This Blog is DEAD!

So the final "cleanup" was yesterday at 12. I'd like to say thanks to all the Free the Planet chumps who said they would show up and never did. It's amazing how much they talk about "direct action" and never do anything! Anyway, I cleaned up a bit, the project never got the community involvement I was hoping for. Oh well. I'll be working on my other blog now: http://miahmobileblog.blogspot.com/

Location of Fridays Cleanup

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You can also check out information about the cleanup on the Facebook Group Page

See you there noon on Friday!

Light at the End of the Tunnel

So I happened to be at the Free the Planet potluck last night and was lucky in many ways. First of all the food was amazing, everyone brought a bunch of amazing vegetarian food. Secondly I rallied some of the members to do a cleanup with me. It is going to be this Friday May 30 at Noon. Everyone is invited. I'll post again with more information

Update

So I received a bunch of pickers, trash bags and gloves from Keep Franklin County Beautiful about a week ago. Things are getting pretty hectic with school ending and my moving to Boston. I'd like to get at least one more cleanup in before I leave. I have noticed that more trash has infiltrated the sites I have cleaned already so that's kinda frustrating. Oh well, I guess it's a never ending battle.

shpongle!

SeeqPod - Playable Search

Raging Ravine 2

The water going into the tunnel looked cool, kinda like a ripcurl. I walked out onto the structure, which was pretty sketchy. I could feel the whole structure shake when big logs hit it. I climbed halfway down the structure to get this shot, I was holding on with one arm so sorry for the shakiness. Pretty sweet nonetheless

The Raging Ravine 1

I was riding home from class today in the rain and I heard some raging whitewater behind my home (well more like brownwater). So I grabbed my camera and took some video. Check it out.

Homeless Camps

So I'm pretty sure someone lives here and I was curious what you all thought would be the best way to approach this situation. I was thinking I would leave a note or something. Ask them if they'd like to help and if not they could make a pile of stuff they don't want and we could get it out of there for them.

Graffiti

Here is a shot of some cool graffiti under the Calumet Bridge. It is some of the best I've ever seen. There are more shots in this slideshow.
Check out the Magic card graffiti spray painted on the concrete slab!

Someone Else Is Cleaning!

There used to be alot of logs and trash piled up between this metal structure (aka the gates of hell) and the concrete wall. When I walked down there the other day to take some shots I noticed the logs and trash were gone. Thank you very much to whoever did that!

Mother's Day Mother Earth Cleanup!

There is going to be a cleanup this Sunday May 11. I can't make it home for mother's day so I figured the least I could do was clean up Mother Earth and let all the Moms in my life know that I love and appreciate them. We'll be meeting at noon in the parking lot behind Tim Hortons. Click here to see the location on Google Maps. If you have gloves it would be good to bring them, I'll try to get some as well. Clean as long or as much as you want. I would recommend wearing pants and boots or other sturdy footwear. Hope to see you all there!

Dirty Dirty Ravine

Cycling Video

Octopus Incorporated

A couple friends of mine make these awesome cycling caps out of recycled wool. They are based out of Cbus, buy local! They gave me one of their hats for my birthday and I love it.

Check their website out here.

Poison!

So I found this shady box buried back in the ravine. It reminded me of a story I heard from my Mom. One of her friends sons, who was pretty young, found a grenade in the woods behind their house. It turned out to be live. Scary stuff out there, who puts it there! I'm sure this isn't going to be the first time I find some questionable items. But as you can see it says "Poison, Do Not Touch" really big on it, so I didn't. I wanted to post a picture of it on here to see if anyone could identify it. I think it might be some sort of animal poison trap but I'm not sure. Tell me what you think!

Sustainability Now! Conference

A friend of mine is organizing the Sustainability Now! Conference. It is on Friday May 16 and Saturday May 17. Keynote speakers include Kim Merkel, author of Radical Simplicity: Small Footprints on a Finite Earth. There will also be action workshops on Saturday with additional speakers. You can register here. You can also email mwelker@ctcn.net or bean.21@osu.edu

Glen Echo Ravine Cleanup Project Facebook Group

I've created a Facebook group for this project. I figured it would be a good way to spread the word as well as a good forum for comments and pictures. You can check it out by clicking here.

Things Learned from First Cleanup

A lot of the dirt / trash that is down there is just sitting on a concrete slab so it can be pretty slippery. I think ropes and harnesses are a good idea. Gloves are good too. I should go get those pickers that Keep Columbus Beautiful said I could use. I need dumpster space as well. And I need bodies! I'm hopefully getting a better camera today.

Photos from 3 May Ravine Cleanup

Time To Give Some Props!

So I have encountered a few people who have helped me so far. Here they are:

Dwayne: This guy is awesome!
Tim Hortons: They donated two big rolls of trash bags and broke a 20 for me
EHS Hospitality Managment / All Star Staffing: They donated dumpster space

Both Tim Hortons and EHS are located at the corner of Arcadia and High on adjacent corners.

Thanks!

Life is a Rich Tapestry

So I decided that I really needed to get down into the ravine and start picking up some trash. I've been talking about it a lot, now I need to follow through. So I woke up and went to Giant Eagle to get some trash bags. On my way back I passed a guy sitting on the wall near the ravine. We said hi and I walked up to my house. On my way back to the ravine with all my ropes and harness and other tools of destruction, the gentleman was still sitting there. He told me his name was Dwayne and that he had just got out of prison and that he was homeless. I told him I was there to clean this shit up. He proceeded to tell that the majority of the trash was from "bums" not homeless people. He made this distinction because bums don't clean up after themselves. He made a good point that it only draws more attention to where you are. He then asked me if he could help, I was super pumped. We made a small agreement that I would scratch his back if he scratched mine. I gave him one of my gloves and off we were!I set up a rope for him and he busted ass! I really had to work to keep up with him. He was a cool guy, we chatted while we worked. The weather started to turn sour so we started our way back up the hill. Then we took a picture of the trash and took it to a dumpster (more about that next). I gave him ten buck and told him I would be there next Sunday at Noon. What a crazy world we live in! A rich tapestry!

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Glen Echo Mentioned in Cbus Alive Article

I was searching for results from any cleanups that may have happened this past weekend and I came across this. Apparently, "David Maywhoor, executive director of the Buckeye Forest Council, which will join several neighborhood groups in beautifying the Glen Echo Ravine.". I am going to contact this gentleman and see if we can't collaborate.

Update

The Glen Echo Ravine cleanup was this Saturday. I was unable to attend because I was working. From what I hear though, there is still plenty of trash to pick up. I am going to start cleaning up the section of ravine behind my house today. The weather has been great so I should get started. If you are at all interested in helping send me a message via facebook.

Dumpster Diving FAQ

I was thinking more about dumpster diving and found this sweet FAQ. I have never dumpster dived before but I've known people who have. My sister and some friends I had in Boston. They used to dive behind Trader Joes after it closed and said it was always a good find but if the cops came we'd have to run. I never got a chance to dive with them but I always wanted to. Anything where you have to run from the cops has to be fun!

Cool Site

I was doing a google search for free dumpsters in Columbus and found this cool page on dumpster diving. I always thought that dumpster diving was pretty cool, I'm sure a lot of sweet stuff gets thrown away.

Ohio EPA Scrap Tire Program

I just found a site for the Ohio EPA's Scrap Tire Program. I will be sure to utilize this. I have seen quite a few tires down in the ravine.....

Cbus Underground Earth Day 2008 Thread

Here is a link to the Columbus Underground thread on Earth Day 2008. It has a lot of good information on it about activities going on this saturday (26 april).

Cbus Dispatch Article

The Columbus Dispatch published an article on March 24 about the large amount of litter that collects during the winter and is revealed in the spring. I also found yet another resource in this article, Keep Ohio Beautiful. I'll be contacting them asap.

Ohio Department Of Natural Resources Cleanup Website

The ODNR has a list of several cleanups at local state parks. This would be a great opportunity for us to keep our parks clean for future generations.

Potential New Resources

I have just found the Clintonville Community Resources Center. I am going to contact them to see if they might want to get involved.

First Cleanup on April 26

The organization Friends of the Ravines is having a cleanup on 26 April. I am trying to get as many people as possible to show up. I will have more details shortly on when the cleanup starts and how to get there.

Response to email thus far

I have already received responses from Friends of the Lower Olentangy Watershed (FLOW)and Central Ohio Sustainability Alliance. COSA is going to donate pickers, gloves and plastic trash bags. FLOW is already pretty booked this season but gave me some contact information for Friends of the Ravines. So the next step is to communicate with COSA on obtaining the donated supplies and contacting Friends of the Ravines to see what we can do together!

Email to Columbus Parks and Recreation, Friends of the Ravine, Friends of the Lower Olentangy Watershed and Central Ohio Sustainability Alliance

This is a copy of the email I sent to the aforementioned organizations:


"Hello,

I am contacting you because I am trying to organize a cleanup of the ravine beginning at Glen Echo Park and ending where the ravine ends behind Tim Hortons near the Arcadia Ave. and High St. intersection. This is an ambitious project, which is why I need your help. Any resources or contacts you could provide would be greatly appreciated. I am aware of the cleanup on April 26 that Friends of the Ravines is organizing. I would like to help with this cleanup, I may be able to get participation from some student organizations at Ohio State as well. I feel that this cleanup on the 26th can be a good start and perhaps we could have more scheduled cleanups on subsequent weekends. We will definitely need a dumpster, there is a lot of big trash down there.

Let me know what you think. Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Jeremiah Moore"

City of Columbus Service Request

I found a way to make a city service request for things like bulk pick ups and the like. I am going to pursue this in hopes of a dumpster or other supplies. Here is the website.

NEWS!

The FTP Meeting was good. They seemed enthusiastic about helping out. Apparently, they wanted to clean Glen Echo Park last year for Earth Day but weren't able to do it. They saw my project as a potential opportunity to reconcile. One thing that came up was when was I going to actually do the clean up. Here's a list of what I need to do:

1.Pick a date/dates
2.Obtain Donations (Gloves, Trash Bags, Dumpster)
3.Collaborate with local organizations
4.Advertise / Get the word out
5.CLEAN THE RAVINE!

If you check out the links on my page there are a few organizations I have found that may be interested in helping out. I am going to be contacting them soon and will maintain updates.

FTP Meeting

I am going to the Free The Planet meeting tonight. It is at 730 at Kafe Kerouac, a sweet place by the way. Hopefully I will be able to convince them to collaborate with me on this project. I'll update soon to let you know how it goes!

Emminent Domain?

A concern that I had not previously considered before is that there are more than likely homeless individuals residing within this ravine. The very "trash" that I am attempting to remove could be their homes! It kind of puts the saying "one mans trash is another mans treasure" into perspective. I would appreciate any suggestions you may come up with.

My Blog is now set up for easy RSS feed setup!

For those of you who are interested in this blog an easy way to stay updated is to monitor my blog through an RSS reader. If you already have a google account it will be super simple. Simply click on The orange button at the upper right corner of my blog and add it to your reader!

Blood Bowl

I had mentioned earlier that the area at the end of the ravine was known as the "Blood Bowl". I first heard of this from a mutual friend. He told me that Skateboarders would attempt to do a 360 inside the pipe and one of them cracked their dome. Hence the name blood bowl. Check out the video below for a great example of what it probably looked like.I've never seen anyone skating down there but it seems believable. I googled Columbus, Ohio and Blood Bowl and found this page: . According to illicitohio.com (a pretty sweet site) this area is also known as "The Gates of Hell".

This is a big job............

Yesterday I walked down into the ravine with a couple of friends. It's pretty bad. There is a lot of bigger stuff that will be a pain to move out. And if we are going to clean the entire ravine from Glen Echo Park to the Blood Bowl (I'll explain that location later) it is going to take a few different meetings and some organization/planning. I emailed OSU Free the Planet (http://freetheplanet.arawakcity.org/) to see if they were interested in helping and they invited me to their meeting next Tuesday @ 730. They don't know where it is being held yet, come check it out if you're interested. I'm also going to ask a few schools and fire/police departments for assistance. If you have any ideas let me know.

Google Maps Image of Ravine Location

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