Lifestraw a Life Saving Idea

Lifestraw,the portable drinking filtration system, nabbed the top honor in thefifth Saatchi & Saatchi Award for World Changing Ideas lastThursday. Worn around the neck and used like a regular straw, Lifestrawclaims to filter 99.9999 percent of bacteria and 98.7 percent ofviruses using a halogen-based resin.

Saatchi'sworldwide creative director Bob Isherwood had nothing but high praisefor the company. "I think it's an amazing idea, a world-changing idea,"he said.

"Youhave such a huge proportion of the world's population that can't drinksafe water; 6,000 children a day dying from polluted water. To have astraw that you wear around your neck that you can put in contaminatedwater and turn it immediately into totally safe water is incredible; itis world-changing."

The Lifestraw is a little longer than a toilet paper tube

filters are rated for 700 liters of water -- approximately one year's use for a single individual

But perhaps most exciting is the cost: Only 2 dollars US