Hey YouthNoise!

We're having an exciting event this THURSDAY, February 19th, 2009 at the Brecht Forum in New York City for a screening, a panel and mini party to announce some winners of the really cool Water Front Remix Challenge that I posted a blog about a couple months ago. We want to see our DROP Participants there as well as our other friends and family of YouthNoise.

Our partners are some amazing organizations! Check them out:

Media that Matters

The Water Front

Food and Water Watch

Brecht Forum

For more info check this out.

If you want to check out the film and you're NOT in New York City, here is a little info:

The award winning documentary, "The Water Front" is the story of one community fighting against the seemingly inevitable path to water privatization. THE WATER FRONT is not just about water, but touches on the ver essence of our democratic system. The film presents a community in crisis but it also presents the powerful enactment of local participation in finding solutions to the problems of our times. In coordination with Food and Water Watch, the film is on tour around the Great Lakes through March 2009.

If you're attending the IMPACT Conference, the film will be screened there as well!

WE HOPE TO SEE YOU IN NEW YORK!

You know how on the night before Christmas, or the first day of school, you can't sleep? You lie in bed, tossing and turning. You tell yourself: sleep! get some sleep you lousy brain! Still you are excited/nervous and your brain and heart are both aflutter. Then you toss more. Then you turn more. Then you try your hardest not to think about anything at all. Which fails. 

Well, that's basically not what's occurring over here at DROP Headquarters, gang. We are up, slaving away at the last minute, loading USB drives, uploading things, downloading things, making seating arrangements and practicing all of the witty, seemingly off the cuff things we are going to say tomorrow in front of all of you. We are looking at your Bios and trying to guess which ones of you would like the same kinds of movies as us, and which we should set up on post-conference dates (hello fundraiser). It's not creepy, it's just that we have been setting this event up for a really long time and honestly, we are glad y'all are coming. 

So no one be creeped out, everyone drink some warm milk, and tomorrow, let's talk planet-saving, shall we?

So, I am sitting in front of my computer, perusing cyberspace and wondering how to tell everyone in the New York area about DROP. It baffles me how so many people crammed into such a small space can be so difficult to get ahold of (except of course you dear YN-er, you of course are in the know already). Literally, I am in a cell in a beehive. Hundreds of people are surrounding me at this very moment, eating, sleeping, facebooking. And that is just one New York high rise's worth. When you break it down in your mind the city is really a remarkable feat of construction.

But I digress. The parallel fact which also blows my mind is that water is successfully routed to each of these living spaces, for millions of people, through hundreds of thousands of feet of pipes every minute of every day. The island of Manhattan is no island at all. Water runs through it like capillaries keeping these cells in the hive going. The dirty vein of the Hudson hugs us tight, flowing by all the while.

If only I could be like the water. Flow through nooks and crannies. What if awareness could be siphoned into homes, or out of spickets? Doctors would tell you to get your daily serving, you could drink it with a hearty breakfast. Your ramen noodle dinner would be infused with activism. None of this internet, fight-for-your-attention-amongst-the-spam dancing around. When you got a little down about the world, or wanted to enact change, just pour yourself a tall one. On tap this week you ask?DROP Summit, November 15th

So, this is slightly old news (June 08), but eh, it's interesting news. So I just recently read this article in the good old New York Times. The basic idea is that Mayor Bloomberg has now joined over 30 other cities across the US and Canada to start riding city government of bottled water.

The mayors, after getting back from the United States Conference of Mayors, found this to be one issue of interest. Here are some of the reasons they site:

1. Bottled Water costs the city mad cash- According to Think Outside the Bottle, 4,000-10,000 times as much as the tap.

2. Plastic bottles may be recycled, but shoot- somehow they keep ending up in landfills, and New York City trash ends up in other states anyway.

3. Taking a pledge to elimate a case of water here and there doesn't amount to much in such a huge industry- but think about the bottled water contracts cities take on. That's hundreds of thousands of dollars. Whew.

However, we can't have a conversation about this without hearing from the folks that are impacted: The American Beverage Association, Pepsi and Coca Cola. So what did they say when they went to lobby against these measures? Here are a few of their reasons:

1. “It’s myopic and shortsighted — it’s like banning rope until you need a lifeline,” said Craig Stevens, a spokesman for the association. “We’re not trying to compete with tap water here. We are trying to supplement the water available to consumers.”

2. We should talk about better water infastructure, as well as recycling. These are the main concerns.

3. Bottle water is much better than the other, duh duh duh, destructive drinks!

From all accounts read, these seem to be the continual talking points from the industry. So while Bloomberg and the New York City government are taking a stand on promoting deliciously pure NYC Tap Water, the industry is looking to combat more cities from jumping on the bandwagon.

This issue will surely be interesting to follow as the power house of Mayor Gavin Newsome and Mayor Michael Bloomberg keep promoting that TAP!