Wednesday, March 4, 2009

The Yellow Belt Movement and Seed Bombing

People's Belltown Republic is coming along nicely. A big part of our success is that together we've built great community. Some of us are good at sweeping, others at picking up trash, some have an eye for finding weird stuff and others are good at planting. It's been a lot of fun to discover each other's gifts. It's key to give each other room to discover our gifts, too. We all work hard, though, to make sure that no one feels guilty if they don't make a Sunday. There's nothing better to screw up a group than guilt. Forget that.

On the planting note, a few Sundays ago, we planted a bunch of seeds on the edge of the vacant lot on 2nd and Bell. I have seen other plants there. Someone had already planted a bunch of butterfly bushes. We added a few nasturtiums and Cosmos. I also heard that there was another seed bandit who threw wildflower seeds into the lot this week. We are becoming a neighborhood of guerilla gardeners.

The daffodils are coming up in full force on the corners of 2nd and Blanchard. They looked so lonely before, but we received some plant donations, and now we have added plants to the beds. We have pink, blue, and white plants of different varieties. The neighborhood is noticing and it's causing quite a stir. People are volunteering the help more, now that they see we're not just picking up trash. We have been receiveing offers from all over to help, so we must be on the right track.

In trash news, it seems that there is a lot less trash being dropped in the areas that we have pruned up and planted. I think people are finally getting that we care. I like to think that, anyway.

I keep thinking of Wangari Maathi, Nobel Peace Prize winner and founder of the Green Belt Movement, who started by planting trees. They are the Green Belt Movement.

We started by planting Daffodils. We are the Yellow Belt Movement.

Cool.

xoxo
~b

2 comments:

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  2. Wow. Glad I stopped by here! I have always felt there was a lack of good news around the world. It also seems that most people spend their time pointing out how the world sucks without actually doing a thing to make it better, but you are actually DOING something about it. What you and your friends have started to do there has just boosted my faith in people a whole lot. Holy shit. Thanks to all of you for taking responsibility for maintaining the beauty of such a cool city! You all rule. I hope that you get all the moral and physical support that you deserve. Wouldn't that be amazing if guerrilla gardening became the "In" thing to do? One can hope.

    Lots of love
    Carl J.
    Osaka

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