July 13, 2007 by Julie.

Well hello there.
Our blogs are officially up and running, and I finally have a chance to introduce myself as the third member of the YERT team. My name is Julie. I am an actor and singer by trade, married to Ben, and the female point of view of this trip. I have been blogging since March of this year and every day since we began our journey (save one night when I fell asleep before writing anything). So you can go to www.babystepstotheelevator.blogspot.com to catch up on what we have been encountering so far.

When Ben first asked me to consider our joining Mark on this venture, I said, “Uhhhh…no.” After all, our life was in NYC, I had my first Off-Bwy show and Ben appeared on the TV show 6 Degrees, we had 2 little cats we had rescued out of the backyard…but eventually, as Ben kept working with Mark long distance, I became less interested in auditioning and more interested in what how I might be able to help. One of the first things Ben and I shared with each other after we met was our love of nature and Planet Earth. So, after some serious soul searching (and finding a foster home for our cats!) I discovered that I could in fact take this giant leap of faith and exchange life as we knew it for life on the road, for a year, with a mission.
l first I worried about spending a year in a car with two boys…on a trip that I wasn’t sure would make any difference to anyone except us. I also feared my marriage dissolving under the microscope of super tight travel. But I put on my flipflops, packed a pretty small bag, and got in the car anyway.
I think i can safely say we will not be bored and will never suffer for lack of things to do. In fact, I am having a time just keeping up with recording what we have done so far, and it is only Day 8. I still hear nagging cynicism in my head but we are learning so much! Every day brings new discoveries about how Americans are dealing with the issues of sustainability and “green” living. And every day more and more people seem to be interested in environmental issues and implementing new ways of living that preserve their environment. I am feeling ever more confident that Americans are finding the paths to living together on this beautiful planet and saving it for all who come after us.

Because, in fact, we have done it before. My grandmother grew a garden in her backyard and canned everything for the winter. When I was growing up, we had a milkman come to our door and replace our empty bottles with fresh milk - and this was in the 80’s! And there are still people in America who remember a time when there was no garbage! Can you imagine? I can’t wait to talk to people who remember what that was like, and see if they can’t help us get back to a place where simplicity, resourcefulness, patience, hard work, sacrifice, and care were considered a worth and dignified way of life.

Convenience and immediate gratification seem to be rules of America’s game and waste and pollution and disease the unfortunate outcome, but I like to think that we are on a path back to authenticity, and I hope that our trip may uncover solutions, soften some hearts and open some minds (including our own) along the way. Please join us on our travels and send us your thoughts, ideas, advice, links to anything you think America should see or know about so that we can share it online. We look forward to hearing from you, America!
Yours in YERT,
Julie

Posted in Travelog, Julie | 3 Comments »

July 13, 2007 by Mark.

Day 10

Hello, Everybody!

There is so much to share that I don’t know where to begin, but first I’ll send out a hearty thanks to all of your for your support—YERT has received nearly infinite assistance from countless people, and I am grateful to all of you for it.

• Thank you for signing up on this e-mail list before the trip even launched.
• Thank you for the free meals, free rooms, and free stuff. Oh yes, and free hugs.
• Thank you for caring about our planet, and laughing all the while.

The YERT launch preparations spanned a dozen states and eleven months. Many stones were left unturned, but we lifted up enough rocks to finally roll on July 4, and we’re suddenly now a week into this thing and loving every moment. We hope to continue turning stones over all year long, checking out everything from coal to ethanol to compost to eco-media to local economies to green housing to environmental policy to voluntary simplicity, and everything in between.

We hope to give you a fresh perspective, sometimes heavily edited, sometimes barely edited, always a window into our reality along the way. We’ll do our best to get it right the first time, but expect some course changes along the way. Nobody owns us, and we plan to say and do whatever the heck we want. So, look out, all ye truth hiding un-funny planet haters! YERT may very well drive all over your agenda.

I’m thrilled to travel with two multi-talented companions, Ben and Julie, who keep me sane and smiling every day just by being who they are. I tend to be a plan-heavy traveler, with my head simmering on the future of YERT and all that may transpire. Ben and Julie help me enjoy the present, and relish the past.

Speaking of plans, our website plan didn’t line up quite like we hoped, so we’re cobbling things together a bit late. You’d think that eleven months would be plenty of time to perfect things, but, metaphorically speaking, the earth shifted a bit as we laid the foundation of a brand new website, and the HTML code spilled out all over the floor. What metaphor is that, do you ask? I ask you to not ask. Just know that our blog is now functional, and that we’ll be rolling out new fun web features all year long.

Ben, Julie and I will be blogging as time permits during the year. Julie has proven to be most prolific, and we love her for it, but we each have a different angle on things so keep an eye out for posts from all three of us. Please also watch for our photos on Flickr, our map/route on Google, some polls to take your pulse, and new videos posted as quickly and often as we can manage. We’ll be making every effort to stay true to the “YOUR” in Your Environmental Road Trip, so dive right in and enjoy the flow.

You really can save the world for five minutes a day by sitting on your butt and watching, reading, or simply thinking about YERT. For free. It is that easy—but only if you promise not to stop when the YERT year is complete.

Somewhere in New Jersey,

Mark

YERT Co-Founder

Posted in Travelog, Mark | 2 Comments »