Musician, actor, and son of Will Smith, Jaden Smith is already an icon living. Now, he is about to be crowned by UCLA's Institute of the Environment and Sustainability for co-founding 'Just Water' and developing mobile water filtration systems in largely lower-income minority communities.
At a mere 11 years old and hot off the success of his second major motion picture The Karate Kid, something struck the young Jaden Smith. While surfing, the Never Say Never rapper couldn't help but notice the mass littering of plastic water bottles in the ocean; so much so, he started a company to combat the issue.
With the help of his parents, The Pursuit of Happyness actor founded Just Water, a company which uses and sells sustainably sourced water packaged in a plant-based bottles made up of 82% renewable resources. In 2019, Just Water reached a whopping $100 million evaluation all while increasing awareness of the danger single-use plastic water bottles pose to the environment. At the same time, Smith has been deploying mobile water filtration systems in largely low-income minority communities like Flint, Michigan, and in L.A.'s Watts through his non-profit organization 501CTHREE.
On October 13, Smith will be honored with the title of 'Environmental Champion' of UCLA's Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, joining the company Barbra Streisand, Al Gore, Ted Sarandos, and more. The event is open to the public and will feature A-list guests, Harrison Ford and Courtney Cox. All the proceeds of the event will be given to UCLA.
