As another year draws to a close, we join individuals and companies around the world in an end of the year review. It is a valuable time to look back over annual progress and reflect on important measurables. At Gentle Giant, some of the numbers we evaluate include jobs booked, hours worked, revenue gained, stairs climbed and gallons of water consumed to stay hydrated on the job.

Water: one of the very basic building blocks of life. Along with food and oxygen, it is a crucial part of surviving and thriving in daily life. As Leonardo da Vinci once said, “water is the driving force of all nature.”

At Gentle Giant, we spend a lot of time talking about, thinking about and drinking water. As a company founded and built by athletes, we recognize the importance of staying hydrated to stay healthy. On some of the hottest days of the year, our livelihood depends on our ability to keep up with the inevitable dehydration that comes with outdoor manual labor.

Our Giants take a very athletic approach to moving, focusing on hustling and helping our customers transition into their new homes as efficiently as possible. Anyone who has worked outside during the summer knows hustle is paid for in sweat, so we like to make sure movers are breaking early and often to keep up with the hydration. Two gallons a day seems like a lofty goal, but we recommend our Giants strive for greatness.

The winter can be a trickier time of year, where dry air dehydrates and the loss of fluids through sweat is less obvious. That being said, it is no less important to keep energized with appropriate consumption of water. Depending on the weather and the level of activity during these colder months, at least one gallon should be the baseline.

Now time for a little number crunching. During our calculations, we considered number of employees per month, number of days worked per employee per month, and number of gallons consumed per day, assuming adherence to the recommended daily water consumption. That brings us to a grand total of 120,800 gallons of water consumed on the job this year by our thirsty Giants.

What does 120,800 gallons look like? It is equivalent to about 240 8-person hot tubs, 10 moving trucks, 4 large backyard swimming pools, or 1 Boston Aquarium Penguin Tank. That’s a lot of hydration!

Happy New Year and thank you to our Giants for another wonderful year of staying fit and healthy together!