Nope. KAB was founded in 1953. Lady Bird began throwing her moral support behind it when she was First Lady in 1965. That of course helped, but organization continued as privately funded & organized.Mirador said:
Keith R
Mr. Waste History :cheeky:
- Thread starter Keith R
- Start date
Environmental Education - Is There Any?
Keith R
Mr. Waste History :cheeky:
Mirador said:
The organization was founded in 1953, when a group of corporate and civic leaders met in New York City to discuss this topic, same year National Advisory Council organized.
Lady Bird Johnson, First Lady, joined Keep America Beautiful in promoting highway beautification program in 1965.
NOTE: I saw now it was replied to, while I was having the reply window open...
As for community projects, I agree with you Scandall.
This is something many do, to be part of the community, to contribute and because we believe in it.
It is not a matter of looking good.
I wrote in my blog, for example, about our community project on my street that we - all of us living on the street - formed to keep us clean from garbage and to keep us safe.
This was in April - May this year, and it has been working fine.
Many things are being made at a lot of areas and places, and more will come.
It is good, really good, in my opinion that these issues are highlighted, because they need to be, but it is not breaking news. Alots of small things happens all the time.
Not enough, sure. But they do happen.
This is something many do, to be part of the community, to contribute and because we believe in it.
It is not a matter of looking good.
I wrote in my blog, for example, about our community project on my street that we - all of us living on the street - formed to keep us clean from garbage and to keep us safe.
This was in April - May this year, and it has been working fine.
Many things are being made at a lot of areas and places, and more will come.
It is good, really good, in my opinion that these issues are highlighted, because they need to be, but it is not breaking news. Alots of small things happens all the time.
Not enough, sure. But they do happen.
Why not tell us what you do, Scandall?Scandall said:
There's a difference between telling people about your actions because you want to brag, and because you want to offer up your experience as an example, that can be learned from.
If I post about my experiences in helping a community in another place become more aware of their own role in improving the environment, with tangible and measurable results, including lessons learned, will I be accused of bragging? I hope not.
Thanks, Carina. Your mention of what you and your vecinos are doing gives me hope. It is not the first such story I have heard. That's why I am spending so much time and energy on this Green Team thing, precisely because I think change is possible. It just needs nurturing and a push.
Nobody is paying us to do this, and some of us are getting as much or more derision and jeering as encouragement. But we're doing it anyway, even though we all have regular jobs and commitments and families. I'll let the others on the Team speak for themselves, but I am confident none of them are doing it for bragging rights, Randy.
I agree with Ilana. Sometimes it helps to tell about projects that are working -- it can encourage others to give it a try. Often it helps even when a project fails or falls short to talk about it, because there are lessons others can learn from.
Both are founding premises behind the Green Team. There are good things out there that more should know about and take inspiration from, and there are things done wrong we all must learn from.
I mentioned the Team earlier in this thread on environmental education not because I want to brag on them. [I should also point out I mentioned the broader DR1 community as possible pool for volunteers.] It's because at least with these guys & gals when I say "we should do something," they don't kneejerk respond "forget it, it can't be done" -- rather they say "why not? How can we start?"
Nobody is paying us to do this, and some of us are getting as much or more derision and jeering as encouragement. But we're doing it anyway, even though we all have regular jobs and commitments and families. I'll let the others on the Team speak for themselves, but I am confident none of them are doing it for bragging rights, Randy.
I agree with Ilana. Sometimes it helps to tell about projects that are working -- it can encourage others to give it a try. Often it helps even when a project fails or falls short to talk about it, because there are lessons others can learn from.
Both are founding premises behind the Green Team. There are good things out there that more should know about and take inspiration from, and there are things done wrong we all must learn from.
I mentioned the Team earlier in this thread on environmental education not because I want to brag on them. [I should also point out I mentioned the broader DR1 community as possible pool for volunteers.] It's because at least with these guys & gals when I say "we should do something," they don't kneejerk respond "forget it, it can't be done" -- rather they say "why not? How can we start?"
Apologies for the pointed comment directed at you. I've been dealing with some "sit back and make comments" instead of "put your back into it and accomplish something". So, unwittingly, you were at the end of my frustration curve. Sorry already OK!
Consider Chiri's comment though for a moment. Many of us can accomplish much, but few of us accomplish small things. If your community projects are visible (not for the bragging rights), someone else may feel the urge to help.
Consider Chiri's comment though for a moment. Many of us can accomplish much, but few of us accomplish small things. If your community projects are visible (not for the bragging rights), someone else may feel the urge to help.
Scandall said:
Carina, I like this one:
“You see things; and you say, ‘Why?’ But I dream things that never were; and I say, “Why not?".
-- Robert Kennedy
“You see things; and you say, ‘Why?’ But I dream things that never were; and I say, “Why not?".
-- Robert Kennedy
I understand the point of this thread, but another thought comes to my mind too, as I am sure we all get various thoughts that are related to education in this area.
Of course there are many, many issues, of which some have been brought up, as education has so many levels and ways of existing.
I don?t know if this is specific for the north coast where I am located.
I also know we are talking about Dominican education, but as we are part of this society if we live here, this area would include immigrants/expats as well.
A very common view here among expats/immigrants is that "I live here, and I good money for my apartment & area, and they do a bad job with the garbage"... or " I am not affected, my landlord is good and I have an electronic gate, so we keep our area clean.." etc etc..
How come people don?t see they are part of society, and that their little spot is not the important?
How come many don?t see, that it actually matters if toilets don?t flush at schools as it is hard to explain the reality of hygien then, just because they have a toilet that flush at home?
Is there any ideas how to get people, because the are many, to be more involved in society in these issues? Or it is just a reality that they never will be, and they will continue to live like visitors and not care about anything outside their own bubble?
Is this just a north coast thing?
Of course there are many, many issues, of which some have been brought up, as education has so many levels and ways of existing.
I don?t know if this is specific for the north coast where I am located.
I also know we are talking about Dominican education, but as we are part of this society if we live here, this area would include immigrants/expats as well.
A very common view here among expats/immigrants is that "I live here, and I good money for my apartment & area, and they do a bad job with the garbage"... or " I am not affected, my landlord is good and I have an electronic gate, so we keep our area clean.." etc etc..
How come people don?t see they are part of society, and that their little spot is not the important?
How come many don?t see, that it actually matters if toilets don?t flush at schools as it is hard to explain the reality of hygien then, just because they have a toilet that flush at home?
Is there any ideas how to get people, because the are many, to be more involved in society in these issues? Or it is just a reality that they never will be, and they will continue to live like visitors and not care about anything outside their own bubble?
Is this just a north coast thing?
In a word, no.carina said:
I saw much of the same attitude among residents living in Santo Domingo.
I must say, though, that in visiting my wife's relatives in small towns in the interior, that I often found some towns themselves that were relatively clean, although that ended pretty much at town limits. That suggests that sometimes a community dynamic comes into play.
I like linamia's idea of starting a national public service TV ad appealing to the average Dominican housewife/mother's concern with keeping her own house clean and swept, no matter how poor or where located.
I picture it sorta like this: show a do?a in her house, which is spotless in a very exaggerated way. Not a pin out of place. Have her say something about how proud she is to have a clean home. Then pan out to show that the sparkling clean abode on the inside is surrounded by a smelly, messy municipal trash dump outside (maybe with a flagpole flying the Dominican flag?)…. Maybe have the narrator say something like “?Dominicanos – de veras que cuidamos lo nuestro?”
I think though, most Dominicans have clean houses. They sweap outside "their" entrance and so on.
My thought, was as I wrote, more about the immigrant/expat attitude in the growing gated communities, as well as when living in apartments in cities..
Many are convinced and live on with the attitude that" I pay so much, they should take care of it" ( it- garbage, mess etc etc )
My thought, was as I wrote, more about the immigrant/expat attitude in the growing gated communities, as well as when living in apartments in cities..
Many are convinced and live on with the attitude that" I pay so much, they should take care of it" ( it- garbage, mess etc etc )
hmm, I see. Yes, I've heard that from some expats/immigrants in the DR too. Sometimes I wonder if some of them are the same people who complained loudly when new immigrant groups moved into their old neighborhoods back in the US, Canada, Europe, etc., and didn't make an effort to be part of the greater community...
Keith, let me, with the risk of repeating myself, tell you very briefly what we did on my street.
I live downtown Puerto Plata, on one of the sideroads from the Amber Museum, that goes between Calle Beller and Antera Mota.
It is mostly houses ( i.e casas/villas ), and a few apartments.
The people of my street are a mixture of the Dominican local society,
from the very poor old Leo that we all help out with food at the end of the month, to Italian Edgar ( that is not his name, but we call him that because he looks like Edgar of the movie Arisotocats) who have lived here for 40 years, to the university teacher, the young hip DJ, to the owner of Hidelisa and a senator of Puerto Plata.
Pretty much as it is downtown in any local town in other words.
We?ve had, by request from the wife to the owner of Hidelisa Centro had 2 meetings in a nearby school. That was enough, and our street is small, not too many people live here.
First meeting, just a sharing of ideas, complaints, frustrations, arguments...
Next meeting, what can we do, that actually WE can do.
What did we do?
Well, all ideas/arguments were listed, and we came up with the following, a mix of things, but it worked for us.
- Ask a company for new cases to the basketball field for the kids.
It is safer if they are in the deportivo than on the streets in the evening.
Brugal gave them to us, and they also took the cost of putting them up.
Osvaldo Brugal grew up not far from here and he was happy to assist us.
Owner has one key, and a neighbour has another in case.
Sundays - Kids clean up there. It takes them 30 min. and they do not throw garbage on the ground so much, because there is a bin inside, and if they use the ground as a garbage bin, well, they pick it up. No one will do it for them.
- Garbage. Use bins, and do not put the garbage out on the street until after 1 p.m. as the garbage truck comes between 2-4.30.
- Colmado, new garabage bin outside the colmado. And USE IT!
- Many like to read, but no money for books. Can we have a shelf in the colmado and have an exchange of books? Yes we can. It works.
- Last walk with the doggies. Can we do it together? Just to take a walk in the neighbourhood, and not be alone. Works fine.
Small things. But it made a change here, especially to the garbage mess.
Less street dogs around, as no garbage to eat.
Everyone is more aware, and also it brought people together.
I live downtown Puerto Plata, on one of the sideroads from the Amber Museum, that goes between Calle Beller and Antera Mota.
It is mostly houses ( i.e casas/villas ), and a few apartments.
The people of my street are a mixture of the Dominican local society,
from the very poor old Leo that we all help out with food at the end of the month, to Italian Edgar ( that is not his name, but we call him that because he looks like Edgar of the movie Arisotocats) who have lived here for 40 years, to the university teacher, the young hip DJ, to the owner of Hidelisa and a senator of Puerto Plata.
Pretty much as it is downtown in any local town in other words.
We?ve had, by request from the wife to the owner of Hidelisa Centro had 2 meetings in a nearby school. That was enough, and our street is small, not too many people live here.
First meeting, just a sharing of ideas, complaints, frustrations, arguments...
Next meeting, what can we do, that actually WE can do.
What did we do?
Well, all ideas/arguments were listed, and we came up with the following, a mix of things, but it worked for us.
- Ask a company for new cases to the basketball field for the kids.
It is safer if they are in the deportivo than on the streets in the evening.
Brugal gave them to us, and they also took the cost of putting them up.
Osvaldo Brugal grew up not far from here and he was happy to assist us.
Owner has one key, and a neighbour has another in case.
Sundays - Kids clean up there. It takes them 30 min. and they do not throw garbage on the ground so much, because there is a bin inside, and if they use the ground as a garbage bin, well, they pick it up. No one will do it for them.
- Garbage. Use bins, and do not put the garbage out on the street until after 1 p.m. as the garbage truck comes between 2-4.30.
- Colmado, new garabage bin outside the colmado. And USE IT!
- Many like to read, but no money for books. Can we have a shelf in the colmado and have an exchange of books? Yes we can. It works.
- Last walk with the doggies. Can we do it together? Just to take a walk in the neighbourhood, and not be alone. Works fine.
Small things. But it made a change here, especially to the garbage mess.
Less street dogs around, as no garbage to eat.
Everyone is more aware, and also it brought people together.
Carina, I would love it if you could do a short "guest blog" on it for the Green Team, with a stress on lessons learned. And I encourage anyone else on DR1 with a similar case to send us something on it.
No, Keith, that is too negative.Keith R said:
Remember, pessimism is the name of the Dominican game!
It would be better this:
Show a do?a in her very clean house. She is standing by her front door, thinking.
The commercial starts with focusing on the do?as face, slowly moving on a semi-circle from left to right, with a piano based smooth music in the background.
Suddenly, a flashback occurs where we see what the do?a is thinking about. Small kids laughly and playing in the clean streets of the neighborhood, elders laughing and enjoying a good rocking while staring out their immaculately clean homes, birds flying into the picture singing. All of this occuring as the camera "floats" through the neighborhood to show the nice, clean image. Also, some good guitar/piano based melody in play the entire time.
Then, the flashback memory ends and we see the face of the do?a and a deep cello instrument based melody (sort of a sad note) begins to replace the previous melody. Then the camera rotates 180 degrees to the left, away from the do?as face and focuses on the same neighborhood street that was shown in the flashback, but this time with bottles along the edge, and paper, and garbage. Also, sad kids, parents worried, flies, and sad faces.
Then, a deep narrators male voice (similar to the voice of the night anchor at the CDN news) states: "La limpieza es alegria. -slight pause-, un pueblo limpio es un pueblo feliz".
End.
Then the official logos and seals appear and that's the end of the commercial.
All of this should last about 30 to 60 seconds.
-NAL
Interesting storyboard, NAL. Entirely yours, or something Roberto is cooking up as we speak? 
If the former, my hat's off to you -- you show a good creative streak. If the latter, when can we expect to see it on the Dominican airwaves?
BTW, might you be willing to brainstorm such ideas with Chiri et. al. as we try to move forward from idea to planning & action stages?
If the former, my hat's off to you -- you show a good creative streak. If the latter, when can we expect to see it on the Dominican airwaves? BTW, might you be willing to brainstorm such ideas with Chiri et. al. as we try to move forward from idea to planning & action stages?
Nal your storyboard is exceptional and sure does follow on the 'crying indian' theme. When this is produced I want a copy so that I can get it aired here in El Seybo.
Rick
Rick