October 20, 2007 by Mark.

Dear YERTians,

Hello! This is Bioneers weekend, so we’re very happy but also swamped and not sleeping too much. That said, still want to share a little eco-love with you all. Our latest video focuses on the Solar Decathlon going on RIGHT NOW in Washington D.C.

What is the Solar Decathlon? Well, according to their website, "The Solar Decathlon joins 20 college and university teams in a competition to design, build, and operate the most attractive and energy-efficient solar-powered house." During our brief exploration of the MIT and Illinois houses, we were impressed by the clean, thoughtful, minimalist designs. A small, well-designed home really could feel sufficient– even luxurious! This insight reminded us about what we learned during a visit to Ted Owens’ perfect little home in Albuquerque, New Mexico (pre-YERT): it isn’t the size of the home, but how you design and use every single feature within it that counts most!

Three cheers for intelligent, voluntary simplicity!!

Cheerfully Yours,

Mark, Julie, and Ben (Your YERT Team)

team@yert.com

YERTYERTYERTYERTYERTYERTYERTYERTYERTYERTYERTYERTYERTYERT

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October 20, 2007 by Mark.

I just spent the day at the Bioneers conference in Marin County today, and enjoyed seeing Van Jones show the important relationship between green and the ghetto. Indeed, former President Clinton heard about the concept and invited Van Jones to the Clinton Global Initiatives event, and it seems that things are really moving now.

At last year’s Bioneers conference I frequently heard about how the environmental movement needed to jump on board the social justice movement, and ever since then, YERT has been trying to figure out ways to introduce social justice into our eco-adventure. Today, Van Jones reminded me that we simply needed to jump on board the social justice train and get rolling. So, if you have any insights or stories for how the budding green movement has played a role in your city’s social justice efforts, we’d love to hear about it.

In the meantime, check out this great article by Van Jones. And consider becoming a Bioneer yourself…

Cheers,
Mark

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