Let's get this out of the way: I don't wish to detract from a phenomenal campaign to raise money for ALS. I just believe that instead of going out and buying a bag or two of ice for $2-3, we could put that money to much better use. As a Type-A guy and former Ops Manager, the inefficiency of resource utilization boggles my mind.

Anyone who knows me knows that I'm the last person you'd expect to be doing this. I have made an art of avoiding eye contact with people who are about to ask me for change because I just don't carry it. I didn't give to Kony 2012 (I also didn't get caught on a street corner in San Diego doing what that guy did. Just saying). The rationale is simple: Those things cost me something. I'm not going to start carrying change and listening to it jingle all day in order to have something to hand out, and I'm not going to give to campaigns out of money I've not budgeted for charitable giving just because they tug at my heart strings. This, however? This is easy. If I'm already going to go buy ice and do the challenge, then the money to be spent is a sunk cost. Now I'm free to reallocate those funds and put them to their most effective use instead of literally throwing the cash down the drain. Why not give that to someone who desperately needs what you're about to casually throw all over the ground? As an added benefit, you stay dry! Just say you doused yourself but your camera broke (or got wet, if you're going for sympathy). Because of the wonderful psychological principle of moral licensing, you can totally lie about it after you've made this donation.