles per year, which often end up on our beaches and in the ocean. Drinking fountains are vital for reducing that number, as well as providing healthy, free, and easy access to water.”
In her words: “I want to make a difference in the world and I think this is one small way that I can do it.”
Lilah is also hopes to inspire change within New Zealand’s SME community as host of Sustainably Ever After in which she speaks to social entrepreneurs and business leaders who strive to be more sustainable, making our planet liveable for future generations.
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