#standbyandleanon

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Photo from Stand By And Lean On #23 Leaving Hydration For Postal & Delivery Workers Photo is of cooler, water, and later in the day-a thank you written on it!

[standbyandleanon]

Stand By And Lean On #23 Leaving Hydration For Postal & Delivery Workers

1st of all-after a long hiatus from here, its good to be back!

I saw a viral video on social media of a small boy leaving a cooler with drinks on his front porch for the mail carrier.

Fabulous idea!

So I decided to copy it. I think that's the point of such videos. To inspire others to do the same or like. I know that's the intention with this blog.

Interestingly enough, I didn't leave the cooler in the building I live in. Instead I left it in a building I work in which is part residential. I & everyone else that's "part" of that building know the UPS & USPS workers by name.

Because it wasn't my residence, I went to CVS & purchased a disposable styrofoam cooler & the bottled water. I felt I was committing an environmental atrocity while trying to do a good deed. My best comparison of this would be when a flier tries to do something good from guilt of plane emissions.

I encourage you if you are to do this on your own turf or are more easily able to, to use a non disposable cooler.

An idea to build off of this is to make this a group activity in that the cooler could be left for the entire warm season & various people can add drinks. Take drinks back to their homes overnight to keep them cool. Add ice.

As someone who works outside regardless of the weather I sympathize with others that do the same. & people in labor-from mail carriers with heavy parcels to delivery people riding their bikes in high humidity sweat-A LOT. Additionally in the service industry a worker can feel anything from less than to unappreciated. This simple act of providing drinks on hot days helps keep people both physically & emotionally healthy.

Spinoff idea: My nonna is concerned with landscapers on sweltering days. Providing drinks for them is wonderful too.

Did you do this? Are you a service worker that was provided such? What about cold weather? What would you like to see provided then? How would you like to make this more environmentally friendly? Would a cooler & cups be preferable?

Write to me! [email protected]

[standbyandleanon]

Photo From Stand By And Lean On #22 Leaving Coupons To Be Discovered Clockwise, Coupons With Corresponding Items, Newspapers Used For Coupons, My "Envelopes" For Organizing Then

[standbyandleanon]

Stand By And Lean On #22 Leaving Coupons To Be Discovered

This is a simple one & the cost is nothing! I thought about why I wanted to do this after I had already done it. A couple of conclusions: -I live in an area with a rising cost of living, shuttered storefronts, so any financial help can only be a good thing. -My other blog pertaining to giving socks & such to homeless people, through experience I've learned it also benefits people with homes but without enough money to meet basic needs. I've seen with my own eyes I know someone who has a roof over their head going through the trash. -You do not need to make a special trip for this. When you're doing your grocery shopping in any mainstream supermarket* or drugstore you could keep coupons on you to leave in places. *I find both seniors and people living on tight incomes both use these types of stores vs the rising popular Fresh Direct, Soap, Chewy, and so forth. -If you do make a special trip I suggest going earlier in the day so as to allow a lot of time for the coupons to be found & used. I also think seniors tend to shop earlier in the day. Another thought for a special trip is going to a supermarket and/or drugstore in a low income neighborhood. -Where to get coupons? Sometimes you'll receive them with your receipts. If you want to use your coupons-by all means do so. We have to take care of ourselves! But instead of tossing them in the recycling (they're paper-recycle all your paper!) you could leave them in the shop. Some neighborhood free papers have coupons. You could take 2 or 3 for more coupon clipping. You don't have to make yourself nuts & take the whole stack unless you want to make a get together out of it-which is not a bad idea! If you get a big Sunday paper, those may have coupons in them. If your neighbor or friend gets that paper & they are not using the coupons you may ask them for the coupons. If you have recycling in your building, especially an indoor floor recycling, you could give a quick look in the bin to see if there are any such papers/coupons. A tip is I find it helpful to have my coupons organized in little envelopes for quicker distribution. You may not find all the products you have coupons for in 1 store. But you can save them for a different store trip. Any ideas to build on this? What about a way to use/give your store points should you be building them but not planning on utilizing the points/rewards? Write to me: [email protected]

[standbyandleanon]

Photo from Stand By And Lean On #21 Thanking An Artist And An Art Center Left Is Birthday Present For The New York Earth Room Right Is Green Items For Elizabeth Sweetheart/The Green Lady

[standbyandleanon]

Stand By And Lean On #21 Thanking An Artist & An Art Center

Thank You Presents For An Art Institution And An Artist- I've thought over & over how I want to write this. Recently, I embarked on 2 little similar projects-making thank you gifts. 1 for an art center. One for an artist. I did not plan on making a blog entry about it. But then I thought, "Why not?" To the, "Well why did you want to do this?" & "Why do you want to share the fact that you did it?" "What's the project?" I think a few things. A lot of people patronize an art center, museum, gallery, whatever, but then that ends there. Without thinking about it, the patronizing is thank you in and of itself. But I feel these institutions have life forces of their own. A very literal, if these walls could talk. So why not treat them like living entities. A place that has been dear to me is The New York Earth Room located at 141 Wooster Street. It is a permanent art installation of earth created by Walter De Maria. https://diaart.org/visit/visit/walter-de-maria-the-new-york-earth-room-new-york-united-states The keeper of The New York Earth Room, Bill Dilworth, an artist himself and caretaker of one of if not the very oldest hand turned clock towers in America, is a delightful man that just adds to the experience. https://www.google.com/amp/s/mobile.nytimes.com/2016/10/09/nyregion/a-keeper-of-earth-and-time.amp.html Recently Bill informed me it was the Earth Room's 40th birthday. Well I thought a present was in order! You don't turn 40 everyday! I went through my books and took quotes on earth & soil from a classifications, children's, new age, and gardening book & wrote them out with coloured pencils & put into a simple frame. I got a great thank you from Bill & I thought it was ok for him to speak on the earth's behalf too :) Next, I wanted to thank artist Elizabeth Sweetheart also known as The Green Lady. https://youtu.be/pE5h2kk0NTI And https://youtu.be/-1XDG4VfHGQ She lives in Brooklyn, always donned in green, and seeing her brings instantaneous joy. Maybe that alone makes me appreciate her so much. You can see in the videos she has a great personality. Maybe that's part of it. Maybe if you watched the videos she has a green association because of a trip relating to her father. I have a yellow baseball hat that was my father's & when I wear it I feel it'll be a great day. So maybe it's that. Or maybe I just like her commitment to something it makes me want to develop that. Whatever it is, I wanted to thank her. I gathered up green items around my home & left them at her stoop with a note written in green naturally. (She's public about her home. The door is painted green!) I already have ideas for the next 2 I want to thank. I like this physical creating of a thank you. An acquaintance of mine, Jess Pinkham is an avid postcard writer, including to those she admires. I quite enjoy that. Instagram.com/jestpinkham I've certainly said this before but I'm sure in such a digital age the tangible matters. Maybe more now than ever. & you stopping to create makes you think. And slow down. & focus on one thing. & there's a certain pride in that. & you'll get more ideas. & it's unique. & it shows you really thought about this, that you cared. Even the coolest, hippest, of people & places can feel down trodden or have tough times. A personalized reminder of their importance is always a good thing. Your mission is to show appreciation for an artist, museum, gallery, public art piece, in a personalized way. Living or deceased artists acceptable! Current or defunct museum, gallery, public art piece acceptable! Idea from this blog entry- find your person or institution's birthday & send them a happy one! I'm particularly interested in the lesser known, small, local heroes of the art world. Show me your work! Your thank yous! Artwork! Performances! Costumes! Postcards! Whatever you did to personalize your appreciation! Did you pay homage in a unique way to a non artist person or place that was not a personal friend of yours? Tell me about that too! [email protected]

[standbyandleanon]

Photo for Stand By And Lean On #20: Letter Writing For Animals Clockwise: Letter to Snapple with Snapple fact I'm writing on, published letter to Our Town newspaper-response to article below it, Letter to Brooklyn Paper on a local supermarket

[standbyandleanon]

Stand By And Lean On Project #20: Letter Writing For Animals

There was a point in time I wrote to newspapers constantly. It was a priority. A must do. Equal to teeth brushing. I would get all the papers that I could get my hands on, that I could read. And if I saw anything that needed to be addressed in line with animal welfare, I would write a letter. If a letter got published in a following edition it was like a high. I would have a moment on the subway where I felt like everyone knew who I was. I have an entire album of my clippings. & then I burnt out from that for awhile. I get that with most things I do. I'll throw myself fully into them & then I want to be fully out of them. As of the past yr though I've felt the need to compose a few. The photo post following this are 3 of my most recent letters, 2 to newspapers & one to Snapple. The Snapple letter, the very most recent, is also in the body of this entry. What do I want say about this practice? -Sometimes it seems trivial. Both in A) the topic what I'm writing on and B) The practice and results of letter writing. My answers to that: -Nothing is trivial -Even if one individual takes a reflection, you have been successful -If no one takes reflection from reading your writing, you have strengthened your brain that much more on the subject matter, you are more prepared for a future conversation on it. Therefore you are successful. Tip: If writing to a company and they offer inquiries both hard copy & electronically, do both. Make sure your hard copy is in proper letter form. You want to be taken seriously. Have you written to publications and/or companies on animal rights-animal welfare? I would love to see your work whether published or unpublished & share it here. Send to [email protected] Why does this matter more now than ever? I wrote this in Stand By And Lean On #13- Since Trump has taken office, the USDA removed public access to tens of thousands of reports that focused on animal welfare. These reports had lead to media recognition & exposure and in turn the crackdown of animal abuse. So we need to use all the tools we have, including letter writing, to bring as much awareness as possible. Most recent letter to Snapple: Hello, I wanted to pinpoint some information on Snapple "Real Fact" #470 Dairy cows drink up to 50 gallons of water per day. This is so much more complex than this statement. Without writing a novel, I just want to make some highlights. I won't even go in depth on the cruelty of the dairy industry, I'll only focus on water. -The dairy industry is a major if not the most pollutant of waterways. -The world including areas of the United States, people A) are not able to access clean water and/or B) face drought. -I have seen Many animal rights related videos, so the fact that this one still struck even me I feel says something. If you could give it just a few seconds, you'll see these cows are facing heat exhaustion. So 1) your fact is incorrect or B) 50 gallons clearly is not cutting it. https://www.facebook.com/VegetarianiVegani/videos/1441711915914314/ There is a section of the Snapple website in terms of charity/doing good work under, Environmental Initiatives and Fit and Active Lifestyles. As you can read in my e-mail the dairy industry, just in water alone, works against both of these topics. I encourage Snapple to research their facts, take the moral responsibility of using facts that have positive backing, and to use facts that do not give the consumer a false image. Thank You for your time. Respectfully, Victoria Booth