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Battle of the Bottle
THE DAY OF ACTION:
See all our pictures and videos here: SMUGMUG What we did: We surrounded the International Bottled Water Association's headquarters with protestors in creative costumes, carrying signs like "Where's the Water Bottle Deposit?" "Don't Trash the Earth / Drink Responsibly / Reduce - Reuse - Recycle" "Want Plastic With That? "Stop Wasting Resources!" "We need to see the ECO-FEE!" "Think Outside the Bottle" "Int'l Bottled Water Association, you dropped something! Be Responsible!" "Hydration station YES / Single-use bottle NO" "Your litter hits close to home / Say NO to single-use plastics" "Keep plastic OUT of our Parks!" ♪ ♪ ♪We sang♪ ♪ ♪:
"Power to the people / Not this plastic / We're out here marching / 'Cause things are getting drastic!." (Created by Tilly Blanding)
We floated balloons up to IBWA's offices saying "IBWA! Your plastic doesn't go away!" and #TRASHDAYOFACTION Along with our strong core team, we had some new friends and partners join us this time:
- Alice Ferguson Foundation
Thanks to all who showed up and marched with us! Our IBWA Action was preceded by an Action the day before with Congressman Mike Quigley, delivering 57,828 signatures on a petition to allow national parks to ban bottled water - TAWF's going national! Congressman Quigley's Press release & Facebook Video 
Delivering the message and the petition in D.C.! Some notes/thoughts, observations: -The costumes were a great addition, they got people's attention, and made the Action much more entertaining. Everyone's creativity was impressive and amusing! Special recognition for our lead marchers and chanters! -Special thanks to those leading the outreach and handouts at the King Street Metro! While handing out flyers, a number of people were eager to engage with us and share their own concerns about litter pollution. A couple of them got very emotional! Others didn't stop to talk but would show us their reusable water bottle and give us a thumbs up. Still others said "thanks for what you're doing" as they raced past to catch a train or bus. -We're becoming a familiar force, people at the metro recognized us from our previous action. One asked us what we're giving out this time, another said they'd seen us there 2 or 3 times already! -The reusable water bottles (donated by Clean Fairfax) were a big hit and a good draw at our first action, it's worth trying to find a good source for them for our next Action. -We still have a way to go on the social media component, it would be great to recruit people who were willing and able to focus on that aspect before, during, and after the event. The same goes for photography during the event - We got some really good shots, but also missed good opportunities because while participating in the event, instead of documenting it. -The afterparty was a good addition, Joe Theisman's welcomed us in costume! There we discussed an NPR story about the importance of play, even for adults and how the playfulness of our Actions - everyone bringing their particular skills and interests to the table, and she didn't cause a strong feeling of pressure to do everything right - we work together well and back each other up, without putting heavy responsibilities or expectations on anyone. For me this connects with the "Yes, and..." rule in improv. The way we work together we can really enjoy and appreciate the energy and ideas that everyone brought to this Action. Thanks again everyone! Your enthusiasm and outright giddiness at acting up in favor of sensible actions to reduce the single-use plastic beverage bottle industry...is frankly, contagious!! Thank you for continuing on in your actions to make a difference! Thank you for your outright crazy ways to express the real & downright frightening realities of doing nothing! Thank you for your willingness to step out, step up and scream it out....'cos things are indeed getting drastic!!
 Flying the flag for the cause of responsibility!
See all the photos and videos on SmugMug
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