Staying properly hydrated keeps our bodies running smoothly and supports our overall health. National Hydration Day raises awareness about hydration and presents an opportunity to establish good water-drinking habits. Water is the body’s second most important nutrient after oxygen, so it’s important to replenish your body’s supply of it every day.
National Hydration Day also provides a chance for businesses to educate employees on the importance of drinking water and staying hydrated. We’ll explain the significance of this holiday and ideas for how your business can promote good habits among employees for drinking water.
What Is National Hydration Day?
National Hydration Day was founded in 2016 to honor the memory of football coach Victor Hawkins to raise awareness about hydration among athletes. Victor Hawkins invented a mouth guard that releases electrolytes to improve hydration, which greatly contributed to the health and safety of many athletes. Since the holiday was created, it has become recognized to teach about hydration and help people make better choices concerning drinking water.
Why Does Staying Hydrated Matter?
The human body is made up of about 50% to 70% water, and every cell and organ of your body needs water to do its job efficiently. Water regulates body temperature, keeps joints lubricated, and delivers nutrients to cells. Every person has individual needs when it comes to daily water intake depending on factors that include physical activity, the environment you live in, and your overall health.
The U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine recommends 15.5 cups of fluid daily for men and 11.5 cups of fluid for women. Despite the fact that hydration is important, a study conducted in the US found that only 22% of Americans drink at least ten glasses of water a day. Many study participants said they were either too busy to drink enough water, or they forgot to do it.
Did you know the most common cause of midday fatigue is dehydration?
Keeping your employees hydrated will make them happier and healthier, and create a more productive workplace. It’s easy to forget to drink enough water during a busy work day. Employees can suffer from fatigue and other cognitive issues that reduce productivity if not properly hydrated.
How Businesses Can Participate in National Hydration Day
Businesses can participate in many initiatives this National Hydration Day to make sure employees stay healthy and hydrated. From sponsoring engaging and educational events to rethinking your office water cooler, our list of ways to celebrate this holiday has ideas for any business to help employees establish good water-drinking habits.
1. Sponsor fun events on National Hydration Day.
Make hydration fun and engaging by sponsoring a company-wide event that raises awareness about drinking water and staying healthy. Many employees may not realize that they’re dehydrated and how it affects their health and job performance. You can create an entire day at your business centered on educating employees about the importance of hydration to encourage them to drink more water.
Some of the events you can incorporate into a National Hydration Day celebration at your workplace include:
- Set Water-Drinking Goals for Your Office: Make it a competition! Get everyone to record how much water they drink. You can ask them to record cups, ounces, or whatever measurement works best. Reward those who drink the recommended amount of water throughout the day. Divide employees into teams or set goals for the office as a whole.
- Announcements About Drinking Water: Apps and timers can help remind people to stay hydrated daily. Take this idea and expand it to the workplace by making announcements via intercom, email, or team members throughout the day that make employees conscious of how much water they drink.
- Post Facts About Hydration in the Workplace: Your team members will feel inspired to drink more water when they have all the facts about hydration and the human body. Place signage around the office with water facts and with info on where every office water cooler can be found at your business.
2. Provide free reusable water bottles.
Handing out free reusable water bottles to employees on National Hydration Day encourages good water-drinking habits. If employees have the tools they need to stay healthy, they’ll be more likely to hydrate. You can customize the water bottles you provide to team members by including your company logo.
3. Inspire employees to stay hydrated.
Involve your HR department and ask them to create an employee wellness campaign for National Hydration Day that your business can extend through the rest of the year. Take water-drinking competitions beyond one day by having employees create monthly hydration goals and provide ways for them to track their progress. Reward employees who meet their goals with prizes that encourage fitness and hydration.
4. Make tasty infused water at the office.
Introducing flavored water into the office encourages people to stay hydrated. And, it’s super simple. Many people say they don’t drink enough water because they don’t like the way it tastes. Use ingredients like limes, lemons, cucumber, and mint to create refreshing flavored water employees can access in break rooms or cafeterias.
Office water cooler solutions provide employees with flavored water on demand. Bevi flavored and sparkling water dispensers from Quench are convenient and offer more than 12 flavor combinations employees will love.
5. Invest in a bottleless water cooler.
Some employees may not drink enough water during their workday because they don’t like the taste of the water that comes from your water cooler. Employees will be more likely to stay hydrated when they have fresh, great-tasting water provided by state-of-the-art filtration.
Bottleless water coolers from Quench employ filtration and purification technologies that remove off-tastes and odors from drinking water. These bottleless water coolers use advanced filtration technology, stainless steel tanks, and food-grade tubing to preserve water quality and improve the taste.
Quench bottleless water coolers also dispense a type of alkaline water called quenchWATER+. Not only does quenchWATER+ taste great, but it also hydrates employees faster and for longer. The 5-filter Quench system uses reverse osmosis to remove contaminants from water and adds electrolytes and minerals to water with an FDA- and NSF-certified filter. This produces clean, great-tasting alkaline water that is absorbed by the body easier and hydrates employees for longer.
Keep your employees healthy, happy, and hydrated with a Quench bottleless water cooler that provides refreshing drinking water on demand. Discover which bottleless water cooler is right for your business and learn how much you can save using a bottleless water cooler.
