March 26, 2009 by Ben.

Once a year, and only once a year (sadly), civilization gets together to power down…for a whole hour. Started by the WWF (no, not the wrestlers) in Sydney in 2007, Earth Hour has since become a global phenomenon. Well, almost global. YERT was in DC for Earth Hour 2008 and was pretty unimpressed. One would think that the capital of the planet’s most power-hungry nation would jump at the chance to save a few kilowatts (and greenbacks), even if it meant turning out the lights at the capitol for a few minutes. One would be mistaken. This year promises to be better as DC (as well as over 100 other US cities) has signed on to Earth Hour in a big way. Of course, the proof is in the skyline.

Hopefully the awareness that Earth Hour brings can usher in a new era of Earth Weeks, and Earth Months, and, eventually, non-stop Earth Years. In some ways it’s a sad indictment of our civilization that the notion of turning off the lights needs its own special “day” or, sadder still, “hour.” We’re not quite sure what the concept of Earth Hour implies about every other hour of the year, but it’s probably not good (certainly Earth Hour should not be followed by Anti-Earth Hour, if at all possible). Nevertheless, the idea of Earth Hour is an inspired, if symbolic, step in the right direction. And this year, you can actually VOTE for the Earth. The opponent in this “election” is…um…Global Warming - and your lightswitch is your vote. I know that that in some ways that ballot choice seems very reminiscent of the 2000 Presidential election, so, by signing up for Earth Hour and turning out our lights, we can all do our part to make sure we don’t make THAT mistake again. The “results” will be presented at Copenhagen in December and Earth needs 1 Billion “votes” to “win.” Incidentally, the respective VP candidates in this election are Dennis Kucinich and Rush Limbaugh’s pilonidal cyst.

Lighting Out,
Ben, Julie, and Mark

team@yert.com

P.S. If you’d like more information about saving energy, Earth Hour, or generally powering down, check out these breadcrumbs…
Calculate your carbon footprint here:
http://www.climatecrisis.net/takeaction/carboncalculator/

Here’s how much carbon Chicago kept out of the atmosphere last Earth Hour:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-earthhourmar31,0,6746865.story

For those sitting on the fence, here’s a good article with some reasons to participate:
http://saving-energy.suite101.com/article.cfm/earth_hour_lights_out_for_environments_sake

To learn more about the larger issue of powering down civilization in a post-carbon world, check out:
http://www.richardheinberg.com/endorsements/powerdown

Posted in Video, Ben | No Comments »

March 24, 2009 by Mark.

Hey YERTians!

On Tuesday, 3/31, YERT will have a table set up at the Green$ense Green Building conference in Pittsburgh, and we need 2-3 volunteers to help keep the table occupied while I run around and film some of the keynote speakers. Interested in green building? Just wanna help? We’d love to hear from you. And…

YERT volunteers get into the conference for free!

You can learn more here: http://www.gbapgh.org/Green$ense2009.asp . Use the day for networking, job hunting, educating your YERTy self, or just hanging out and telling people about YERT. We’re looking for help from 7AM to 6PM, but if you can only do a couple of hours, that’s ok too.

This is part of a new YERT effort to reach out to the business community and let them know that YERT is able and willing to give presentations AT THEIR BUSINESS to move their corporate culture in a greener direction.

Thanks for your help!

Cheerio,
Mark

mark@yert.com
415-672-5537

Posted in Events, Mark | No Comments »