An Earth Day Assignment: Donations for Trees

My cousin just kindly reminded me that today is Earth Day (of course, so did Google, with it's very cute interactive logo - in Canada, you can make the panda laugh and the salmon swim up the stream before it gets eaten by the grizzly bear).

His ulterior motive for the reminder: He wants to donate, but doesn't know where to begin. The criteria: an organization that takes donations with a low overhead percentage; an organization that will plant a tree for donations.

I told him I'd take up the hunt, since it fits my blog theme and purpose, and I'd also share my process, in the proverbial teaching-a-man-to-fish way.

1. First, there's always Google. American Forests allows donations to plant trees where they are needed most, and for specific causes (see the drop-down menu). According to the second option, every dollar donated plants one tree. Each option has a brief description of the project. Their 2007 report, found here, states that they give grants to 35 partners to restore forest ecosystems by planting millions of trees. They do other neat things, too, but my guess would be the "tree donation" money goes to the grants. So not only do you know that your money is going to tree-planting, you know specifically for which project the tree will be planted. If you're worried about your rights as a donor, look here for their Donor Bill of Rights.

2. Here's another option (that doesn't necessarily fit the criteria but might be interesting nonetheless): Volunteer to plant trees in your area. Like Denver. If you plant a tree by yourself, instead of with the Mile High Million (see previous link), you can still register your tree, and make it count towards the million trees that make up the organization's goal. An organization that includes tree planting as part of a different range of activities is Boulder Mountainbike Alliance.

3. Googling a "city" with "tree planting charities" leads to an interesting notion - look up charities in the local yellow pages or online equivalent, and contact a local tree-planting organization. I know Washington, D.C. hosts an organization called Casey Trees, where volunteers plant trees in the city, to restore the city's tree canopy. They gratefully accept donations, and although unlike American Forests, do not plant specific trees for your donation, you will know that your money supports tree-planting. You can also donate a large amount ($550) to have a commemorative tree planted specially.

In Canada, you can donate to Tree Canada, where you can designate which program you want your money to assist, and Trees Ontario, where your donation will support the tree-planting infrastructure. With the second, your money may not be used specifically for planting a tree, but you'll know you're supporting tree-planting in general, and it won't be difficult to imagine that special tree your money planted.

To conclude, the first option is probably easiest, with the others requiring slightly more investigation and hands-on action, but they're all viable options for donating trees and money for tree-planting. It should go without saying that the closer you are to the tree-planting or the organization that is doing the planting, the more input and feedback you'll have about what your money achieved.

Washington DC Sober Ride

Sometimes working for the government is surprisingly useful... an email I just received, for your edification (especially if you live in the Washington, D.C. area):


*** FOR INFORMATION ONLY ***
The Washington Regional Alcohol Program (WRAP) 2009 Holiday SoberRide program will be offered from 2200 to 0600 each night, beginning Friday, 11 December 2009 and ending at 0600, Friday, 1 January 2010. To receive a free cab ride home (up to a $50.00 fare), please call 800-200-8294 (TAXI) or #8294 (TAXI) on your AT&T wireless phone. You must be 21 years of age or older to use the SoberRide service.

Click here for more information: http://www.wrap.org/soberride/

Even if you don't live in this area, it might be worthwhile looking into other regional sober ride programs.

Advent: Day 1(ish)

I am aware that December has not yet arrived. However, my countdown must start early as I have a Christmas event scheduled for Black Friday. No, it is not shopping. I vow never to be in any location that might be termed a "mall", whether strip or the regular kind, nor shall I ever be found in any kind of store, on Black Friday. I have a large, fiercely defended personal space sphere, and crowds make me irritable. As in, step-on-toes and elbow-nudge irritable.

No, on Friday evening, I have plans to go to the ballet! The second ballet I've been to as an adult, and specifically, this time I have tickets to see the Nutcracker at the Kennedy Center (playing Nov 24-29). Though not the first time I'll have seen the Nutcracker, it will be the first in so many years I can't remember much about the last time, except that my father started snoring halfway through.

I look forward to it with a great deal of anticipation - I love Tchaikovsky, he was brilliant, and the Nutcraker is one of my favorite suites. Not to mention the costumes, and the story, and getting to sit in good seats, to dress up in fancy evening clothes, and to down a small, overpriced glass of wine at the intermission... I can't wait!

if I Only Had a Bicycle... A Tale of Tweed

Good day to you!

An event occurred last weekend in DC that I wish I'd joined. They call it a "tweed ride", a phenomenon that began in London and has since been seen in cities across the US, including San Francisco, Boston, Chicago and even Washington (DC, that is). Notably, excluded is the fashion capital, New York City. The essence of the "tweed ride"? Dandies (often) in tweed, cycling through city streets. The fashion evokes a jumble of eras, with riding boots, suspenders, tweed skirts, bowties and tie clips, and hats of all styles.

Read all about it! In Monday's WaPo article.

For those of you, like me, who missed the inaugural ride, and would love the opportunity to join in, there may be a next time! Look for news on the blogosphere before next spring and you may catch it. If I'm lucky, and remember, I'll put something up here before it happens.

OUT: Haunted House. IN: Haunted Ship

Ladies and Gents, it's that time of year again. Time to get your spook (or fright) on. Time to eat too much yummy candy and dress up in too-revealing ridiculous costumes or wear unnerving face paint. Time to carry scythes and machetes, fairy wands and red tridents (the glorified fork, not the gum).

Historical Side Note: Tridents were used in gladiatorial contests in Rome and throughout the Roman Empire during the more ancient part of Western history. A retiarius traditionally carried a trident, as well as a net to "fish" for his opponents. Unfortunately for the poor fisherman gladiator, he also had less armor. He's the nearly-naked one bleeding from the calf.

(courtesy Brooklyn College Classics Department)

Okay, history lesson over.


Back to Halloween. There's the monster Nightmare on M Street pub crawl (bar crawl if you're from the States), which is good fun, and there're your generic haunted houses...

And then there's Ghost Ship Barry. Seriously, if you can make it down to the Navy Yard (Eastern Market or Navy Yard Metro stops) the day before Halloween (still a weekend, given the spooky holiday falls on a Saturday this year), the sailors really have too much fun with the decorations and the being-scary. Early in the evening is reserved for the little bitties, but later on the sailors are given free reign to scare older children and adults out of their wits. I went last year and had a ball. Note to those looking for a less-scary experience: contrary to popular belief, the front of the line is the least scary. Or so I found. More info can be uncovered here. In fact, the link provides other Washington Navy Yard/US Navy Museum events this month.

Green Furniture

I haven't written about anything "green" in a very long while. I suppose that goal of mine got shoved to the back burner while I was going through some stressful challenges over the past three months. It looks as though I'm on the climb back up to good days however (knock on wood), so I'll devote just a second here to get back to my "green" choices.

Unfortunately I consider my plans for today to have resulted in an epic fail. I meant to go to Upscale Resale, a consignment furniture store in the area, and actually purchase something. I need furniture with seats for butts, tables for drinks and coasters, and possibly a TV stand. Basically, I have no furniture.

It's lucky for me that my two interests related to furnishings align. I love historical ... well, anything, really, including furniture ... so you'd think this would work out great, because most secondhand furniture is usually from some sort of historical period (whether it be the art deco of the '20s or more traditional Colonial style). Sadly, no dice. Not today.

Memorial Day

Many people, myself included, forget that Memorial Day is not just another federal holiday - albeit one with parades, festivals, flags and flowers - but is also a day to remember the soldiers, sailors and pilots who fought and perished in our nation's wars. Here's the government's official version on the origins of Memorial Day and other interesting tidbits, covering "Confederate Memorial Day" observances, the "Moment of Remembrance" established in 2000, and even Pericles. (Pericles??)

Incidentally, the poppies in Britain, her colonies and even elsewhere in Europe are ... disturbingly evocative, once you know the story. The short version is that after the Napoleonic Wars, the first flowers to grow in the grave fields of Flanders.

Demonstrating my distressing lack of cultural awareness, the Women's Military Memorial (Women in Military Service for America Memorial, for long) has been holding "one of the major Memorial Day programs in the nation's capital" for 12 years, and I've only discovered it for the first time today. Interestingly enough, the memorial has been on my radar for awhile now, because I've been planning a visit to find records of my maternal grandmother, who was a Lt. Nurse in the Army in World War II. Who deployed to South East Asia. Which is rather exciting!

So. As I prepare for my holiday, I'll take a moment to remember the fallen. And the poppies. And the survivors.

THE Musem of American History, Renewed - For Better, or For Worse?

The National Museum of American History just re-opened on the National Mall in Washington, DC this past Friday. As part of the Smithsonian Institution, it has an excellent reputation to live up to - even though reviews it received before remodelling were negative.

So I've been looking forward to this re-opening for months now, cultural history being the most interesting kind of history in my opinion.

Then, I read something like this.

I never read movie reviews before I go see a movie because I'm very easy to please when it comes to moving pictures entertainment, and often the critics are, well - very critical. So I will go see this museum, even though I've read a disappointing reveiw of it. And what do you know, I may like it. I'm sure it will be an educational experience no matter what impression I end up with.