World Water Day (WWD) is celebrated every year on March 22nd. Starting in 1993, WWD celebratesd water and raises awareness of the 2 billion people living without access to safe water. It is about taking action to tackle our global water crisis. Each year focuses on a different theme, and this year is Groundwater: Making the Invisible Visible. 

Drink Local Drink Tap (DLDT) is celebrating WWD with a full day of virtual activities that 4th – 8th-grade students and educators can join from anywhere! On-demand virtual exhibits will be available from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM EST. The live-streamed main event will run from 10:30 to 11:30 AM EST and will include a Q&A with the DLDT team! 

Groundwater is an incredibly vital resource that is all around us, but easy to forget because it’s out of sight. Help your students discover the importance groundwater plays in their everyday lives and how they can make waves for change that positively impact groundwater in their community. DLDT wants to amplify youth voices, create awareness, and inspire each and every student to make an impact!

To participate in this educational and motivational event, register here bit.ly/DLDTWWD.

Contact: Ben Jurek – ben@drinklocaldrinktap.org 

Drink Local Drink Tap, Wavemaker Education Program Manager 

The post NEWS | 4th – 8th Grade Students Are Invited to Celebrate World Water Day 2022 with Drink Local Drink Tap appeared first on Drink Local Drink Tap.

The following interview was with Mary Beth Holdford, co-founder and partner of Feather Leather

Designs. Mary Beth, along with her sister, Kelly Gaydosh, and their mom, Carol Herb, launched

Feather Leather Designs in November 2018, creating lightweight, stylish, and affordable leather

and cork earrings for everyday women and everyday life. 

DLDT: What inspired you to start Feather Leather Designs?

MBH: I always had an entrepreneurial spirit and created more business plans than I can count. A

successful, 20-year career in corporate communications kept me busy, but I just couldn’t ignore

the desire to do my own thing someday. In 2018, I purchased a pair of leather earrings while

shopping with my mom, Carol, and my sister, Kelly. All three of us loved the concept of wearing

large statement earrings that didn’t pull on our already split lobes. However, both my mom and

sister passed on the purchase due to the high price point. This troubled me, and I felt strongly

that every woman should be able to say yes to purchasing something that is life changing. I took

it from there – researching, making prototypes and developing a business plan, which I

presented to my mom and sister. Feather Leather Designs (FLD) launched on Kelly’s birthday,

November 30, 2018. FLD’s brand promise is to create lightweight, stylish, and affordable

earrings that deliver both comfort and impact for life’s biggest moments and everyday life. 

DLDT: How did you get involved with Drink Local. Drink Tap.?

MBH: We loved the idea of repurposing leather scraps from local companies and reached out to

FOUNT’s co-founder, Jackie Wachter, who is related to one of our friends and loyal customers.

We offered to purchase discounted scrap leather in exchange for a portion of our product sales

to benefit a nonprofit partner of FOUNT’s choice. Jackie didn’t blink and was immediately

supportive of the idea, asking that we partner with Drink Local. Drink Tap. Since 2019, we have

donated 20% of all RE:PURPOSE collection sales to DLDT. It’s been a great partnership, and

we are so proud to support the important work of Erin and the DLDT team!

DLDT: What inspired your RE:PURPOSE line, and why was it important to you to use upcycled

leather remnants?

MBH: I was cleaning out things I had accumulated during some home projects and came across

swatches of leather that a store had given to me. I hated to toss such beautiful remnants, so we

used the scraps to create earrings. That sparked the idea of expanding our supply chain from

USA-based suppliers of leather and cork sheets, to include local companies that work with

leather, like FOUNT, and might have remnants available for purchase. Thus, the RE:PURPOSE

collection was born. We are very proud of our efforts to recycle material into new life and reduce

waste, while supporting and promoting other incredible businesses and giving back to important

causes.

DLDT: Where can people find your jewelry for sale?

MBH: All of our earrings are available for purchase at the Feather Leather Designs website. You can also

follow Feather Leather Designs on Facebook and Instagram. Pre-COVID, FLD was very active

in the local maker community, and events were a huge part of our growth strategy. However, we

put those events on hold until further notice. We cannot wait to get back into our local

communities to showcase our products, see our customers, and meet new friends!

DLDT: Is there anything else you would like to share?

MBH: COVID has impacted so many individuals, families, businesses, and programs. Because of the

love and support from our customers – who still loved wearing and gifting our earrings during a

pandemic! – we are still here, and perhaps stronger than before. We encourage Clevelanders to

shop small and local when able. We are also expanding our product offerings to include some

new items that will appeal to an even broader audience. Stay tuned!

The post BLOG | An Interview with Feather Leather Designs appeared first on Drink Local Drink Tap.

For the past two years, Four Miles for Water has looked a little bit different. While many of us have spent the better part of the last year and a half in our houses, Drink Local Drink Tap worked to provide an opportunity for us to get outside in a safe way. DLDT modified their annual fun run in an attempt to keep up with a bit of normalcy with this tradition. This year and last, 4M4W has offered participants three options: a four mile run, a one mile walk or a four mile walk once a day for 10 days. This four miles signifies the four mile walk that many Ugandan children embark on everyday while carrying large, heavy jerry cans full of water. This prohibits these children from doing other activities such as going to school. Participants were given 10 days to complete this challenge and paid an entrance fee of $30; this amount of money brings water to one person in Uganda for life. 

Participants were given the freedom to choose where they wanted to complete their run or walk but DLDT’s website also provided routes that were mapped out ahead of time if people were looking for ideas. DLDT also provided a playlist to listen to while you complete your run or walk. This past year, DLDT was even able to organize a smaller in person opportunity for people to run or walk together. Around … people gathered at Nautica Entertainment Complex between the hours of 8 to noon and completed their 4 miles. While we were not able to provide the full range of activities like we usually offer, it was an opportunity to come together and get a taste of our normal DLDT events that we’ve been missing out on. It was a great motivator to complete your run and definitely more enjoyable than walking or running by yourself.

I was out of town for this event but that didn’t stop me from completing my 4 miles. As much as I have loved 4M4W’s in-person event, I have surprisingly found that there are aspects of the virtual version that I have enjoyed as well. Running in person is fun, exciting and motivating but running by yourself is thought provoking. Throughout my run these past two years, the peace and quiet of being alone has allowed me to think about the reasoning behind this run and why I am doing what I’m doing. I think about the ways in which my life would change if I had to do this everyday; the things I would be restricted from doing are such important parts of my life. It allows me to reflect on my privilege. Clean and safe water grants us so many privileges in life and this run has given me the opportunity to introspect about all that it has given me.

The post Virtual 4 Miles 4 Water! appeared first on Drink Local Drink Tap.

Every year in Northeast Ohio, nonprofits and other organizations host dozens of 5ks, 10ks, marathons, fun runs, and other related events. These occasions tend to do a lot of good for our community: they raise awareness and thousands of dollars for worthwhile causes, promote health and well-being, encourage healthy competition, and bring people together. But have you ever considered their environmental footprint?

This year alone, Hermes Road Racing – the region’s leading organizer of such events – will host no fewer than 129 running events. This does not include any number of other events which Hermes does not organize, including the Akron and Cleveland marathons.

Environmental impact of racing events

Think about the potential impact of that number of events. Let’s assume that each event attracts 75 participants, meaning that at least 9,675 people from around the region will come out to take part. If each participant receives a bottle of water, a t-shirt, and a participant bag (pretty standard fare for these types of events), the impact becomes quite significant. Those bottles of water, if stacked upright, would reach a height of 6,450 feet. In other words, that stack of water bottles would stretch nearly 1.25 miles, or more than twice the height of the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building.

The water footprint of the events is even more significant. Each one of those bottles requires up to six times as much water as they hold, meaning that it would require at least 5,000 gallons of water to keep our runners hydrated. And, since every t-shirt requires more than 700 gallons to produce, the t-shirts for each of our race participants will consume another 6.77 million gallons of water.

And this tally does not even begin to account for the additional trash generated, the amount of food wasted, the footprint of the electricity used for the event, or the amount of gasoline required to get participants to and from the race. Ultimately, even something as insignificant as a 5k race for your favorite charity can carry a considerable environmental toll.

Implementing sustainability at the 2014 Gay Games

So what can we do about this reality? Are there steps that we can take to make sporting events more sustainable?

This is a question that I have personally wrestled with. As the Project and Volunteer Manager for the 2014 Gay Games, an event that brought 20,000 participants, volunteers, and spectators to Northeast Ohio last August, I worked to minimize our environmental footprint while maximizing our social and economic impacts.

In this vein, we produced the first sustainability plan in the 32-year history of the Gay Games. This plan, which built upon lessons learned from other sports events, including the 2012 London Olympics, included actions to reduce our use of bottled water, cut our waste stream, provide alternative transportation options, utilize local foods, and green our internal operations.

While we faced a number of challenges – limited human and financial resources, hosting 35 events at venues stretched across three counties – I consider our plan to have been a major success. You can read more in our our sustainability report. Among other things, we managed to avoid the use of more than 2,446 bottles of water, diverted roughly one-third of our waste at our two main venues, provided free public transportation for all of our participants, sourced one-third of our total food from local vendors, and donated more than 1,200 pounds of leftover food to the 2100 Lakeside Men’s Homeless Shelter and the Greater Cleveland Food Bank. Our efforts even garnered international coverage.

Sustainability lessons learned

My work to make the 2014 Gay Games sustainable taught me a number of valuable lessons.

First, implementing a sustainability plan is not something that takes care of itself. It requires a concerted effort at all levels of the organization. In order to make it a reality, you need to make a firm commitment as early as possible.

Second, it is important to learn as much as you can from those people who have gone before you. From the point when we committed to sustainability, we began to research extensively how previous organizers of large-scale events, particularly sporting events, had approached the topic. We read sustainability plans, reports, and lessons learned from several events and organizations and reached out to local actors working in this space to garner their input.

Third, it is vital to set progressive sustainability goals, but also to remain realistic as to what you can achieve.  It would be easy to set a goal of 100% waste diversion, but unless you have substantial human, financial, and logistical resources at your disposal, it will be extremely difficult to achieve this. Event organizers will need to go through an iterative process of discussion and revision in order to develop a plan that corresponds to their goals, values, and resources.

Sustainability at 4 Miles 4 Water

Fortunately, Drink Local. Drink Tap., Inc. has drawn from these lessons and is in the process of developing an impressive sustainability plan for its second annual 4 Miles 4 Water event.

This four mile run/walk, which will take place Saturday, May 9 at Edgewater Park, will provide an opportunity for participants to gain awareness and raise funds to address water issues at home and around the globe, all while enjoying friendly competition, music, food, and drinks.

But, more than that, the organizers of 4 Miles 4 Water have also embraced sustainability. They are working closely with the City of Cleveland Office of Sustainability to make this a zero waste event. Ultimately, the goal is to produce less than one bag of trash total. Participants will also receive a stainless steel water bottle, rather than a race t-shirt, in order to cut the event’s water footprint. And instead of providing each runner with a race bag – much of which would go to waste – everyone will be able to utilize a virtual “swag” bag that will further cut down on the waste stream.

Sustainability is more than just a nice idea or a way to market your event or organization. It is increasingly becoming an imperative. As we demonstrated at the 2014 Gay Games and as DLDT is showing through 4 Miles 4 Water, it is certainly possible to host a sporting event that is engaging and entertaining while cutting down on its environmental impact. As we celebrate Earth Day, hopefully more organizers will learn from our work and follow suit.

The post Why 4 Miles 4 water is going green appeared first on Drink Local Drink Tap.

Moen, the leading faucet brand in America, has been a key backer of Drink Local. Drink Tap., Inc.’s ongoing work since the very beginning. The relationship is a perfect fit. Moen designs and sells the faucets that brings tap water we value so much to millions of Americans. And since their start in 1937, Moen has worked to find a better, more innovate ways to deliver water to their customers. In this same mold, DLDT works to find better ways to bring water to people and bring people back to water.

Moen was the very first sponsor of our work, back in 2010, as they provided support to our World Water Day program. They have been a Platinum Level sponsor since 2013, and they have been essential in helping every facet of our programming expand. Without their continued support, DLDT could not be where it is today.

In particular, Moen has been a key sponsor of our clean water projects in Uganda. They have helped us provide clean drinking water, improved sanitation, and irrigation to hundreds of Ugandan students, including the children of the Family Spirit AIDS Orphanage, many of whom suffer from chronic malnutrition and illnesses, including HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis.

But Moen gives so much more than just its financial support. Moen staff volunteer year-round with DLDT, from our monthly beach clean-ups to our 4 Miles 4 Water event. We can truly say that Moen has been essential to everything we have achieved over the past five-plus years.

For these reasons, we are excited to announce that Moen signed on as Lake Level sponsor for our 2015 4 Miles 4 Water event, which will take place May 9th, 2015 at Cleveland Metroparks’ Edgewater Park. You can be sure that Moen employees will be there with us, taking part.

The post Moen, a longtime DLDT supporter, becomes Lake Level sponsor of 4 Miles 4 Water appeared first on Drink Local Drink Tap.

Since 2010, Kinetico has consistently supported Drink Local. Drink Tap., Inc.’s ongoing work to educate people about the importance of clean water and bring access to clean water in Uganda. In particular, their continued support, which is now entering its fifth year, has been invaluable to our work abroad. Kinetico has acted as a Platinum Level sponsor of DLDT since 2012, and it has directly funded two of our clean water projects in Uganda.

Thanks to Kinetico, we have worked to provide reliable access to clean drinking water to the students of the St. Bonaventure Primary School. We have also been able to provide water for the Arise and Shine Uganda Primary School.

Moreover, Kinetico’s support does not stop at its sponsorship – far from it. Kinetico staff members have been actively involved in DLDT’s work. They currently serve on our Board of Directors. They have participated in the Wavemaker Program since 2010, directly supporting our efforts to raise awareness among thousands of students in Northeast Ohio about the role of water in our lives. DLDT’s executive director and founder, Erin Huber, also provides semiannual updates to their employees about our ongoing work and ways that they can get involved further.

Given this fruitful relationship, DLDT is glad to announce that Kinetico has become a Lake Level sponsor for our 2015 4 Miles 4 Water event, which takes place May 9th, 2015 at Cleveland Metroparks’ Edgewater Park. All net proceeds go to support DLDT’s local and global work. We know that, without Kinetico’s support, our work in Cleveland and Uganda would not be possible, and we are eager to continue working side-by-side with their team in the name of clean water.

The post Kinetico signs on as Lake Level sponsor for 4 Miles 4 Water appeared first on Drink Local Drink Tap.

Since 2009, the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District (NEORSD) has played an integral role in supporting the work that we do at Drink Local. Drink Tap., Inc. NEORSD has been involved in our World Water Day activities each year, and through their continued support, we have been able to expand our Wavemaker Program – we now provide education on the role that water plays in each of our lives to students in more than 50 classrooms each year. Without NEORSD’s continued support and their tireless efforts to protect our Great Lake, none of this would have been possible.

But our relationship with NEORSD is so much more than just a sponsorship. It has continued to grow and expand, as they find creative new ways to connect our work with theirs. NEORSD staff are now actively involved in the Wavemaker Program, taking the lead to provide additional curriculum or following up on our visits to partner schools to build upon what the students have learned and demonstrate its real world applications. This active engagement is a part of NEORSD’s much larger community outreach effort, of which DLDT is just one piece. From their continued campaigns to teach the people of this region about how our individual actions – whether failing to clean up after our dogs or allowing litter to clog our storm sewers – directly affect the health of Lake Erie to their ongoing advocacy to make Cleveland a truly green city on a blue lake, NEORSD is at the forefront of water issues in this region.

But that’s not to say that our partnership is all work and no play – far from it. NEORSD’s official liquid mascot, Wally Waterdrop, routinely appears at DLDT events to engage with our students and bring a plush, felt face to water. DLDT and NEORSD agree that we can’t waste opportunities to make learning about water fun. That’s why we like to make sure that our events are overflowing with opportunities for adults and children, alike, to be awash in hands-on learning.

For these reasons, DLDT is glad to announce that NEORSD has agreed to become a Lake Level sponsor for our 2015 4 Miles 4 Water event, which takes place May 9th, 2015 at Cleveland Metroparks’ Edgewater Park. Their Lake Level sponsorship not only helps us put on a free, family friendly All Things Water Festival and concert, but also supports our local and global water programming year round. That programming includes our monthly beach cleanups, the Wavemaker Program, our annual 4 Miles 4 Water event, and so much more.

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***MEDIA ALERT***

FACEBOOK EVENT LINK:  https://www.facebook.com/events/1391985461042118/?ref=br_tf 

WHAT:           Barefoot Wine is teaming up with Alliance for the Great Lakes and Drink Local. Drink Tap, Inc. to host a public Adopt-a-Beach™ cleanup at Edgewater Park. After the cleanup, volunteers ages 21 and older are invited to attend a celebration featuring Barefoot Wine and surf-inspired fare.

The event is part of a continuing partnership between Barefoot Wine and the Alliance’s Adopt-a-Beach™ Program to clean up Great Lakes’ beaches and shorelines and celebrate our volunteers. In 2013, more than 12,000 Adopt-a-Beach™ volunteers removed 46,103 pounds of trash at 352 locations in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio and Wisconsin. This cleanup is part of 14 other events throughout the Great Lakes this summer with Barefoot Wine and the Alliance. For more info on additional events in your area, visit: www.greatlakesadopt.org.

WHO:             Barefoot Wine, fun, flavorful and affordable wines and bubblies

Alliance for the Great Lakes, a nonprofit with a mission of conserving and restoring the world’s largest surface freshwater resource using policy, education and local efforts

Drink Local. Drink Tap, Inc. ™: a non-profit organization inspiring safe water action (or activism) through creative educational outreach and providing safe water access to people in need.

WHEN:           Saturday, September 6, 2014

                        Cleanup                                                                     Celebration

                        11:00am-1:00pm                                                         1:30pm-4:00pm

WHERE:         Beach Cleanup                                                         Barefoot Wine Celebration

Edgewater Park                                                           1306 W 65th St, Cleveland

6616 Memorial Shoreway                                          Cleveland, OH 44102

Cleveland, OH 44118

Meet at the Barefoot Wine tent!

COST:            No charge; open to the public. Celebration open to participants 21 years of age or older

CONTACT:   Alliance for the Great Lakes: Hyle Lowry, hlowry@greatlakes.org, 216-630-8140

Hunter Public Relations: Blaine Rueber, brueber@hunterpr.com, 212-679-6600

The post September 6th Barefoot Wine and Bubbly Beach Cleanup/ Party after Lake Erie Boat Float appeared first on Drink Local Drink Tap.

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