Update: Waste to Energy, Art @ Rennaissance, and Dept. of Sanitation Hearing

This week has been very eventful for OUTRAGE and the coming weeks will only prove to be as busy for our members and residents when it comes to garbage! The general meeting was quite productive for both our members and those who are interested in our community organization. OUTRAGE was also asked to respond to the media on the City's interest in Waste to Energy and Mayor's Bloomberg's Announcement for "PROPOSALS TO BUILD STATE OF THE ART CONVERSION TECHNOLOGY FACILITY TO CONVERT WASTE TO CLEAN ENERGY ". OUTRAGE, was one of fifty local organizations who had signed a letter to the Mayor on February 14 stating our opposition to the concept of waste to energy with the understanding that this will only bring more harm to the residents of North Brooklyn. Unfortunatly, it looks like  our voices have been neglected by the City and that they are indeed moving forward with this project. Of course, this will not stop OUTRAGE and local North Brooklyn residents from voicing our opinions and fighting back against injustice. Read more about OUTRAGE's stance on waste to energy in this article released last week in the Brooklyn Paper: http://brooklynpaper.com/stories/35/10/dtg_incinerator_2012_03_16_bk.html.

OUTRAGE was also recently asked to participate in a project by local artist Jill Sigmun and Anthropologist Gillian Goslinga with Art @ Renaissance. She will produce a peice on the North Brooklyn community based on her ongoing Hut Project. Here is an exerpt from her website describing the project:

"The Hut Project is an ongoing series of site-based activities that weaves together themes of sustainability, shelter, real estate, nature, and home. Starting last winter, I began building a series of simple structures from found and re-purposed materials. Each hut acts as a catalyst for local activities such as performance, video, collaboration, and community dialogue. The huts are containers—places where the concepts of dwelling, structure, and art object meet. They function as extravagant versions of the ‘emergency preparedness kit’, vodou ‘paquet congo’ that derive their power from the objects they contain, experiments in subsistence living, and sculptures that one can inhabit."

The project will also include a number of students visiting from Wesleyan University to conduct oral history interviews with local residents and observe them in their daily lives. The most interesting part of this project is that it will focus on garbage! It will be incredible to see some beauty and sustainability produced out of the waste that has burdened our community for years. It should also bring a wider audience to the issues that our residents face.

Last, but definetly not least, OUTRAGE will be testifying at the Department of Sanitation Budget Hearing on Tuesday, March 13th at 10:00 AM. We will be present to support the City's plan to move forward with the implementation of SWMP and the development of Marine Transfer Stations to reduce waste transfer in overburdoned community. We will update you shortly!

Oh, and there really is just one last thing: You can now follow OUTRAGE of Twitter!!!!