July 21, 2007 by Julie.

wow. once again, the lack of internet has thwarted my abilities to get out the printed word…I am learning the lesson that I might need to write in text edit and paste into blogs later…but we are hitting so many amazing people… who are turning us on to so many other amazing people there is just no time!!! totally encouraging and a little bit overwhelming, I must say!

Quick recap and I will detail later:
stayed the night at Dixon’s in Niantic, CT (mmm)
spent the entire next rainy day without internet (and with blog locked for spam check) so Mark worked logistics, Ben worked on video pods, I logged tapes play-by-play to help Ben speed up the editing process, and we all made some phone calls, which resulted in filling up the next two days with pretty great stuff. Wonderful dinner with the folks!

Next day we made sandwiches and packed, then left in the fog for Jamestown, RI. Ben had set up visiting two farms: the Dutra’s Dairy Farm where Rhody Fresh is milked, and the Watson Farm which raises organic beef and vegetables, sheep, bees, etc…and which hosts groups and schools teaching about how to live sustainably…Lastly we stopped by an alpaca farm and had a lovely evening at the home of Anj and Tom, who graciously shared dinner with us and absorbed our compost and as the rain began to fall again, Tom even let us try the spinning wheel. We were pathetic…

Brad, of Apeiron Sustainability Center, offered for us to stay the night in the center on some carpeted floor. We decided to take him up on it and so drove in pitch drak wet windy raods and then slept in our sleeping bags for the first time on the trip! I am happy to report that the REI pads are super comfy and my hips did not hurt even when I lay on my side. Thumbs up. But I still got up way before the boys. I took an overdue shower at the center, shaved, dressed, looked around the facility and learned some things from plaquards on the wall about how the structure was made, to be sustainable. Now I want a Finnish masonry wood oven.

After the boys’ shot B-roll, I took myself and my crabby mood into the woods for a minute to defuse. It didn’t work but I did get some mosquito bites. We drove a bit and stopped at a diner (thank you, boys) for some eggs and coffee and then I felt myself warming to humanity again.
Then Mark went to the bathroom and found a tick. He spent some time next to Rachel, pulling it out with the tweezers and then we saved it in my makeup jar. He thought the head stayed in, which made him turn white, a little, cause really who wants lyme disease, but he poured hydrogen peroxide on it and stuck on a bandaid and we headed for Providence. I searched online and read taht if you get the tick out before 36 hours, there is usually no infection, and even if the mouthparts stay in there is no cause for alarm - the bacteria is in the “midgut.” I think he was somewhat relieved but he remained slightly paler than usual…

I am totally tired so real quick: we stopped by GleeGum and saw Molly, who sweetly sent us next door to cityfarm to speak with Richard, who was amazing. We made our 2pm appt with Brad Hysson of Apeiron and after some red tape, we all got up on the green roof for another really nice interview. Back to GleeGum to catch Molly as she was leaving. Ben and Mark did a silly bit with her but it was sort of cute. She sent us to a Southeast Asian restaurant called Pho Paradise up the road, where we talked and talked and talked about how whether or not we shoudl plan more or let things just happen spotaneously. Then i noticed the other table looking at us, and I asked Ben to lower his voice bc we were attracting attention. He did but then a lady at the other table saw me and yelled over, smiling, “What’s YERT?”

Explanations, all going over for introductions, we ended up following a man named Joe, on his bicycle, to his house at the top of Smith Hill, and touring the house that he built, with solar cells, and a few of the other houses that he built and sold, etc. He was a blast and sent us home with 2 CD’s of his own band, Noodle, and another man, a blues guys who lives in Idaho where they have a cabin that they want us to stay at when we go through…A bottle of wine and several stories later, we said our goodbyes and counted ourselves incredibly lucky to be meeting such people every single day…

we are encouraged, and we are freaking tired. Tomorrow we are sleeping till we can’t sleep anymore.

Posted in Travelog, Julie | 3 Comments »

July 19, 2007 by Mark.

Hey Boston YERTians!

YERT will be hosting a simple gathering of Earth-friendly friends (old and new) on Sunday, 7/22/07, from 2 PM to 5 PM just outside of Boston in Winchester. Prepare yourself to watch previously un-seen YERT footage, listen to previously un-heard conversations, and experience plenty of stories from us to you, and vice versa! Bring a bowl of food to share (potluck style), and Bring Your Own Bowl from which to eat the food that others have brought. There are only three rules:

- Generate no garbage at the event = Bring your own non-disposable cup, bowl, napkin, and utensils.
- Include (at least) one locally grown ingredient in the potluck dish.
- Carpool if you can.

This will be really casual. If you can’t figure out how to create zero garbage or find local food, just show up and we’ll help you. If you would like to attend, please contact Mark to RSVP and get the address: 415-672-5537, or mark@yert.com. Anybody is invited, so bring a friend or two if you like! Can’t wait to see you there.

Your YERT Team,

Ben, Julie, and Mark

P.S. Props to Erika for the new meaning behind BYOB…

Posted in Events, Mark | 2 Comments »

July 17, 2007 by Julie.

It’s 5:45 am when I wake by myself in the little room and realize the princess beds haven’t been slept in. I have a sneaking suspicion that the boys are still working downstairs…and as i descend the stairs I see that i am right. (Note the clock on the back wall.)

But it was a fruitful night because Ben finally finished editing the launch pod, and Mark spent the next hour getting it all up and running. Go Boys, Go!

Now they are sleeping so they have a little brain for today’s work…and I am just waiting…hey…maybe i could take this time to actually read…

Posted in Travelog, Julie | 4 Comments »

July 17, 2007 by Mark.

Dear YERTians,

Greetings from New Jersey! We’re nearly two weeks into this YERT thing, and we’re already totally bored. Hah! Not even close. We’ve been packing the eco-goodness into every second of every day, and we’re thrilled to have you along for the ride. Today, and every Tuesday, we plan to put up a new video for you to enjoy. This week, check out the YERT LaunchPod!

In this week’s YERT Update:

• New Video: LaunchPod!
• YERTivities and Eco-Meat
• YERT Needs a Web Developer

In the LaunchPod you’ll meet the guy who sold our “YERTmobile” to us. You’ll watch YERT day being officially declared in Pittsburgh. You’ll experience the Pittsburgh pieroghi festivities at our Pre-launch Party. You’ll witness our car-packing strife. And you’ll see our very first destination AND learn the name of our vehicle. It is no longer “YERTmobile.” It is… for you to watch and discover.

If you’re tired of all the “pre-launch” and “launch” related stuff, relax! We’ll be getting to the eco-meat of the journey soon. And we’ve got footage to prove it: we’ve toured a coal mine and talked to a miner, we became Uncle Sam to discuss energy conservation with children, dehydrated ourselves while attending Al Gore’s “Live Earth” concert in New Jersey, visited a perpetually burning town, filmed an “energy audit” in Pittsburgh, met up with a few fellow TreeHuggers, fondled wild turtle eggs, explored a couple of Superfund sites, and experienced a hundred mini-eco-delights in between, particularly including organic oatmeal. Most of these experiences can be found on our blog, and we’ll be pulling them into polished videopods just as soon as we can.

So, we’re hungry for a web developer to help us deploy a brand new version of the YERT website, complete with bells and whistles and pretty buttons and dials. We’ve got it all designed, but we need a technical web wizard to spin it all together for us. If you are such a person, or know such a person, we’d love to connect. We have a little money for this, but volunteers are encouraged to apply– and they will be handsomely rewarded with an exclusive YERT Shert if they give us a break on the bill. Call Mark at 415-672-5537 to discuss the design and technical requirements, or use e-mail: mark@yert.com.

Now sit back, enjoy, and save the world a little bit more today.

YERTfully Yours,

Mark, Ben, and Julie

team@yert.com

P.S. YERT is not affiliated with the Rachel Carson Homestead, but the YERT team thanks Rachel Carson for her life’s work and seeks to build upon her environmental legacy with the deepest respect, and a little bit of fun.

Posted in Video | 2 Comments »

July 16, 2007 by Julie.

Today’s reaction from passerby to YERT yelled at our car : “Yin’s terrorists?”

Before leaving Pittsburgh, we drove downtown for B-roll, then hit the Friends of the Wissahickon as the rain started down. The “friends” we spoke to were LOVELY and we suddenly wished that we had a few more days. We learned that the Wissahickon is a 1800+ acre bit of wilderness with the greater (?) Park, and that the Park itself was designed to protect Philadephians’ drinking water! Apparently, 30-40% of Philadelphia water comes from the aquifer beneath this park. The biggest problem the Park is experiencing, and the issue to which the most time is devoted, is the problem of flooding, and runoff into the Park’s valley, which drains into the aquifer below. The Park workers confirmed that in the last few years there have been many more heavy storms than in years past and feel strongly that evidence is pointing to climate change. In fact, there were 2 “hundred year floods” within 3 weeks of each other last March. The reason that flooding is so detrimental is that the Park drains into a basin, and all of the paved roads, driveways, concrete sidewalks, and manicured lawns provide basically a slide for the water to speed its way down the valley where the little basin cannot manage the chemicals/detriment that are being picked up along the way. Neighbors are being encouraged to consider planting their yards with native flora and fauna which might catch more of the rainwater and help ease the burden on the Wissahickon. But some people love their grass.

If only we had found them when we first got here!
sigh. it is hard to find everything on the internet. Seems like some of the very most interesting things we get from people that we meet once we’ve been in the city a little while…which doesn’t always leave us enough time to explore them before we leave.

As the sun got low in the sky, we repacked Rachel Carson, said goodbye to Meghan, Clara, and neighbor, Molly, and drive off for Media, PA, to find out what it means to be the “nation’s first fair trade town.” I will leave you to wait for the video to find that one out.

Posted in Travelog, Julie | 1 Comment »

July 16, 2007 by Julie.

I was asleep in the back seat when we drove into Barnegat late. It was way past dark and Rachel’s NAV system was giving us shade so Ben found the house by calling Peter Hurley’s sister in law, Nadira, on the phone for the umpteenth time. In her sweet Parisian accent, she assured us that sleep is a luxury when you have a newborn babe.

We thanked her profusely and followed her
to our rooms. It was there I made yet another garbage faux pas by immediately opening and drinking from one of the two plastic water bottles she had put beside our bed! DANG! I didn’t even realize what I had done until the boys came in the room and i offered Ben the other bottle. Sleepiness spoils some well-laid plans.

But the next day was simply fantastic. Ben’s old friend, Pete Hurley, had set us up to meet a man by the name of Willie deCamp who is largely responsible for the saving of Barnegat Bay, where Peter’s father lives. Once Ben reached Willie by phone, we cleaned out the back seat for passengers and headed over to Save the Barnegat Bay headquarters. We were met by a twinkly-eyed slender man with some grey to his short mussed hair and much kid to his grin. He played us a phone message from a colleague out on Sedge Island who was working with some kids from the Governors School for the Environment (I didn’t even know they had one for the environment - and it’s been around for 20 yrs!). His name was Jim Merritt. He was interested in helping us out but who seemed to be having some trouble reaching Willie We didn’t get ahold of him but we all piled into Rachel anyway (including Willie’s wonderful niece, Amy deCamp) and drove, rather faster than we wanted, to try and find Jim Merritt out in the marshes.

We immediately found John Wenk, who studies striped terrapin turtles that live in the Bay. Then a boat pulled up with a man named Marty who assured us that Jim was not far. Willie explained a little bit about what we were doing, then Marty offered a lift to as many of us as he could carry. Ben and Mark were still fiddling with camera equipment when Jim arrived and leaped onto the dock, with black sunglasses, Keen’s and a freaky dark tan. I got some little video of Jim showing us the map and where he and the kids were working, then everyone got antsy and Mark and Ben joined us even though Mark could not find the lens to the big camera. (That’s not easy for Mark - leaving when his i’s aren’t dotted. Go Mark!) Just before we left, Jim jumped into the water and pulled out what he called “gunga gunga,” (basically anything that you would consider “gross” and which is not supposed to be there, ie: sea lettuce - which we tasted after seeing Jim put a piece in his mouth…um…it was not delicious). Jim explained to us how the Bay is being smothered by fast-growing algae, due to an overabundance of nitrogen running into the Bay from storm runoff from people’s yards - which is just like the problem in the Wissahickon, except that instead of providing the community’s drinking water, Barnegat Bay provides home and habitat for a diverse population of fish and wildlife that are special to the area and that are in decline due to this human-caused pollution.

So, with Amy and I in Jim’s boat, which threatened to quit running, and Ben, Mark and Willie in Marty’s bigger boat, which threatened not to make it through the shallows, we zipped off for the little island, running it slow through the sketchy parts, and moving our weight to the front when instructed by our captains. The kids were relaxing on a pontoon boat when we docked. Introductions were made and then we were left to watch, listen, and absorb.

We followed the kids around as they and their teachers measured chemical levels in the water, gathered clams, caught crabs, pulled threads from mussels, cleared dead eel grass from the shoreline, and tried fishing. They explained to us what they were doing and why it was important. Amy showed me two oysters with two different kinds of algae - neither of which is healthy for the oyster. Michael Migliori, the kids’ teacher, invited us to join them in using the telescope to see more closely the nesting osprey (see photo) and peregrine falcon, the little blue heron, great egret and oyster catchers. John Wennig pulled mama turtles off their nests and measured their eggs, which he then moved to a controlled study area where the eggs were reburied at exactly the same depth, so they wouldn’t be shocked by temperature change. I was even allowed to release the mama terrapins from their plastic buckets back out into the Bay!

As the sun got lower in the sky, Ben and Mark ran out of battery in Camera B and so were (happily) forced to sit and enjoy talking with the people. Some of the kids cracked the live crabs and several kids got pinched pretty good. I helped Ryan and his crew scrub clean the mussels they had caught earlier. We didn’t know it but I was actually cleaning our supper! Jim had us stay and share in the harvest that these kids had been catching and cleaning all day. We felt unworthy but part of the program there is You eat what you catch, and what you make with your own two hands, and You share with whoever is there. It was delicious, and great company besides. I think everyone there appreciated that Ryan (another one of the teachers) made the mussels, as he owns his own seafood restaurant and really knows what to do with wine, garlic and shellfish. Man. Wonderful.

Then Jim pulled off a crab penis for us to all see.

Posted in Travelog, Julie | 1 Comment »

July 16, 2007 by Julie.

Who knew. One fork of a certain river in NJ runs the wrong way, and nature’s got nothing to do with it.

Oyster Creek Nuclear Power Plant in Lacey Township, NJ, has no cooling towers so it sucks up billions of tons of water every day out of the south branch of the Forked River, altering the river’s course from its natural flow into the Bay into the plant instead. The cooling process superheats the water, effectively killing all living organisms, and then the water is spit back out, superheated, into Oyster Creek.

Willie deCamp knows. He took us to Oyster Creek and walked us into the superwarm exit branch of the Oyster Creek River. He told us the fishing is superb there because the fish love the warm water and that they come out of season because the water is warm all year round…unless the Plant has to shut down for some reason in the middle of winter. Then the fish all die from thermal shock.

Willie feels that, regardless of whether one is a fan of nuclear power or not, there is an easy solution that is not being considered. Oyster Creek Power Plant should have a completely closed-loop cooling tower system, like many other plants. This would eliminate the unnecessary killing of wildlife and altering of habitat for which the Plant is currently responsible. But there is no indication that this kind of a plan will be implemented and Willie worries that if the power company is not forced to build such towers, that there will be no change and the marine life in the area will be seriously impacted.

The operating lease is up in 2009 and many residents are trying to effectively block its renewal. Whether or not the Power Plant will continue to operate remains unseen but there are definitely more than a handful of people who are working to prevent its happening in Oyster Creek.

Posted in Travelog, Julie | 1 Comment »

July 15, 2007 by Ben.

Good times. I mean REALLY good. Passed a kidney stone today. Well not technically - it’s still in there somewhere…trust me, I’ve been looking. It’s probably curled up in my bladder right now with some Kafka and a nice cup of coffee enjoying the view of my spleen. But I managed to pass it part of the way from kidney to toilet and, quite honestly, “passed” doesn’t quite do the experience justice - “birthed” or “labored” or “agonized” might be more accurate. “Hey honey, I agonized a kidney stone today.” Yeah, that’s more like it. I had one back in 1998 that dropped me to my knees…literally…for hours. Another in 1999, not quite as bad. This one falls somewhere in between, but what it may lack in punch (and that isn’t much) it more than makes up for in timing. Nothing like a medical emergency sans health insurance while on a road trip to make you appreciate the universal health coverage we have in this country. Wait, sorry, I was confusing us with Canada.

Still it was worth every penny of the $102 I shelled out yesterday to hear “I think it’s just another kidney stone, Mr. Evans” instead of “you have kidney disease” or “you’ve been spending too much quality time with the candiru fish and it’s now living in your good bits” or “oh yeah, that’s this new virus that’s going around…ebola something or other.” I’ve never been so relieved to hear the words “kidney stone.” And yet, today, at 11am when I was summarily doubled over for two hours and found myself heaving into the New Jersey sand below me “DEAR GOD MAKE IT PASS!!!” that c-note didn’t seem like such a bargain.

That said, I still had a fun day. Finally spent some time at the beach (granted, far more of it writhing on all fours than I would have liked, but hey, it’s still the beach), managed to squeeze in a little video editing (I know, I know…it’s coming), and had a wonderful dinner with our new friend Austin (a fellow Treehugger video contest entrant) and his lovely family in Maplewood. He was even kind enough to acquaint us a little with a shindig they have going on there right now called MapleWoodstock - too cool. Now we’re off to northern Jersey for a few days to cover more environmental issues before heading to Rhode Island. Here’s hoping the only “stones” I encounter from here on are on the iPod or under my feet.

A special thanks to Willie, Amy, Jim and the Hurley family - Dan, Ryan, Nadira, Zorah, Liam & Sienna - for their incredible hospitality and enlightening and engaging company over the last few days. And, of course, to my dear friend Peter Hurley for making it all possible. We are immeasurably grateful.

And now a haiku:

strange tickle below
drops head to sand pain pain pain
childbirth but no child

until next time,

Ben

Posted in Travelog, Ben | 2 Comments »

July 14, 2007 by Julie.

We are learning that store owners are quite willing to help us when we tell them that we are trying not to make any waste. Every restaurant we have gone into has gone out of their way to be sure that they don’t accidentally give us paper with our bread or straws with our water, and seem to be delighted to do so. Today’s pizza joint, La Favola in Lacey Township in New Jersey, not only served us our pizza on the metal tray it was cooked on but also gave us one of their freshly washed towels to wipe up since we wouldn’t take paper napkins! To them we say Thank you!!!

Posted in Travelog, Julie | 3 Comments »

July 14, 2007 by Ben.

Hi. My name is Ben. I’m a taurus. I like long walks on the beach, Thai food, puppies, and whistling. Better still are Thai puppies who whistle while walking on the beach. I know - they’re a dime a dozen.

So here we are a week into this crazy adventure and we’re already drowning in wonderful, unscripted experiences. Everything from seeing a coal mine through the eyes of a miner to noshing with a true-blooded Italiano turning his pizza parlor eco in the middle of Pennsylvania to an impromptu interview with the mayor of a “town” of 10 people that’s been sitting on top of a raging inferno for the last 40 years - and that was just one afternoon. As some of you may already know, we’ve set up some challenges for ourselves on this trip (generating only a shoebox worth of waste per month for all three of us, etc.), but it’s starting to look like the biggest challenge is going to be finding time to edit all the juicy footage we’re shooting along the way. My directing/editing brain is already overflowing and we’ve only just begun - what I wouldn’t give for 60-hour days.

And now, a haiku and a limerick:

Pennsylvania hill
drinks sun hiding her stone still
burning black heart

There once was some coal from PA
That didn’t have much to say
When asked why it burns
It said, “No one learns,
But I guess some folks like me this way.” (cough, cough)

until next time,

Ben

Posted in Travelog, Ben | 1 Comment »