“Dropping a brick” is a very crude euphemism for a bodily function, but now it also means doing something positive for the environment. In this case, the “brick” is actually made of bio-based rubber and meant to help save billions of gallons of water from being wasted every year.
Eco-conscious people (and people who want to save money on their water bill) have been putting bricks or rocks into their toilet tanks for decades. The object in the tank displaces water and tricks the toilet into using less water for every flush. The problem with this method is that heavy objects can damage porcelain toilets, and over time bricks disintegrate and do foul things to your home’s plumbing.
Drop-A-Brick is the modern equivalent to that old trick. It’s a rubber casing filled with eco-friendly hydrogel: a highly absorbent material that can expand up to 200 times its original size when it comes into contact with water. The brick ships flat at about nine ounces, but when you fill it with water and the hydrogel expands inside, its weight increases to four pounds. This weight is enough to displace about half a gallon of water when dropped into your toilet tank.
Each brick can save approximately two gallons of water per day per person. For a family of four, that’s about 50 gallons per week. If every household in the state of California used it, that would translate to saving six billion gallons of water in only three months. For a state that’s experiencing an emergency-level drought, this simple but effective product could be life-changing.
Project Drop-A-Brick is a not-for-profit grassroots foundation dedicated to saving water in homes across America. Their IndieGoGo campaign promises incentives that will not only get you your own Drop-A-Brick, but that will also provide Bricks for communities in California most affected by the drought.