Meeting ID: 851 5703 5090, No Password required, but there is a waiting room.
There’s a big question about Green Neighbors DC (GNDC):
What to do with GNDC with Annette Moving (Slowly) to Texas?”
There are strong, strong pluses to GNDC – 1. people come to us for green information in the city. Website readership grew rapidly until recently (until I stopped adding things and the TL got it’s own site). 2. We are the best placed for leading DC-centered overall green initiatives, in a way not tied to specific entities like the Sierra Club, CCL, CRL, Electrify DC, etc…, and whose name implies neighborliness and a pool of green activities (beyond even Climate Coalition)… 3. We have a history of great events, and great projects such as the tool library. 4. We have a large membership listserv for green information and for green events.
The con: Not enough people to run it, especially with Annette away. Time requirements: 1. Website curation 2. Event organization – speakers, environmental tours, workshops w/ the TL, cleanups, … 3. Testifying and letter writing. 4. We used to join marches… 5. and more that we’ll discuss.
Options: 1. We fold it up, especially now that the Tool Library is on it’s own feet. (major congratulations to that team!) 2. We merge it with another DC organization. Open to suggestions. 3. We break up the leadership (mostly Annette’s) into a team-run system. Different people in charge of finances, membership, marketing, content (web and speakers), events… 4. Other?
If you would like to be present for this discussion, but can’t make it this Sunday, we can consider moving it to another night, a Sunday night preferably. Email us at greenneighborsdc@gmail.com. We will try to record, but the best thing about this particular meeting is the discussion.
If we keep GNDC, we also hope you can make it to discuss some of your goals for GNDC this year! Annette
Some of you may have heard already, but our Green Neighbors DC (GNDC)-grown, beloved DC Tool Library at Twin Oaks had most of its construction tools stolen. Over the course of the last week, our building was broken into several times between our open days, and thousands of dollars worth of power and other tools were stolen. The shed, containing the rakes and shovels, was not, so we still have some garden tools, but overall, we would say two-thirds of our tools were stolen.
The DC Tool Library at Twin Oaks (14th and Taylor NW) has been one of the main projects for GNDC for the past two years. We helped DPR manage a shed of garden tools for sharing, and, by refurbishing a store building, inventorying, throwing workshops, and collecting tool donations, we turned the tool share into a popular community Tool Library with construction, camping, woodworking, and food tools, plus more garden tools, growing from 25 users to 900, just before the break-in described below. With DPR, we just opened a second branch in the NE, which is temporarily closed for the winter. See (https://greenneighborsdc.org/2023/12/21/gndc-moves-the-dc-tool-library-forward-we-have-two-branches-now-and-a-great-team-to-run-it-with/.) Our goal is a tool library in every Ward. But, we are pausing now for several weeks now to regroup.
It didn’t take long to build the Tool Library, thanks to donated tools from folks, just a lot of volunteer time, and we will recover quickly and even expand to other Wards, with some help from everyone in DC communities. Please see below to donate funds, and if you’d like to donate tools, please contact dctoolshare@gmail.com.
Here’s more information:
As many of you know, the DC Tool Library is run entirely by volunteers. Since 2020, we have been empowered by DC residents’ tool donations, and in turn, we have provided free access to tools for home repairs, maintenance, gardening, and much more as a way to empower our neighbors to fix and improve their homes and communal spaces. This incredibly valuable community resource is now in jeopardy.
In the break-ins, we lost about $11,000 worth of professional-grade power and hand tools. While we filed a police report and pursued every possible avenue to get the tools back, we expect the losses to be permanent. But this will not stop us. We know that a project rooted in community and sharing will make DC a better, safer, [and greener] space for everyone.
We are reaching out to ask for your support to help the DC Tool Library get back on its feet. We have started a Tool Recovery Fund with a goal of raising $15,000 to replace the stolen tools, finally afford insurance, and to improve security to prevent future break-ins.
Update: Wow! We are incredibly encouraged by the outpouring of community support for our small project! We are heading to our goal, and any money given over that will go towards setting up and putting the finishing touches on our second tool library location in Ward 7, plus setting up a fund for future tool library locations in different Wards.
No amount is too small—whether you can give $5, $50, or $500, your contribution will make a difference in rebuilding this vital community resource. Click here to donate.
We’d also love to hear about how the tool library has been a valuable resource for you—email us at dctoolshare@gmail.com.
As we regroup and figure out our next steps, we will unfortunately be closing the Twin Oaks branch for the time being. We plan to reopen with plenty of gardening tools ready to welcome spring’s arrival. Additionally we’re working hard to re-open our Ward 7 tool library, and are looking for additional spaces to host our library. Decentralization will make us more resilient and make our tools available to more residents.
The DC Tool Library has always been about more than just tools: It represents a spirit of community, collaboration, and empowerment. We cannot let this setback defeat us. With your support, we are confident we can come back stronger than ever, serving our immediate neighborhoods and the wider city for years to come.
The Recent Past: Jump-starting a DC Public Tool Library
Two and a half years ago, GNDC thought long and hard about starting a tool library. We had been drawn to it by an article on how tool libraries fight climate change in multiple ways (https://climatesteps.org/2020/09/03/a-tool-library-is-a-seed/). In the process of researching past tool libraries in the area, we came across a mention on the Department of Parks and Recreation’s (DPR) website of a Garden Tool Share at Twin Oaks Community Garden (1380 Taylor St NW). We talked to Josh Singer of DPR, who leads the urban farms initiative across DC, and he said could use some help managing this small tool share and help users use it.
So we decided to test it out. It was small at the time – 25 members (and only three GNDC members managing), but over the next year of COVID, we recruited volunteers, cleaned and inventoried the tools, tested an online checkout system, rehabilitated the building and made it engaging, held some workshops and open houses, and got donations. It all worked. Best of all, word started spreading….and we reached 400 users.
And then, in fall of 2022, the ceiling fell in. Literally.
A roof leak – still present and major today, had caused the plaster to buckle and fall making the place hazardous for both users and volunteers. Plus a plumbing leak caused a weak floor in the kitchen. DC’s Dept. of General Services sent folks to repair the ceiling BUT not the roof! And, while they worked on the place, the floor caved in in the bathroomand kitchen. It took GNDC’s testifying during 2023 budget hearings to get money for the roof – now allocated, but we’ve seen no roof or bathroom repairs yet. We’re working on it. (We at GNDC did donate money to have one working bathroom.)
In the meantime, with a newly painted interior for 2023, we refurbished the library, and volunteers and users started growing again.
Thanks especially to Joshua, Tony, Simon, Deborah, and Tien for system and legal inroads!
AND NOW?
We have:
800+ users!
Lots of active volunteers on board so we have open hours about once every other day (for an hour) – though we can definitely use more volunteers and thus hours.
Almost all of our Twin Oak tools are barcoded! – and working! And we have plenty of more barcodes to use for future donations.
So much has been done to automate the TL process now that the workload is far, far less!, with ONLINE “JOIN” and WAIVER forms (https://dctoollibrary.org/register/), and late fee emails.
We have a fiscal sponsor Open Collective – and thus are now tax-exempt.
We have collaboration/partnerships with Fix-it DC, Mt. Pleasant Library, and Martin Luther King Jr. Library. We also have a collaboration with Civic Tech DC to help improve our tech tools!
We’ve run a number of workshops, including Tool Introduction 101, Garden Tools for Winter Prep, a Cider Press and Woodworking Workshop, (thanks Amelia, for all those designs) and a DC Fix-It!
Finally, we’ve opened a NEW branch in Ward 7 at Lederer Gardens, open Sat 10 am – 1 pm (4801 Nannie Helen Burroughs Ave NE) with lots and lots of help from our volunteers. The practicalities of it are being run by Josh with help from GNDC volunteers, but it is part of our system.
We want to thank everyone who has been involved in the past 2 years – Amelia, Fritz, Tony, Rebecca, Tien, Marco, Mario, Sasha, Annette (me), and many more, and those who are leading the 2024 management.
NEXT UP >>>>
For 2024, we have selected a wonderful team of people working on this project. Here’s how we’re divvying up the work:
Communication- internal/Coordination of group – Tony for email, and we’ll rotate our monthly meeting chairs and notetakers.
Community Outreach/Marketing – Abby, help via Stephen
File management – Dropbox, Google Drive – Annette to Marshall
Fundraising Committee – organizer Si, members Abby, Annette
GNDC oversight and account – Annette
IT – Tony
Legal – Deb
Partnerships
DPR establishment of partnership – Annette
Other tool library partnerships (MLK, Mt. Pleasant) – Thomas, Annette
School partnerships (one across the street) – Marshall
Civic Tech DC – Tony
Event Partners ZCAF, Bike House, etc… – Adrianne
Tool coordination and Physical Management of Sites (plural) – Marshall and Thomas
Roof, bathroom, floor, pavilion repair via DGS – Marshall
Green Demonstration Site – rain garden Annette
Solar Josh
Volunteer Training – onsite volunteers and Annette for online training.
Workshops and Events (farmer’s markets, fairs, …) – Adrianne.
Look at this TEAM EFFORT. So Exciting! So stay tuned for 2024!
Dr. Annette Olson, our lead, gave a presentation at Petworth Library on September 28th, 2023. Adding in some more references, we are now providing us a copy here of the presentation. The talk includes a quick background on the rate of climate change, how climate change will impact DC (temperature, flooding, invasive species, human health, asphalt fumes, and much more), and DC-specific solutions to fight it.
Take a look. If you’d like her to come to your group and speak, holler. She’ll also soon post a template one can use to give a similar talk yourself, with resources to draw the graphs from.
On Thursday, Sept 28th, our lead, Dr. Annette Olson, is going to give a talk at the Petworth Library, 6:30 – 8 pm on the Impacts of Climate Change (current and upcoming) on Washington DC, what people can do to fight it, and how one can (sortof) adapt to it. Join us for an overview, some specifics, and a discussion.
Agenda: 6:30 – 6:35 pm – Introduction of GNDC 6:35 – 7 pm – climate change impacts, global and specific to DC 7 – 7:10 pm questions 7:10 – 7:40 pm climate change actions (personal, social/community, political, industry) 7:40 – 8 pm questions
We will also have some information, factsheets, from various organizations laid out on the table, with maybe some representatives able to add their input.
And the second?
GNDC is featuring an excursion to Great Falls MD on Saturday September 30 led by its founding member David Schwartzman, Professor Emeritus, Howard University.
There is much to see, including geologic exposures of ancient metamorphic and igneous rocks dating back some 400 million years ago formed during the mountain building of the Appalachians, and diverse lichen and moss species. David did research on these lichens as monitors of airborne lead pollution. And of course you will see the falls and the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal system which ends up in Georgetown.
It’s about a 45-1 hr drive. We’ll meet in at 1380 Taylor St NW, at the DC Tool Library, where there’s plenty of parking on 14th St. We’ll leave at 9, learn and have some gentle exercise (walking only) and then we’ll get back around 3-4 pm. Bring your lunch, water, hat, and repellent. RSVP to us at greenneighborsdc @ gmail.com.
It’s back on!!! After being potsponed last week due to rain, it’s on this Saturday, 2 – 5:30 pm, during the Petworth Porchfest (2 bands on my porch! 2 bands across the street!)
Co-host is Max Broad.
What in the world does B.E.P. mean?
1 pm – backyard party begins (right around the corner from the front of the house.) 4024 5th St. NW 3 pm – hip-hop band Genetiks 4 pm – indie folk 80085 5:30 – party ends
and…. in there is
The grill. We know vegan sausages are great, what other things are good on a grill? (We will have vegan sausages).
Vegan-ingredient tasting! (Going vegan is a huge planet-saver due to all the cattle in the Amazon, and in the U.S. how much of our land is used for livestock feed. but willing to discuss!)
10+ different types of milk – what does hemp milk truly taste like?
good vegan cheeses, omg
jackfruit. hmmm….
can vegan “fish” taste like fish? and
what about Nu Vegan’s chik’n drummies?
A potluck – bring vegan dishes you love! (someone brought peanut butter and jelly sandwiches last time.)
Green house tour! – Green (a planted) roof, rain garden, rain barrels, solar tubes, a kitchen made almost entirely from salvaged goods, except for the recycled glass countertops and cork flooring, and, finally solar ovens cooking away. oh – and that weird invention called a clothesline. (coming soon, a heat pump dryer, but I don’t think I’ll get it before Sat.)
We’ll take your compost and drop it off at the Columbia Heights compost drop off!
Interested in testing your climate knowledge? We have a great quiz on the relative impacts of what we do on climate change. It’s much more challenging than you think.
SNOWCONE machine! From our local tool library. In action.
Showcase of some other tools from the Tool Library!
and other things as we think of it. Ideas welcome!
Green Neighbors DC has joined as a supporter of International Dark Sky Association’s planned event – Lights Out Hour DC. It’ll be on the evening of March 25th, from 8:30-9:30 pm.
As International Dark Sky Association says – “We believe that it’s high time that DC participated. We want to see this Capital city join with other cities, countries and peoples around the world in this enormously symbolic act which dramatizes the pressing need to address light pollution. You may be unaware that light pollution is growing at an astonishing rate; the journal Science now estimates that the brightness of the earth at night is doubling every eight years. Washington DC is an over- lit city; the DC Department of Transportation acknowledged this when they were engaged in studying the area in anticipation of switching all of the street and alleyway lighting over to LEDs.”
You don’t have to turn off security lights, but:
Rather we are reaching out to individuals wherever they may live (houses and apartments both have windows some of which shine out like beacons), to businesses on the street and to physically prominent highly visible structures that are too often very brightly lit up. We are looking to raise public awareness while educating people about light pollution and its impact on the health and well-being of both people and wildlife, in hopes of generating interest in dimming DC’s lights overall.
International Dark Sky Association – DC
[That’s exactly what we need to do.]
Approximately 188 countries and territories and nearly 18,000 landmarks and iconic structures have taken part. Join us.
DOEE Partners with Organizations to Install Solar Panels for DC Residents
The DC Department of Energy and Environment (DOEE) is partnering with local organizations to install solar on single-family homes and develop community solar projects for renters. Through a partnership with the DC Sustainable Energy Utility, DOEE can help DC residents save up to $500 annually. The Solar for All program is designed to provide the benefits of solar energy at no cost to 100,000 low-to-moderate income families living in DC.
DC residents who own their homes can apply to have solar systems installed directly on their roofs. Residents living in apartments, condominiums or multi-family buildings can go solar through the District’s community solar program.
Residents living in the District of Columbia who pay their own electricity bill and meet the income guidelines (shown here), could qualify for free solar benefits.
greenneighborsdc.org 