UNICEF TAP PROJECT MARCH 22-28 – Turn A Glass of Water Into Something Beautiful

Some of you may have seen the outdoor signs around DC and the Metro but what the buzz is about is that World Water Week is coming to DC March 22nd – 28th.

World Water Week is a week-long charity event launched by the Tap Project, an initiative of UNICEF, to help address the global crises of poor water sanitation in developing nations. The lack of clean drinking water is the second largest killer of children under five worldwide, causing 4,200 deaths from water-related diseases every day.

During World Water Week (March 22-28, 2009) restaurants here in DC and across the United States will encourage patrons to donate $1 or more for the tap water they usually enjoy for free. Every dollar raised provides a child with clean drinking water for 40 days.

Tap DC invites Washington residents and local artists to participate in a large-scale public art project to promote World Water Week in our city. Residents and artists are invited to “turn a glass of water into something beautiful”—creating works of art that demonstrate the transformative potential of a glass of water.

Art may be submitted in the artists’ medium of choice: painting, drawing, poetry, sculpture, video or music. Selected works will be displayed in print, outdoor and television advertising, an art exhibition at the Pepco Edison Gallery, and online at TapDC.org.

What you can do:

Restaurants > Become a Tap Project participating restaurant, we’ll provide support materials to help you engage customers and inform local media about your involvement in this important project.

Volunteers > Register to be a Tap Project Campaign Volunteer and help us recruit and support local restaurants and employers.

Everyone > Create a piece of art to help promote World Water Week. Dine out at a participating restaurant March 22-28. Donate at tapdc.org or text the word “TAP” to 864233 (UNICEF) to make a $5 donation.

For more info visit:

The TAP DC site: http://www.tapdc.org/
Tap DC Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=35356331705
Tap DC Twitter page: http://twitter.com/tapdc

Full Disclosure: I work for the agency promoting World Water Week here in DC. I am also heading up the blog outreach and promotion across the social media sphere.

DC Tenants Coalition — Reviving a DC Legacy

in honor of a traditional DC institution, the modern revival of a Tenants Rights group is NOW forming and organizing!!!

JOIN THE MOVEMENT FOR TENANTS RIGHTS!!!

DC Tenants Coalition is a grass roots group of DC tenants, tenant associations and other concerned persons and groups. It seeks to strengthen tenants rights in the District of Columbia through education, networking and lobbying.

If you’re interested in getting involved and want to help organize for tenants rights, request to join their listserve at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DCTenantsCoalition/

Let them know you heard about it thru Idealist DC!

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For a copy of the “Tenant Survival Guide” and other tenants/tenant association resources, visit the DC Office of the Tenant Advocate

Public Roundtable on Legislation to Reduce Poverty In DC

D.C. City Councilmember Marion Barry has proposed a resolution to move the Council toward budget legislation that would address poverty “in a holistic manner.” The resolution includes recommendations for funding in a wide range of areas.

On Thursday, December 11, at 10:00 AM, Barry will hold a public roundtable to build support for his approach. The event will be in Room 500 of the Wilson Building, 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW.

To testify in person, contact Michael Rious at 202-724-7807 or mrious@dccouncil.us, by December 9 at 5:00 PM. Written statements for the record will be accepted through December 19.

– Kathryn

Public Roundtable on Restoring Essential DC Services

On December 8, at 10:00 AM, Councilmember Jim Graham will hold a public roundtable, or hearing, on a bill to increase District parking meter rates. Funds raised by the rate increase would be used to “restore essential services for District residents.”

The Council recently reduced funding for a range of programs that serve the needs of homeless and other poor residents, including support for affordable housing. Enactment of the bill would a way for the Council to modify these cutbacks.

Under the bill, meters that currently cost $1.00 per hour would cost $1.50 per hour. Meters that currently cost 50 cents per hour would cost 75 cents per hour. And parking at meters in the central business district would no longer be free on Saturdays.

The Council will be interested in learning whether the public is willing to accept these increases in exchange for less far-reaching cutbacks in essential services. For example, it needs to know if the increases will not discourage you from shopping downtown.

The public is invited to testify or to submit written testimony that will be made part of the official record. The official notice of the hearing provides details on the process and the location of the hearing. The hearing is open, and attendance is another way to demonstrate interest.

– Kathryn

Advise the Obama Administration

Do you have any idea for how the Obama administration and Congress should change America? Here’s a project that can get your idea heard.

Change.org has partnered with more than a dozen other organizations to launch a nationwide competition for ideas that will translate voters’ broad call for change into specific policies.

On the project site, you can post an idea, comment on other ideas and vote for your favorites. You can also build support for your idea by e-mailing it to friends and posting it on social networking sites.

The 10 ideas receiving the most votes will be presented to the Obama administration on Inauguration Day. Then Change.org will select a nonprofit sponsor for each idea to help build a nationwide movement to advocate for it.

Ideas can be about anything and from any political perspective. So if you want to shape the agenda for change, here’s a chance to weigh in.

– Kathryn

DC EXPANDS RECYCLING PROGRAM

DC EXPANDS CURBSIDE RECYCLING PROGRAM

DC Mayor Adrian Fenty has announced that the DC Department of Public Works recycling collection crews will accept an expanded list of items for recycling, especially plastics. As of October 6, residents can now recycle:

• Aerosol cans
• Milk and juice cartons
• Plastic bags, e.g., grocery bags, newspaper bags, shopping bags (Please “bag the bags” by placing all the bags into one bag.)
• Rigid plastics: plastic milk/soda crates, plastic buckets with metal handles, plastic laundry baskets, plastic lawn furniture, plastic totes, plastic drums, plastic coolers, plastic flower pots, plastic drinking cups/glasses, plastic 5-gallon water bottles, plastic pallets, plastic toys, and empty plastic garbage/recycling bins
• Wide-mouth containers: peanut butter, margarine/butter tubs, yogurt, cottage cheese, sour cream, mayonnaise, whipped topping, and prescription and other medicine bottles.

For a comprehensive list of allowable items for recycling, click here.

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DC HOUSEHOLD HAZARDOUS WASTE/E-CYCLING DROP-OFF SITES

DPW operates two weekly household hazardous waste (HHW) /e-cycling drop-off and free personal document shredding sites at the Benning Road Trash Transfer Station (3200 Benning Road, NE) and the Fort Totten Trash Transfer Station (4900 Bates Road, NE). Both are open on Saturdays, except holidays, 8 am to 3 pm. These weekly drop-off sites replace the semi-annual HHW/e-cycling collection events. Residents also can bring documents to be shredded.

If you cannot make it to either site, residents can call 311, the Mayor’s Citywide Call Center, for a bulk collection appointment.

Accepted Household Hazardous Waste includes: Leftover cleaning and gardening chemicals, small quantities of gasoline, pesticides and poisons, mercury thermometers, paint, solvents, spent batteries of all kinds, antifreeze, chemistry sets, automotive fluids, and asbestos tiles, fluorescent light bulbs, polishes, and moth balls.

Unacceptable items: Ammunition, bulk trash, wooden TV consoles, propane tanks, microwave ovens, air conditioners and other appliances, as well as radioactive or medical wastes.

Residents can also e-cycle end-of-life consumer electronics, including audio-visual equipment, televisions, VCRs, cell phones and home office equipment such as computers, computer parts, printers, photocopiers and fax machines. These machines will be broken down into their component parts (plastic, glass, toxic metals) and recycled or disposed of safely. More Info >>

Message to Obama @ Lincoln Memorial

Sponsored by Avaaz.org.

They are trying to collect a million messages…contribute yours today!

the electorate has spoken loudly and clearly….

Mr. President-Elect: Barack Obama

for local election results, visit the DC Board of Elections and Ethics

Dont forget to vote!!!

Find your polling place

 boee.dc.gov

absentee voting? call and confirm

yesterday, i had the most interesting/disturbing conversation on the phone with someone from my local “Supervisor of Elections” office.

long story short….they told me that they had ALREADY RECEIVED MY BALLOT!!!

i don’t remember voting yet!

after calling again today, they told me they will be sending me another ballot!

lesson of my story: if you’re an absentee voter, or just voting by mail, please call your local Elections Office and check your status! who knows, maybe they already “received” your ballot too!