To finish our Water Conservation week, we are featuring another guest blog written by Karen T. Hartline.
Enjoy -Shout outs
Yesterday, while in my son’s bathroom, I noticed that there was a razor on the shelf (don’t worry, it was high above my three year old’s reach). Of course, at first, I rolled my eyes, thinking, (begin reading in a fast, high pitched, whiny ramble for the sake of authenticity) “What is this doing here? So ridiculous how I’m the one that has to put everything back in its rightful…” Then I realized something: my husband has been remembering to shave in the second bathroom. Why? Because it has a pluggable drain. This way he doesn’t wast water letting it run and run while he shaves ten years off his face (no beard makes him look younger… heheheh). Ohhhh… Awesome honey!
I also want to do a shout out to my kid’s teacher, who told me that they will start watering the class plant with the water left in their cups. I don’t know that this will keep the kids from actually turning off or turning down the faucet, but I think that it’s important just to have the expression “save water” in their heads. I mean, my kid knows that when he comes in the house, he has to take off his shoes and put them in the closet. He knows that if he wants something, he has to say please. Of course, we’re still working on a few things – say, getting a tissue when you’ve got snot running down your face… why aren’t kids bothered by a stream of mucus above their lip??? But the point is that these are all things that we started him doing early. So why not water conservation? Maybe, since it hasn’t been on my generation’s agenda our whole lives, that we don’t necessarily think to make it a priority for our kids. But we have to get them ready for the world that they live in, where water shortages are becoming more and more common. So from now on, it’s look both ways before you cross, don’t talk to strangers and SAVE WATER!
Starring: Damion Fitz
Written by: Julie Tortorici & Jessica Arinella
Shot, Edited and Directed by: Alicia Arinella
Produced by: On the Leesh Productions
Music by: Banana Whale
What You Can Do Logo Created by: SCG Siddharth Creative Group
Statistical Information provied by: the EPA, www.epa.gov
Additional Footage Provided by: Shutterstock, Inc. Used by Permission
Special Thanks: Dennis Arinella
For more information, please visit – www.whatyoucando365.com
It Aint for the Polar Bears
- a guest blog by John Ausiello
For those of you that do not know me (which of course is almost everyone reading this blog) I am a 36 year old physician in New York City who has become deeply passionate about global warming, energy and our environment. I was recently asked why I think such issues are important and what I may be doing about these problems. In future blogs (should I be lucky enough to write more) there will be ample time to address what I and others think can and should be done but today I would like to address the former question.
By now most of us have heard from the scientific community the litany of reasons why global warming is a threat. But the purpose of this blog is not to regurgitate such concerns point by point. Nor is it to sell anyone on the need to protect polar bears or other endangered species however invaluable such efforts may be. Instead, it is about a much more basic and personal reason why global warming is a concern of mine: his name is Alexander Ryan Ausiello, a little fellow who happens to call me daddy.
Alex is now 18 months old, happy, healthy and blissfully ignorant of all that may go wrong in the coming years. As a new parent I share the concerns that surely all young parents must. Is he ok when he coughs at night? Is he warm enough on a cold winter day? Is he growing and developing normally? Will he be vertically challenged his entire life like daddy?
My environmental concerns however have raised a whole new set of concerns perhaps unique to our generation. By the time Alex is 36, it is my fear that we may have squandered our opportunities to reverse global warming amidst our continued indifference. It is my fear that he may be stuck navigating life’s difficulties with the same outdated technology, wondering how billions will adapt to rising sea levels. Or his concern for endangered species may have become a reality as he lives slightly more alone in a world ripe with extinction. It is my fear that he may be entrenched in a world with far fewer options, with far greater threats and with far more uncertainties than the world inherited by his father. And it is my fear that he may have long ago abandoned the idea of parenting, thoughtfully refusing to bring another helpless child into an increasingly unstable world.
At the same time, as concerns for global warming are mounting and the citizens of the world are responding I have hope. By the time Alex is 36, I have hope that the world may have begun to cool thanks to the herculean efforts of his parent’s and grandparent’s generations. I have hope that Alex will be thriving in a world powered by renewable energy, wondering how we ever chose to burn oil to power our daily activities. That he will be in the early stages of a seemingly limitless adult life all made possible by the ingenuity and perseverance of the human spirit. And most importantly, I have hope that he too will have a son or daughter of his own, appreciating the raw emotion that can only come from staring into the eyes of your newborn child.
By the time Alex turns 36, it may be too late to make a difference, all the important decisions will have been made. I hope we have overcome our inertia and have chosen to act wisely. If so, I hope I am there with him to enjoy the dawn of a beautiful new day.
Think there’s nothing you can do to conserve water in your kitchen in 1 minute?
Starring: Jack Halaby
Written by: Julie Tortorici & Jessica Arinella
Shot, Edited and Directed by: Alicia Arinella
Produced by: On the Leesh Productions
Music by: Banana Whale
What You Can Do Logo Created by: SCG Siddharth Creative Group
Statistical Information provied by: the EPA, www.epa.gov
Additional Footage Provided by: Shutterstock, Inc. Used by Permission
Special Thanks: Dennis Arinella
For more information, please visit – www.whatyoucando365.com
Think there’s nothing you can do to conserve water in your bathroom in 1 minute?
Starring: Julie Tortorici
Written by: Julie Tortorici & Jessica Arinella
Shot, Edited and Directed by: Alicia Arinella
Produced by: On the Leesh Productions
Music by: Banana Whale
What You Can Do Logo Created by: SCG Siddharth Creative Group
Statistical Information provied by: the EPA, www.epa.gov
Additional Footage Provided by: Shutterstock, Inc. Used by Permission
Special Thanks: Dennis Arinella
For more information, please visit – www.whatyoucando365.com
Think there’s nothing you can do to conserve water in your bathroom in 1 minute?
Starring: Matt Wadja
Written by: Julie Tortorici & Jessica Arinella
Shot, Edited and Directed by: Alicia Arinella
Produced by: On the Leesh Productions
Music by: Banana Whale
What You Can Do Logo Created by: SCG Siddharth Creative Group
Statistical Information provied by: the EPA, www.epa.gov
Additional Footage Provided by: Shutterstock, Inc. Used by Permission
Special Thanks: Dennis Arinella
For more information, please visit – www.whatyoucando365.com
We wanted to pass on the word that the Los Angeles Women’s International Film Festival has accepted our short comedy, Milestone into their 2010 festival!
This will be a Los Angeles premiere! If you’re in LA, be sure to check this fest out!
Think there’s nothing you can do to conserve water in 1 Minute?
Starring – Mary Kate Funaro, Karen Funaro and Danny Funaro
Written by – Julie Tortorici & Jessica Arinella
Shot, Edited and Directed by – Alicia Arinella
Produced by: On the Leesh Productions
Music by: Banana Whale
What You Can Do Logo Created by: SCG Siddharth Creative Group
Additional Footage Provided by: Shutterstock, Inc. Used by Permission
Statistical Information provided by – The Environmental Protection Agency, www.epa.gov
Special Thanks – Joan Halaby Funaro, Maureen Halaby and Dennis Arinella.
For more information, please visit – www.whatyoucando365.com
To kick of Water Conservation Week, we are featuring a guest blog entry written by Karen T. Hartline.
Enjoy – Potty Mouth
This isn’t the first time that I’ve felt like a big fat dummy, but I would say that this is one of the most memorable ones. While staying with my sister in NYC, we were invited to her very close friend’s place for dinner. As we’re getting ready, my sis turns to me and says, “Hey, you’ll be interested to talk to this guy, because he knows how to make the water go down the toilet without flushing it.” Okay… So after everyone scrapes the last of this delicious meal off the plate, I turn to the husband and say, “Hey… can you tell me about how you flush the toilet?” I should mention I had spent the evening up to this point making normal dinner-conversation to build everyone’s confidence in me as a completely non-psychotic houseguest, which may be the only reason that that this guy graciously let me follow him into his bathroom to demonstrate how to flush the toilet without, uh… well, flushing the toilet.
Here’s the answer – get a pad an paper and write this down: pour water in the bowl.
Am I the only one that didn’t know that if you pour a gob of water in the toilet bowl that the toilet will flush itself in order to not overflow? Am I? Come on, I can’t be. Anyway, I looked at this guy the way the Munchkins looked at Dorothy when she dropped her house on the Wicked Witch.
Now, for those of you just joining us, (and for those of you who forgot), I’ve been wondering how to feel better about the gallons of grey water that gets sucked down the drain every other night when my son takes a bath. Ta-dah! I finally know what to do with it. I was a bit ambitious at first and insisted that my husband not drain the water in the bath, but as we were going to bed, I freaked out about the slimmest possibility of my son falling in the tub in the middle of the night (the bathroom is attached to his room with no lock on the outside). I know it’s a longshot, but I’m a worrier and pictured him doing a jackknife off the soap dish while I was asleep. So, my latest venture is to collect the water in gallon milk cartons one by one and use it to flush the toilets.
Well, I may be the only one to not have known this trick already, but I’m glad I learned this easy way to save gallons and gallons of water. Thank you to my toilet genius friends!
One of the wonderful organizations we have been fortunate enough to work with is Books for Africa. Please read on to hear from Books for Africa’s Executive Director Patrick Plonski, and to learn more about this amazing not for profit and the work that they do.
Please tell me a little bit about Books for Africa.
Books For Africa is the largest shipper of donated text and library books to the Africa continent, shipping over 22 million books to schools and libraries in 45 African countries since 1988.
How was Books for Africa founded?
BFA was established with our founder, Tom Warth, visited a library in Jinja, Uganda in 1988. The library had no books. Since he was involved in the publishing business, he came home to Minnesota and ran a book drive with some of his publishing friends and they sent a few bags of books. It was so well-received, that they set up a non-profit, Books For Africa, and kept going. That was 22 million books ago!
Since its creation, how has Books for Africa impacted the community it serves?
It is hard to describe a community without a library or books of any kind. It is even more odd to describe a community library or a school library that has the building and the shelves, but no books. It is like these people are deprived of what so many of us take for granted. But more than books, what we provide to the kids we serve in Africa is opportunity. Books provide literacy which provides education which provides opportunity to improve lives. You can’t believe the excitement of the kids when they open boxes of books that we shipped. They are excited because they know that they will be able to have fun reading books, but also be able to have some education and move their lives forward.
Please tell us how Books for Africa has personally affected your life?
It has been a great honor to serve as the director of Books for Africa. If a day does not go the way I would like it to go, I can still say to myself “Hey, at least I helped send that container of 22,000 books to Africa today, and that’s a good thing.”
Could you please share an anecdote about someone who’s life has been positively affected by Books for Africa?
I remember visiting a school in Eshowe, South Africa a few years ago. We were visiting a book distribution site and bringing a few more books. There was singing and dancing and so much excitement. And I thought, wow, I wonder what would happen if there were this much excitement when books are delivered to a school in the United States?
Is there anything else you would like our readers to know?
Just that a book can change a person’s life. I have some of my favorite books, and I sometimes re-read the parts I love best. I also remember as a kid growing up on the farm reading books and going to the library because I knew there was a bigger world out there and books were the way to get to that world. Please help us to open these doors to the larger world to these kids in Africa.
On the Leesh Productions is a New York based company devoted to the production of innovative, energetic, and challenging film and theater. We are comprised of a core team of collaborators interested in new and provocative subject matter, in unhindered visual experimentation, and in realizing the work of like-minded creative artists and writers.
