December 25, 2007 by Ben.

Dear YERTians,

ELVIS LIVES…in Kansas City, Missouri, apparently. YERT spent a riveting evening of song with The King - the King of Green, that is - learning all about the three R’s and how to have a green Christmas. But something decided to crash the party. Lurking in the icy darkness was a monster so insidious, so formidable, so unsustainable it defied description…and yet it is a monster we know all too well. It’s just a bunch of plastic bags…or is it. We knew that Eco Elvis would save the day and make Christmas more sustainable once again, but not without a little help from our friends at ChicoBag.

Happy Holidays,

Ben, Julie, and Mark (Your YERT Team)

team@yert.com

P.S. ChicoBag is a YERT sponsor, but we loved ‘em long before that relationship started up…

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December 24, 2007 by Mark.

Dear YERTians,

How far would you go to live closer to the earth? Would you go all the way to Idaho? And would you actually go inside the earth? That’s what Dugout Dick decided to do some 60 years ago—and he’s still there.

Dugout Dick is quite possibly the most simple, self-sufficient homeowner in the United States. Also known as Dick Zimmerman, Dick built his home—a cave—inside of a rocky hillside overlooking the Salmon River near Elk Bend, Idaho. At the ripe ol’ age of 92, Dugout isn’t quite as agile as he used to be, but he’ll certainly tell stories of the sheep and garden he had developed on the land. He might even sing a song or two for you…

Dugout lives among other modern cave-dwellers who rent mini-caverns from him, forming an eclectic but caring community that doesn’t give a damn about the electrical grid, running water, or cable TV. Dugout doesn’t even have a phone. But he has friends and fans the world over who visit him in person, YERT included. Mark even spent a night in one of the caves. Check it out in YERTpod19…

Dig Dug Dick,

Mark, Julie, & Ben (Your YERT Team)

team@yert.com

P.S. Many thanks to Bruce and Jim who keep an eye on Dick and helped us arrange our visit. Bruce was particularly helpful with his explanations of how a person can actually live in a cave. Let’s just say that we have a whole new appreciation for a five gallon pail of wood scraps. And you can read more about Dugout Dick here and here.

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December 21, 2007 by Mark.

Howdy, YERTians!

For this holiday season, I’d like to share with you a few thoughts about stuff. Here is the first one:

stuff = time

Just for fun, take about 10 seconds to consider how much time you have spent finding, wanting, fixing, returning, or buying stuff this week. That’s all.

Here’s the second one: Spend 20 minutes watching this: http://www.storyofstuff.com

YERT tried to meet up with Annie, StoryOfStuff’s creator, while we were in CA, but our schedules didn’t overlap so we had to pass. Fortunately, however, her awesome presentation is now available in snappy Internet format– just in time for the holidays. I think that we can safely say that this is one of the more thorough and compelling cases made for using less stuff. And it’s fun. Give it a go, then share it with those you love.

And in the spirit of full-disclosure, we have for you an inventory of all the stuff that YERT turned into garbage last month (Nov. 2007). It all fits in a shoebox, but we can do better. If you’d like to join in our "one shoebox of garbage per month" adventure, take the pledge here or by joining our "The One Shoebox Challenge" group on Facebook! Perhaps you can make it a New Year’s resolution?

Happy Holidays to You!
Julie, Mark, and Ben (Your YERT Team)

Here’s the list of garbage in November…

Item - Qty
Panasonic HDV Video Tape - 22
Airplane luggage tags - 13
AIRplus packing bubbles, deflated - 13
mail envelope - 11
sandwich toothpick - 9
Clif Nectar Bar wrapper - 7
Green Festival postards - 7
airplane boarding pass stubs - 5
Clif Bar wrapper - 4
Hawaiian airlines boarding pass - 4
plastic milk bottle caps - 4
sugar packet - 4
Chico Bag tag - 3
Clif luna bar wrapper - 3
pastry paper - 3
Smart Monkey Premium Raw Food Bar wrapper - 3
sticker back - 3
toilet paper roll - 3
bread bag - 2
bumper sticker backing - 2
Flying Star paper knapkin - 2
Green Festival nametag - 2
hat tag - 2
mailing envelope - 2
metal fragment - 2
moleskin notebook wrapper - 2
organic tea paper wrapper - 2
q-tip - 2
Stamp backing sheet - 2
tape instructions - 2
1/2 lb Beef Combo Burrito paper wrapper - 1
7th generation tampon box piece - 1
Alamo rental car pack - 1
atm receipt - 1
Bioneers map - 1
birthday card envelope - 1
camera case wrapping - 1
Camera SD card wrapping - 1
carrot twist tie - 1
cd-rom pack wrapper - 1
cereal bag - 1
chipotle paper wrapper - 1
chocolate wrapper - 1
City of LA parking ticket envelope - 1
Clif Builder’s Bar - 1
Clif Shot Bloks wrapper bag - 1
coffee substitute lid - 1
cotton t-shirt tag - 1
drinking straw - 1
DVD mail packet - 1
Envelope to YERT with donation in it - 1
flyer - 1
Fred Claus movie ticket stub - 1
friendly note in mail - 1
George Carlin joke sheet - 1
Gillette Mach 3. 8 pack box - 1
Hawaii map - 1
ice cream cone paper wrapper - 1
iPod headphones wrapper - 1
LED Christmas light instructions - 1
little butter cup - 1
little cardboard tag - 1
Little piece of cardboard - 1
magazine postcard - 1
mail envelope adhesive liner - 1
mail envelope zip pull - 1
nada chair instructions - 1
new camera memory card packet - 1
Panasonic HDV Video Tape box - 1
paper cartoon about global warming - 1
paper knapkin - 1
paper towel - 1
Park(ing) day flyer - 1
parking permit - 1
pastry paper - 1
peanut bag wrapper - 1
performing arts flyer - 1
plaster wrapper for hybrid bus pin - 1
plastic scrap - 1
random paper - 1
random post-it note - 1
Sears receipt - 1
Shakespear oregon festival ticket folder - 1
shrink wrap cap - 1
sticker back - 1
Swiss cheese label - 1
used-up ballpoint pen - 1
Verizon letter - 1
wells fargo junk mail - 1
White Dog Café Newsletter - 1

Still reading? We love you. You can show the love right back to YERT by buying us lunch for the holidays– or a room! Just make out a (non-deductible) check to "Media Changing Media, LLC" and send it to…

Mark Dixon - YERT
327 Denniston St.
Pittsburgh, PA 15206

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Posted in Issues, Mark | 1 Comment »

December 17, 2007 by Julie.

The drive from NM to OK brought us our first real taste of cold weather so far on the trip and, since we didn’t prepare well on this trip for cold weather, I spent the entire drive knitting a hat. (which is now on the head of a homeless person in Kansas City but that is another happy story.)
Weirdly, Ben and I happen to own a tiny piece of land in Oklahoma. It’s maybe 1/3 acre in the middle of 4900 acres of cattle ranch near Woodward. Which is kind of in the middle of nowhere. Good for cows.
Dick Hamilton is a salty old cowboy who has been working the land for many decades. Owned some, and as people moved on or finally tired of land he was working for them and they were never going to use, Dick bought it, little by little, until he now has a beautiful ranch of almost 5000 acres. Ben’s family are some of the last few holdouts. When Ben and I visited Dick just before we were married, he drove us around in his truck to show us the land and the cattle, encouraging us to shoot cowpies with his pistol -”Ben, don’t let nobody tell you you can’t shoot shit.” - He showed us the pen where his knee got kicked in from a scared cow and ended his horseman career herding cattle. We still have one of his original lassos which he gave us when we left him last. Someday it’ll hang from the wall of our own house, but for now..Every once in awhile I’ll get a phone call from Dick “just wondering how you’re doin…” so we couldn’t hit Oklahoma without checking in on the Hamilton Ranch.

This time, when we arrived at Dick’s cabin (his “bachelor pad,” as he calls it, for after his current wife leaves him) after driving across the Texas panhandle, we heard his deep bass voice seasoned from years of cigarettes and whiskey boom from the porch, “Well, I just don’t believe it.” Though he was expecting us. After some hugs, we came inside and played the Good Guest Trump. (The Good Guest Rule, in case I haven’t mentioned it before, is: We eat what we are served, out of respect, to honor our hosts. In this case, Dick was excited for our visit and excited to make for us the only thing he knows: Beef Stew. I’d like to say that we really suffered our way through but, carnivores at heart, we three did just fine. And Dick seemed very happy as well.

Our time with Dick and his son, Marty (raised as a rancher to take over when his dad leaves off), was rich with the complexities of traditional ranching culture…These are thoughtful people, who care about the land and their beasts, and take good care of them. They do not know from organic and they believe that things are the way they are (ie: pesticides on industrial farms) because that is how they have to be in order for us to feed the growing population that is America. They do not believe that there is any other way. They do the best they can. They do not see any danger in pesticides or herbicides but they also don’t use them on the ranch if they can help it. They don’t see any problem with feedlots where cows eat food that they were never designed to eat, and yet their cows are free to roam, happy eating only grass and hay on hundreds of acres until the day they are trucked off to the feedlot to get marbled… These are hardworking people, who want to do the right thing - which I suspect is like a whole lot of other Americans who aren’t quite sure what environmentalism is really all about. One thing we all agreed on: Americans waste a whole heck of a lot of just about everything, and something oughtta be done about it. When we left, we assured Dick we’d be in touch…and hoped that we’d planted a tiny seed in his great big heart for the possibility that we could do even more to leave the place better for our grandchildren and everybody coming after us…

Posted in Travelog, Julie | 1 Comment »

December 15, 2007 by Julie.

While we were dining in Santa Fe we discovered a little local paper and, in it, an article by a woman named Arina Pittman, touting sustainability and permaculture in NM. I found her published blog, lotsoflifeinoneplace, both timely and delicious, and right in line with what I was currently reading in Barbara Kingsolver’s book, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. When we realized that her husband, Scott Pittman, co-founded the American branch of the Permaculture Institute with Australian founder, Bill Mollison, Ben called Arina right away to see if we could meet them.
Though Arina admitted later that she was mildly annoyed by the lateness of our call, she offered for us to join them for the final class of one of their Permaculture sessions in Albuquerque on Sunday. I was sort of skeptical about filming a class - due to inherent lack of dynamics - but all 3 of us agreed the work they are doing seems incredibly important so we determined to go regardless, and were not disappointed. We arrived early and met the Pittmans at the door of the Center for Action and Contemplation. Scott, who put me in mind of a wise and wry green Santa Claus from Texas, and Arina, his lovely dark Russian wife made introductions and set up camp lightly under a plastic Christmas tree. We had a terrific interview with Scott that I can’t wait to see on film. Then we joined our hosts for lunch, amusing them with our efforts to make no garbage at the Flying Star. They made us take a picture of our minor failures (toothpick, napkin and tiny plastic cup).

After lunch, students started showing up and the final presentations began. The Permaculture Institute not only teaches the basic tenets of Permaculture but also requires of its students actual work in the field - planning, finding areas that are in need of permaculture and then MAKING things happen. Their projects don’t end with just the presentation, they are ongoing and involved with the community. During filming, Scott called a Native American friend of his named Larry Littlebird who came over to talk to us. It was, to say the least, profound, listening to his stories and his message. We must live and we must love and we must laugh. Seems so simple. Surely not too simple for transplanted Westerners to understand? Larry Littlebird thanked us for what we are doing and went on his way. We continued filming the students, shared in their wonderful potluck and then got to see part of their talent show (also required part of the class). Long day, very long day. Exhausted, we packed into Rachel Carson and headed to Taos in the dark.

Taos has been a hotspot in Ben’s little black environmental book for a number of years because of an odd type of house called an Earthship - built out of earth-rammed recycled truck tires, bottles, cans, and adobe, catching rain and recycling greywater to feed indoor planters - these homes are built to last and run completely off-grid. NO electricity bills! In fact, the earthship is one of the first ideas Ben introduced me to when we started getting romantical… so we couldn’t pass through Taos without visiting them and getting some on film. They are really very sculptural and quite beautiful. We have each of us stayed in an “earthship” before, there are always one or two open and available for rent, but for this trip we got to finally stay at the Dobson House.

When we visited Joan and John Dobson last winter with Ted on our short test trip, we were amazed by the warmth their spacious off-grid earthbuilt home held even in the February mountain air, and hoped that we would get a chance to try out the guest room on the actual triop. Mark booked us there for two days. Joan made amazing breakfasts both days and gave us a nice interview. She also pointed us toward her friend, Robert Mirabal, a Native American recording artist - musician, dancer and maker of flutes - who lives outside of Taos Pueblo and who farms his land.

We found Robert at his home and were graciously invited into the backyard to get his take on the direction we are heading. He was pensive and thoughtful, and not at all shy about saying that it is a mistake to think that we are separate from the earth. When Mark noted how Atlanta legislators were summoning people to pray for rain, Robert laughed out loud. “That’s great, man,” he said. “Let the droughts come, man! Let them come. You know what my people did when the water ran out?” (We didn’t.) “They MOVED!” and he broke into a great laugh. At the very end of the interview, as he bent over to sign the release forms, Robert explained, “The next time you visit an Indian man’s or Indian woman’s house, bring a gift.” We felt very ashamed. “It’s a sign of respect.” He told us not to feel bad. We wondered what we should bring. “Seeds!” he said laughing. But he meant it. And as we were leaving, he stopped by a bin and scooped out some of his own family’s corn kernels for us as our gift, and he filled one of my gloves.
So now we know. I was never feeling so humble…

Posted in Travelog, Julie | 1 Comment »

December 13, 2007 by Mark.

Dear YERTians,

Just when you think you’ve seen it all, you find a tiny park stationed on a road in downtown Salt Lake City. Filling a parking space. Police walk by to make sure that there are quarters in the meter. There are. All is well, for now.

Just another day in the life of a relatively new eco-artistic tradition called Park(ing) Day, started up by a San Francisco-based art collective known as “REBAR.” The idea debuted in 2005 as a creative mind-bending art project designed to make you think twice about public spaces. And it works. At least twice.

YERT was delighted to find ourselves in a Park(ing) Day city ON Park(ing) Day! We drove downtown and met up with the Park(ing) People, and did things that we never imagined possible in a busy city street: touch football, croquet, sitting on a bench, strolling barefoot through the grass, chillin’ on a stump, and making all sorts of new friends. Oh yes—we breathed in a fair amount of car exhaust, too. But it was worth it. Julie won her first game of croquet that day.

Charmed by Sod,

Mark, Ben, and Julie (Your YERT Team)

team@yert.com

P.S. And now for the Breadcrumbs! If you’d like to find out more information, check out the links below…

• Here is a little blurb about REBAR, straight from the Park(ing) Day website: “REBAR is a San Francisco-based art collective. Much like a DJ samples recorded sounds, REBAR appropriates elements of the physical/cultural world and remixes them into novel contexts. By “remixing the landscape” in this way, the group exposes new meanings and alters assumptions about our shared environment. REBAR projects engage social, ecological, and cultural processes as they unfold materially in space and time. While the group’s work can be used or interpreted as playful, ridiculous, or absurd, it is also highly functional. REBAR remixes the ordinary, repurposes the ubiquitous, and rebuilds with invisible structural material . . . much like rebar itself.”
• Park(ing) day is also organized by The Trust for Public Land, and Public Architecture. If you’re not sure what a land trust is good for, go back and review YERTpod10: Seeding is Believing in Vermont.
• The event got some great press, with articles written by The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times.

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Posted in Video | 1 Comment »

December 10, 2007 by Julie.

I laughed when we first saw the license plates: Land of Enchantment.
But I am not laughing now. I am enchanted! haha! It’s true, I love New Mexico!

From what we had dug up on the internet and through friends, we really thought we would be focusing on art and the environment and maybe some metaphysical-type stuff in New Mexico (as well as Ben’s and my favorite- alternative housing). But, New Mexico surprised us from several directions with Native American wisdom where we weren’t even looking for it.

We landed at our wonderful host family’s house in Albuquerque, and ventured forth from there. We revisited our good friend Ted Owens - a wonderful documentary filmmaker who built his own strawbale house off-grid in Coralles. His company, Synchronos Designs, has a great website called Building With Awareness with how-to DVD’s and support for people who want to do the same. We collaborated with Ted for a brief test trip back in February, when we simultaneously finished editing the Bear Necessities video for Treehugger.com and discovered the kinds of preparations that would be necessary to keep from making garbage on this trip. We were more than happy to be reunited with Ted and are excited to watch his film’s progress.

We drove up to Santa Fe as the sun’s hours were dwindling fast and caught the light on this gorgeous cathedral. I hung around in a coffee shop and had food - I seem to be a slave to eating these days - while Ben and Mark had camera in hand to catch passersby. By the time they found me, they were gushing over the sheer wisdom that came out of the mouths of the two guys who stopped to offer their thoughts. I was sorry to have missed them but, like some other fantastic things that have happend on this trip, i will have to enjoy them when everyone else does - when the video comes out.

Clayton Brascoub is Native American himself and is Program Director for TNAFA (Traditional Native American Farmers Association), whose mission it is to “revitalize traditional agriculture for spiritual and human need.” Based on the belief that “a sound agriculture base is needed to build healthy communities, including both the physical and spiritual health of their people,” TNAFA aims to develop educational programs to interest young Natives in being a part of the revitalization of their culture. We found Clayton at the Flying Star near the University, having some fish and pumpkin pie. (The Flying Star, incidentally, is the very coolest eatery in Albuquerque - locally owned, all fresh food, and DOGS ARE WELCOME, encouraged even! If you are ever passing through the area, we highly recommend it. I will come back when I have a dog.)

Thoughtful and softspoken, Clayton talked for some time about how agriculture really is connected to everything else, just as we are all related - not just to other people but to all of Creation. TNAFA sees a direct correlation between the decline of farmers and traditional cooks and the decline in physical and social health of Native American society. Clayton is one of many who believe that local Agriculture is a way to bring Community back. That same spirit of sharing is the heart of another group that Clayton is involved with, the non-profit Native Seed Search - a seed conservation organization whose motto, “ancient seeds for modern needs,” speaks to the growing support for bringing back the diversity of crops that sustained us and sustained our soil, and local communities for thousands of years.

He brought out several beautiful ears of colorful corn that were grown from Native seed, as well as squash and beans, and he did not hesitate to warn against the dangers of genetically engineered crops. As he says, “Gene pollution cannot be cleaned up,” and there is no way to keep GMO crops from pollenating other plants via bees, wind, etc. There has even been a lawsuit filed by Monsanto against a farmer whose crops were infected by Monsanto’s next door frankenstein crop, for theft of their patented pollen! (see this article) Which he never wanted in the first place, as it polluted his field! (see also www.seedsofdeception.com and the Institute for Responsible Technology.)

Clayton explained that in the 1940’s {before pesticides} about 7% of crops were lost to pests. “That’s this much,” he observed, pointing to just the last few kernels at the tip of a corncob. “Are we so greedy that we are not even willing to share just that little bit?” Now, with the full use of pesticides we lose about 14%. And every year we need stronger chemicals bc the creatures are evolving to withstand what we are spraying on them. We have somehow managed to double the damage pests can do in just 40 years of pesticide use. Nice. I am personally coming to believe that this is one of the most important things we can do as a people, as a nation, to remain free: Take Back our Seeds.

Posted in Travelog, Julie | 1 Comment »

December 6, 2007 by Julie.

Recently, one of our hosts asked if we might leave a list of simple things to do in life that are beneficial to the environment - so I wrote this out, and Mark thought I should go ahead and put it here in case other moms might find it useful. I hope some may find it so.
(And, thank you, Donna, for the impetus!)

You will already be doing a lot of these, I am sure, but I will just list them anyway:

EASY THINGS THAT MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE:
CONSERVE:

WATER
1.turn off faucets while brushing teeth, washing dishes, etc.
2.Take fewer or shorter showers when you can.
3.”Flush down only when brown,” lol.
4.If you do water lawn, only do so after sunset.
5. Never run water over paved surfaces if you can help it.
6. Eat less meat.
7. If your toilet is old and you are going to replace is, buy dual flush toilet! they’re cool!
8. replace regular showerheads with low-flow showerheads

ELECTRICITY
1.turn off lights when not in use.
2.Unplug appliances when not is use (anything that goes on with a remote will pull energy even in the off position)
3. replace incandescent bulbs with CFL’s (compact flourescents) or, better yet, with LED’s! (by the way, if you are interested, there are a couple of sites where you can buy LED Xmas lights for no more than the old, energy sucking kind…let me know)
4. girls: Air dry hair sometimes or always
5. Air-dry clothes whenever possibile
6. Point-specific heating (You do this already!)
7. Consider reading a book instead of turning on the TV

ENERGY:
1. Drive less
2. Ride bikes more often
3. Use things more than once - ie: jars, rubberbands, etc
4. Thrift stores!! and Repair/alter clothes
5. Consider paying a little extra to your electric company if they offer paying into renewable energy credits - we have been assured that this $ does indeed go into the production of new solar panels, windmills, etc.
6. Eat local and buy from your local small businesses. Avoid big chains whenever possible. Studies show that what you buy in the big box stores gets shipped all over the world, is not regulated in materials or labor, and causes $ to go out of the community never to return
7. Buy fruits/veggies in season
8. Consider buying a hybrid or otherwise very fuel efficient vehicle
9. If you don’t have the best insulation, use heavy draperies. You can open them during the day for some light and to let the sun in to warm the rooms, then close when the sun goes down to trap heat in and keep cold air out.

PAPER:
1. Go to Greendimes.com and let them help you cut your junk mail while planting trees at the same time…
2. Try online subscriptions to magazines (* i kind of avoid this option bc there are a few magazines that i really treasure arriving at my house and i read them cover to cover, like YES and the SUN)
3. Use chicobags! for your groceries, and for all shopping excursions…
4. Use cloth napkins, and handtowels at home.
5. Carry handkerchiefs and/or bandanas for away…
FOR YOUR HEALTH:
1. Avoid using plastic, particularly in conjunction with food, more particularly with liquids and most particularly when there is change in temp or flexing of materials. PYREX is best for storage. KLEAN KANTEEN for stainless steel water bottles.
2. Eat organic whenever possible, and/or local pesticide free (farmers will be honest with you if they use chemicals or not)
3. Avoid fish. Here are 2 weblinks: www.fish online.org/information/MCSPocket_Good_Fish_Guide.pdf or www.nrdc.org/health/effects/mercury/walletcard.pdf
4. ORGANIC PRODUCE!!! http://www.grinningplanet.com/2006/update-2005-05-24/pesticides-in-food.htm
5. Buy milk that is produced without the use of bovine growth hormone (Organic is better, local dairy is best)
6. Buy eggs that are free range. (same with meat, if you have to eat meat)
7. Avoid parabens in any product that comes in contact with your skin - remember, your skin EATS, so don’t put anything on there that you wouldn’t put in your mouth!
8. Use cleaning supplies like your grandmother used (ie: vinegar, Borax, Baking Soda)
9. Don’t forget to stretch, take walks, get outside…

KEYS TO MAKING NO TRASH:
1. Carry cloth bandana
2. Carry nonbreakable glassware for storage (www.pyrexware.com)
3. chicobags!!! ( www.chicobag.com)
4. carry some kind of utensil (we like togoware)
5. pocket notebook
6. Don’t be afraid to tell whoever you’re about to order from that you are doing an experiment, and trying not to make any trash…
7. Buy fresh food instead of packaged whenever possible
8. Lush offers soaps that have no packaging, and you can find many others at local health food shops
9. Preserve is a company that will take back your toothbrush/razor, etc. and turn it into…something else…

DON’T BE SILENT
1. Write opinions to your newspaper
2. Write and call your legislators and let them know how you feel about how they’re voting
3. Here are some websites to help with that, to, who’s been voting on what: Union of Concerned Scientists, Environmental Working Group, World Wildlife Fund, Defenders of Wildlife, www.saveourenvironment.org, www.care2.org, www.avaaz.org
4. Talk to your extended family, too, and friends. There are cool things to do sometimes through the Sierra Club that might be fun at the same time.
5. Write to any companies that have things you don’t like (ie: too much packaging, some nasty chemical you don’t want to be exposed to, etc.)
6. write us a note and say hi whenever you want to… and ask us any questions you may have…we will answer them if we can

Well, that is maybe more than what you were hoping for?
and maybe not even a complete list…

GREAT BOOKS:
Cradle to Cradle by William McDonough
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver
The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan
The Secret Life of Stuff (by ?)

Posted in Issues, Julie | 5 Comments »

December 6, 2007 by Julie.

First i have to say a huge thank you to Ben’s Dad for putting us up for a whopping 9 days in Arizona over Thanksgiving. We were so overdue for actual downtime that we sucked up the comforts of home like we were moving in. And secondly, I have to thank him for setting up our entire Arizona interview schedule. It was amazing, we were able to focus on all the other things…

We got to visit a really cool school called Starshine Academy which is going out of its way to be sustainable - they even have a garden and a compost out back! Mark gave his final two Inconvenient Truth presentations there and we had a lot of fun fielding questions after. One of the teachers, Lesley, has already informed us of the changes being made since YERT arrived, and several of the students have emailed us to say that they are accepting challenges: one is walking to school this week, one is changing the household’s lightbulbs to CFLs. Go, Kids!

Next we visited Debra Bills and Jeff Humphrey at the Dept of Fish and Wildlife who told us a bit about some of Arizona’s endangered species and how we are ALL fighting for the water…We learned that most California Condors are killed from eating carrion that has been shot with lead. I didn’t even know that they still made lead bullets - but the fact is that they do, and they are cheap, and it seems hunters don’t think much bout the face that they are filling their target full of lead (even though in some cases their kids will be eating it - Shot doesn’t stay in one place). Copper bullets are a bit more expensive but really.

Then came APS Solar - That’s Arizona Public Service to you and me, and they are doing all they can to capitalize on that great ball of fire in the sky that shines so frequently there. Dan Lonetti showed us around the man facility where all the different kinds of solar panels are being tried and tested, and Steven Gottfried took us down to the Saguaro Plant to see the Solar Troughs! (These are particularly cool as they do not need any of the expensive materials required for solar panels - they are designed with mirrors to focus the sun onto a clear tube filled with a gel that heats up mightily and, well, makes a lot of energy. Steven also introduced us to Flat Stanley (if you don’t know who this is, find a gradeschooler…) and we took our opportunity to interview him as well…he seemed a little 2-dimensional…

I opted to stay home one day while the boys went and interviewed Anthony Floyd (Scottsdale Green building Program Manager). I can’t tell you much about that interview so we’ll all have to stay tuned for the video on that one. I did accompany the boys to AKA Green however, a local home improvement store run by Michael Dalrymple. michael told us that they even had a super-sensitive human come walk around to detect any possible chemical off-gassing that may be coming from the store. It’s how they discovered that the “100% Natural Soy” Carpet Glue Remover contained some kind of chorylmethylflourocarbonsomething (please don’t quote me on that). Talk about new green jobs.

Did I mention that Thanksgiving was wonderful? And that we got to go trail riding in the Arizona desert too? Bliss. My horse was named Stomp and he was a treat. I was sore for days afterward and I couldn’t have cared less…and i slept right in the middle of the day sometimes after yet another delicious leftover turkey sandwich.

On our way out of AZ, we stopped at the super eco house of a guy named Jack Ehrhardt, a green builder and contractor who is doing his darndest to make sure that houses going up are going up smart. Jack also consults for the Hualapai tribe and drove us to the west side of the South Rim of the Grand Canyon to see some of the solar the Native Americans have powering the airport and tourist center up there. We liked what we saw, and what a great way to end our Arizona leg, gazing down into that amazing wonderfully GIANT crevasse and being reminded of just how small we are…and simultaneously stunned and dismayed by the idea that we have been able to make such an impact on our own living system in such a short time.

Arizona may have a whole lot of people using not alot of water but they got one thing right: using the endless desert sun as the valuable resource that it is. Now let’s see if we can’t get some more wind power in Kansas…

Posted in Travelog, Julie | 1 Comment »

December 3, 2007 by Ben.

Dear YERTians,

They say you can’t buy happiness - but in Boulder, CO every Thursday, apparently, you can "bike" happiness. On a balmy Thursday night, YERT was blown away by over 500 people "peddling" good cheer on the streets of Boulder and discovered that the secret to true contentment might just be a banana seat under your backside, tassels on your handlebars, and the wind in your hair. Welcome to Happy Thursday - Boulder Cruiser Ride style.

Judging from the Boulder Cruiser Ride website, cruiser rides seem to be sprouting up all over the country, as fully grown adults everywhere are shedding their cars and going old school - embracing some sweet two-wheelers and REAL entertainment. As we all learned when we were 10 - there’s nothing more fun than busting out your bike and cruising the streets with your friends. Here’s to fewer cars, more bikes, and the genius of being a kid again!

Happily Yours,

Ben, Mark, and Julie (Your YERT Team)

team@yert.com

YERTYERTYERTYERTYERTYERTYERTYERTYERTYERTYERTYERTYERTYERTYERT

Posted in Video | 1 Comment »