What's New in 2011

Happy New Year Adopt-A-Blockers!

Here’s what’s happening this 2011!

Spring Clean-Up FUNDRAISER

Don’t forget to fill out your application to our annual Spring Community Litter Clean-Up! Application deadline is January 30^th All non-profit groups (clubs, teams, schools, organizations, etc.) are welcome to apply! Groups selected will be awarded $250 for their participation. Event to take place in April & May. See attached forms for more details & application form.

2011 Youth Video-Webcast CONTEST

Adopt-A-Block challenges all Mission youth to participate in a video-webcast contest beginning January 01, 2011. The contest is an opportunity for youth to reach out to their peers and to influence them in taking care of the environment by offering a message of hope and environmental stewardship. Youth are asked to submit a video a minimum of 20 seconds and no more than three minutes in length, depicting a message about how we can all contribute to creating a litter free environment and why this is important.

Following the contest submission deadline, March 15, entrants will post their submissions on YOUTUBE for a community judging period of a month (until April 15). During this time youth will be encouraged to market their video to gain voting support. Top scoring videos by community votes will then be judged by a judges committee who will select the winning entries based on originality, creativity, content, clarity, quality and adherence to contest rules. The top three videos will be posted on Adopt-A-Block's website.

The Youth Video Challenge has gained the support of several Mission businesses who have donated prizes in-kind for several great prize packages which will be awarded in April.

First place prize is $500 cash.

Second to fifth place prizes will also be awarded including gift cards for laser tag, a rafting adventure on the Fraser River, local restaurants and coffee shops, and large retail store gift cards. See Contest Poster for full prize package details.

All necessary forms and release can be retrieved from the Adopt-A-Block website. (under the 'resource' tab)

www.missionadoptablock.com

Please spread the word to youth about this opportunity!

Expressing Your Concerns about Litter in the Environment

Sometimes when we try to express concerns about litter in the environment, the conversation can become a negatively emotionally charged. Sometimes those with whom we are talking with get defensive or self-righteous about the issue or find someone or something to blame for it. Perhaps we don’t know all the facts and so we keep quiet about what matter to us, meanwhile bottling inside our frustration. There may be several reasons as to why expressing our concerns about creating a healthier environment in which to live, play and work – just simply don’t pan out. Joanna Macy (1998) in her book, Coming Back to Life: Practices to Reconnect our Lives, our World, offers guidelines for communicating our concerns about the environment (whatever the issue) (p. 176-177). She suggests:

1.Beware of labeling or pigeonholing the other person, assuming they are automatically going to agree or disagree with you because they are a certain age, dressed in a certain way, come from a particular region or class, or hold a particular job.

2.Acknowledge the limits of your knowledge. People will see you as more trustworthy if you admit you don’t know everything and will feel more willing to share their perspectives, which are also based on partial information. We all must make decisions in political life without knowing the whole story; if we put our knowledge and ideas together we create a more complete picture.

3.Find common ground before examining differences. If you begin by ascertaining areas of agreement (e.g. “Nuclear war is possible” or “We need clean air and water for our children”), both parties can trust each other more and proceed to see where their views diverge. Then offering the information that has led to your view can fill a gap in the other’s knowledge, and lead to reappraisal of old assumptions…

4.Share feelings as well as facts. Facts are debatable; feelings are not. Feelings are ‘givens’; we can report them with varying degrees of accuracy and honesty, but they are not debatable. Sharing your feelings invites other people to share theirs as well, moving the conversation away from argument and towards mutual listening.

5.Share your personal experience. The facts and figures we cite take on more reality for people when we describe what led us to the views we hold. Personal experience, like feelings, is not open to debate.

6.Trust the other person’s ability to learn and change over time. Even if the person seems entrenched in a contrary position, change may be stirring within. And you may never know if change has occurred as a result of you discussion or what other input the person may receive from other to add to yours….

7.See yourself and the other within the larger context: your shared humanity, the stresses of the Industrial Growth Society, the long uneven journey to sustainable civilization. This breeds patience and goodwill.

8.Remember to hold the other person with compassion, even when you seem to find no common ground. You can ‘agree to disagree’ with goodwill and mutual respect. We can never know what suffering and hardship might underlie another’s seemingly intractable position.

Christmas Volunteers NEEDED

Volunteers are needed to represent Adopt-A-Block in this year’s Candle Light Parade. The society is looking for volunteers to come out and wear their yellow vests and Santa hats. Together we will walk carrying Adopt-A-Block banners to spread awareness and holiday cheer. Everyone is welcome to attend. If you are not a registered volunteer and wish to participate in the event, we will happily dress you in our fashionable yellow vest. All interested volunteers are asked to call Adopt-A-Block to RSVP and for the event details.

2011 Youth Video Contest

GRAND PRIZE $500

To create awareness about litter in the environment and to engage youth to participate in positive environmental action including litter control, Mission Adopt-A-Block is challenging youth to participate in a videowebcast contest in 2011. The contest is an opportunity for youth to reach out to their peers and to influence them in taking care of the environment by offering a message of hope and environmental stewardship.

Youth are asked to submit a video a minimum of 20 seconds to no more than three minutes, depicting a message about how we can all contribute to creating a litter free environment and why this is important. Following the contest deadline, March 15, submissions will be posted on YOUTUBE for a community judging period of a month. During this time, youth will be encouraged to market their video to gain voting support. Top scoring videos by community votes will then be judged by a judges committee who will select the winning entries based on originality, creativity, content, clarity, quality, and adherence to contest rules. The top three videos will be posted on Adopt-A-Block’s website.

The Adopt-A-Block 2011 video–webcast challenge has gained the support of several Mission businesses who have donated prizes in-kind for several great prize packages which will be awarded in April. These businesses include Fraser Valley Building Supplies, Save-On- Foods, Grabba Java, Embers, Mackie Naturals, Brighton Beach Salon, Tim Hortons, Boston Pizza, Fraser River Safari, The Great Escape, Sue’s Copy and the District of Mission Parks & Recreation.

All information about the contest including entrant forms, official contest rules and all necessary releases, can be obtained from the Adopt-A-Block website or by contacting the coordinator. Paper copies can also be picked up at Sue’s Copy in Mission by request. Adopt-A-Block looks forward to seeing the creativity and ingenuity of Mission’s youth and hopes that this competition will empower youth to be proactive in their roles as ecological citizens.

Another Successful Annual Fall Community Litter Clean-Up

Hatzic Secondary Students participate in this year's Fall Clean-Up.

Communities in Bloom collect litter in the industrial area, London Ave. and surrounding streets during this year's Fall Clean-Up.

Mission Adopt-A-Block would like to thank all the volunteers who participated in this year's succesful Fall Community Litter Clean-Up event. This year, a total of 1325 kg of litter was collected from the environment and properly disposed of. The litter consisted of 990kg garbage litter and 335 kg of scrap metal, not including recyclables collected including paper, cans, plastics and aluminum cans. Thanks to all those that joined Adopt-A-Block for this significant community event and for contributing to a cleaner, healthier, and beautiful environment for all to enjoy. See you next spring!

Mission Adopt-A-Block Takes it to the Streams

Local volunteers joined Mission Adopt-A-Block on Saturday, September 25, 2010 and helped remove garbage, including an old car seat, metal scraps, and assorted trash from D'Herbomez stream. Adopt-A-Block volunteers as well as those from S.A.I.N.T.S and Mission Rotary attended the event, greeted by the Tim Horton’s cruiser with fresh donuts and coffee to start the day.

Adopt-A-Block organized their new stream clean-up initiative to address rising concerns about the litter in the environment, in particular, sensitive aquatic habitats. All litter eventually reaches our waterways, by wind or water, and this is where litter has the most detrimental impact on our environment. Thanks to a grant from Van City, Adopt-A-Block was able to purchase the equipment needed to organize the clean-up including purchasing hip waders, garbage bags, gloves and funding the services of a truck and driver to haul the bagged litter.

Volunteer efforts in the large community stream clean-up and surrounding green space area benefit the community in numerous ways. Volunteer efforts help to raise awareness about the detriments of litter in the environment as well as show an example of stewardship in the environment that others may follow. The clean-up also helped to reduce the amount of litter to cause distress to wildlife in the area, and all litter collected was properly disposed of. As litter begets litter, this also means less litter tossed in the natural environment. Thanks to all those that joined Adopt-A-Block for this significant community event and for contributing to a cleaner, healthier, and beautiful environment for all to enjoy.

Volunteer Meet & Greet

Join us for a Volunteer & Friends, Meet & Greet on September 25th from 830am-930am in Heritage Park (under the picnic shelter). Tim Horton's cruiser will be on the scene with fresh donuts and coffee. Learn about Adopt-A-Block's new stream clean-up initiative and precautions and guidelines when undertaking a stream clean-up. SAINTS and ROTARY will be conducting a stream-clean-up from 930am-1130am. All other volunteers joining us for the event, are encourage to clean other areas of the park. For more information call 604-826-9423 or email missionadoptablock@gmail.com