H2oh!

Water covers 70% of the earth's surface giving us a distorted perception of the volume of water on our planet. All of the earth's water, including the oceans, glaciers, lakes, streams, underground aqueducts, and all the water making up most living things, fit into a sphere that is 860 miles in diameter. Meanwhile, the planet has a massive diameter of 7,917 miles. The coverage illusion stems from the fact that the earth's surface is relatively smooth. The tallest mountain (Mt Everest) and deepest ocean (Mariana trench) only deviate from the surface 5.5 miles and -6.8 miles respectively. Think of the oceans more like sweat on an apple, not a bottomless volume to which we can pollute without diluting. When you realize how precious and small the amount of water is on our planet, something shifts in your perception. It somehow feels like something manageable we could protect while also highlighting how alarmingly fragile and important it is to our survival.

In order to viscerally connect to this fact and encourage this enlightenment, we wanted to create a tangible experience that highlights the relationship between the size of the planet and the volume of water it holds at a relatable human scale. At 1” = 20mi, the earth still feels epic at the size of a tree while the volume of water feels quite small like a bird bath.

The design while simple and affordable is also impactful, striking, epic, beautiful, poetic, thought provoking and experiential.