It is easy for Canadians to take clean water for granted and that is why salons in Windsor-Essex are holding a walk to raise awareness Monday along Windsor's riverfront.
Randa Stass at Aveda Salon says the company's mission is to improve the quality of life for people around the world, so for the past 11 years, it has teamed up with Water Aid Canada.
The company has raised money to improve water sanitation for impoverished communities, and this year its focus in on Madagascar.
"These people have to walk anywhere from four to six kilometres to get access to water -- and it's not always clean water," says Stass.
She says up to seven local salons are taking part and salons in London have been invited too.
The salons are also raising money to support their efforts globally. Aveda Canada has set a Canada-wide goal of $595,000, and Stass says they are about half of the way there already.
Since beginning their mission in 2006, the company has raised $6.5-million.
Stass says one in seven people around the world does not have access to clean water within their community. The United Nations says 783-million people did not have access to water in 2013, and 2.5-billion do not have adequate sanitation.
The walk starts at 10am Monday, May 1 at Dieppe Park. It will continue to the Ambassador Bridge and back, "because that is roughly the same amount of distance that these people will walk on average daily," says Stass.
"For us, it's just very simple. We go to the tap. We open the water. It's great," she says. "These people, they don't have that."
