June 23, 2009 by Mark.

(Below, we’ve updated our original “call for transcribers” post from a few months back to reflect our current status and some big news - out trailer is done, and because of some key positive responses, we’ve got a good chance to send this film to Sundance. To do this, WE STILL NEED NEW TRANSCRIBERS, now more than ever…and now we can PAY you if you sign up for at least 3 tapes per week. Can you help us get to Sundance? Send me a note– mark@yert.com.) Here’s the updated post:

We’re making great progress on our transcription project – tackling a mountain of 500 hours (19,000 clips) from our year-long road trip – but we still need more help! We currently have 40 people signed up to help, but we’re looking for 60 more people to lend a hand — for a total of 100. That’s right. 100. This is a big job – it takes about 4 hours to transcribe one hour of footage, so we’re looking at about 2000 people hours to get this footage prepped for the editing process!

And to get this thing to Sundance, we need to finish by the second week of July!

With 100 people on board, each can contribute a very reasonable 8-10 hours per week and we’ll cross the finish line on time. By logging all of these clips quickly, we can make the Sundance deadline, and get this film out to the general public soon and in a big way – and we all know that our lovely planet doesn’t have days to spare.

Think about it: When was the last time you could powerfully help the planet by sitting down to watch a video?? Now you can. Seize the moment and watch a clip for the planet. For more information about volunteering, please contact Mark Dixon at 415-672-5537, or mark@yert.com. We’ll chat for about 30 minutes and then get you logging ASAP!

Thanks for all of your support! We’re thrilled with every little bit of it and want to be sure you know that this project would not be possible without your continued support, both verbal and financial.

Peace,
Mark & Ben

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April 24, 2009 by Mark.

Join YERT from 10:30am to 1:30pm at Ten Thousand Villages in Squirrel Hill for their 2nd Annual Green Fair on Saturday, April 25th. Local environmental nonprofits will be available from 10:30am-5:00pm to discuss their programs, projects and other opportunities. If you have ever been curious about what is going on in your own backyard this is the perfect time to find out! Participants include, Group Against Smog and Pollution (GASP), Your Environmental Road Trip (YERT), Bike Pittsburgh, Friends of the Riverfront, Nine Mile Run Watershed Association, Clean Water Action, Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy, PennFuture and Black and Gold City Going Green. Ten Thousand Villages is located at 5824 Forbes Avenue. For more information call 412-421-2160 or visit Ten Thousand Villages website for complete event details at www.pittsburgh.tenthousandvillages.com.

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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

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February 18, 2009 by Ben.

First of all, a Happy Belated 200th Birthday to President Abraham Lincoln (not to mention Charles Darwin) and joyful Early Birthday Wishes to George Washington. Here, on President’s Day Aft Aft and in the very heart of President’s Birthday Week, we present to you a special Presidential Edition YERT video! During our travels in South Dakota, the roadside attraction capital of America, we stopped by David Adickes’ President’s Park for some quality one-on-one time with our nation’s leaders - in all their 20-foot, sculpted concrete glory. Sure, Mount Rushmore may be bigger and more famous, but where else in the country can you come face to GIGANTIC HEAD with every single US president? Actually, Williamsburg, VA (David has a second park there) but we were in SD, so we decided to bust in to catch some “green” pearls of wisdom from everyone from Lincoln to FDR. We even interviewed President Polk….yes, the President Polk. Best of all, we caught a super-sized face-off - a White House solar panels showdown between Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan! Watch the drama unfold below:

Presidentially,

Julie, Mark, and Ben

team@yert.com

P.S. For information about the topics in this video, check out these breadcrumbs:

There’s a great documentary coming out soon called “Road Not Taken” about what happened to the solar panels Jimmy Carter put on the White House (and Reagan took down). To watch a trailer and for more on this story, check out these links:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/01/27/white-house-solar-panels_n_160575.html
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/01/jimmy-carter-solar-panels.php

See which Presidents have been the best for the environment here:
http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/business/the-5-most-environmentally-friendly-presidents-in-us-history/857

Another list of the Best and Worst Presidents for the environment. Oddly enough, Nixon makes both Best and Worst lists of this one. Evidently, as the old saying goes - “when he was good he was very good, but when he was bad, he was horrid.” However, he wasn’t THE worst - that spot is reserved for “you know who.”

To see what kind of “Green New Deal” our current President is conjuring, go here:
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2236134/obama-green-stimulus-dissected
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2236575/obama-stimulus-bill-green
http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/ceq/
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/jan/21/barackobama-usa-environment

Check out how Carter tried to fix Bush’s environmental/energy mistakes nearly 3 decades before Bush made them. Carter’s “malaise” speech (in which he actually never uses the word) is not terribly uplifting, but it couldn’t possibly have been more prescient then or more relevant today. Check out the speech (and dozens of other fascinating presidential speeches) HERE.

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February 3, 2009 by Mark.

(YERT is now on Twitter! Come tweet to us! http://twitter.com/YERTGuy)

Howdy, YERTians! Lots of news today…

YERT at Focus the Nation, 10:30 AM on 2/6/09, CMU in Pittsburgh, PA,
YERT at PASA Conference, 8:30 PM on 2/6/09, State College, PA
YERT hosts Green Drinks in Pittsburgh, 5-9 PM 2/20/09 (Facebook Event Link)

YERT is sharing stories and videos with live audiences all over Pittsburgh, with interest for more presentations popping up all over the state– and the country! We’re exploring opportunities at schools, colleges, and communities in Maine, New York, and New Jersey, and if you send a note to team@yert.com we’ll consider your state, too.

If you happen to be in Pittsburgh, you don’t have to wait– we’ll be presenting at the “Focus the Nation” event at CMU at 10:30 AM on Friday, 2/6/09. YERT videos will also be playing via a big projector during lunch. Stop by and say hi– and catch some of the other speakers dedicated to getting our national carbon footprint under control.

After lunch at the “Focus the Nation” event I’ll be driving out to State College, PA to give a “farming special” presentation for a conference held by the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture. I’ve assembled a few farming-themed videos to share with the audience, including some previously unreleased footage of YERT’s visit with Joel Salatin (also featured in Michael Pollan’s “The Omnivore’s Dilemma”).

I also can’t help but share a few updates from presentations that we just completed…

Ben and I assembled a YERTy presentation all about green business for Dr. Robert Sroufe’s class in the Sustainable MBA program at Duquesne University. We dug up inspiring and thought-provoking highlights from some of our heavy-hitting business-related interviews, including clips from David Korten, Wes Jackson, and Bob Berkebile. We also featured a spectrum of businesses from the light green to the “flip traditional business models upside down” dark green– highlighting TerraCycle, Whole Foods, the Global Citizen Center, gDiapers, and plenty more.

I think it went over pretty well with the students - we were delighted to get quotes like these on our feedback forms:
“One of the best presentations I’ve seen in a long time (& I’ve seen a LOT of presentations).”
“Video was funny but very insightful for the audience. Made me want to do more myself.”
“Everything was interesting.”
“Very entertaining, helpful, and interesting. Thanks for showing it to us!”

Also, the professor that brought us in, Dr. Robert Sroufe, had kind words of his own… “My graduate students were very impressed with the delivery of information… Mark and Ben worked with me before the session to go through a list of companies I thought we should focus on. The video quality and visuals are of the highest quality and look great in a classroom projection system. The video pods… highlight many interesting people and practices that can be brought easily into a classroom and pedagogy.”

Woohoo!

In a few weeks YERT is “hosting” Green Drinks in Pittsburgh, which basically means that we’re definitely going to be there and connecting up with droves of YERTy friends. Eat, drink, and be green. And bowl if you’d like, too. It all takes place at Arsenal Lanes in Pittsburgh from 5-9pm on FRIDAY 2/20/09. Click here for more details! (Or you can RSVP on Facebook)

I also recently gave an “urban-green-styled” YERT presentation for a small but dedicated audience at a New Urbanism meeting, held at the Sierra Club office in Pittsburgh. City Councilman Bill Peduto showed up to give his stamp of approval, and we also were fortunate enough to have pro photographer Larry Rippel taking photos of the event– check out his work in the photo up top, and below!

If you’d like to bring YERT to your school or community for a fun, engaging, educational environmental presentation with plenty of Q&A, please let us know– team@yert.com. We’re exploring ideas for a new presentation for high school and college students that focuses on green jobs. What do you think? Good idea? Bad idea? Worth a shot? Let us know!

Peace,
Mark

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January 19, 2009 by Ben.

Here we are on the eve of history, January 19th, 2009, near the stroke of midnight - galvanized and ready to serve! Tomorrow (or today, for some of you reading this) America will officially swear-in its first African-American President and turn a corner that is an inspiration to all of humanity. Hope and vision and compassion are making a comeback in the halls of our nation’s capital tomorrow, and not a moment too soon. The challenges before us as a country are immense, but the groundswell of selfless service and American ingenuity building behind the new leadership in this country is palpable and awe-inspiring. People everywhere are feeling empowered again and tapping into their own inner sense of purpose and passion for a greater good.

One of the clearest voices in this “call to arms” on behalf of the planet and humanity has been the incredible and visionary Van Jones, Director and Founding President of Green For All. We were lucky enough to see him speak at Bioneers in 2007 and were moved by his impassioned presentation of a green “wave” that “lifts all boats.” Here he is, as inspiring as ever, speaking before Congress this past week:

As if Van Jones and an historical inauguration weren’t inspiring enough, for those of you who haven’t seen it already, here’s a fantastic new project by a company called CH2M Hill developing Solar Potential Maps for 25 US Cities - the first of which is for San Francisco and can be found HERE. It’s worth spending some serious time noodling with this map - they’ve done some major leg-work to remove many of the hurdles standing in the way of a solar-powered future by showing just what’s possible and where in an incredibly intuitive way. God bless the power of Googlemaps, CH2M Hill, and the internet. The other 24 cities are: Denver; Houston; Knoxville; Milwaukee; Minneapolis; Orlando; Philadelphia; Sacramento; San Antonio; San Jose; Santa Rosa; Seattle; Ann Arbor; Austin; Berkeley; New York City; Boston; Madison; New Orleans; Pittsburgh; Portland, Oregon; Salt Lake City; San Diego; and Tucson.

Treehugger has a couple great articles on the development of these solar maps HERE and HERE. It’s simply a fantastic idea whose time has certainly come - no surprise, then, that it won the 2008 Renewable Energy Innovation Award.

Finally, we found plenty of inspiration on our YERT travels. Here are a couple samples featuring folks from future YERTpods:

And on today of all days, don’t forget to check out the ultimate inaugural address we caught from our good friend Wes Jackson at the Land Institute here:

Our bank accounts might be taking it on the chin as our national “stuff” hits the fan this year and we face some hard realities, but, who knows, 2009 could be a great year after all!

Happy Inauguration, Mr. President! Here’s to our nation’s future!

-Ben and The YERT Team

PS - For a last tasty morsel of inspiration, check out Mark’s blog about David Korten’s new book below. Best of all, you can pre-order it from the YERT website HERE!

Posted in Events, Video, Issues, Ben | No Comments »

October 31, 2008 by Mark.

Dear YERTians,

What will we discuss today?
- NEW YERT Video
- See YERT in Pittsburgh at Cafe Scientifique on Monday, 11/3.
- YERT Phase 2 Update

Happy Halloween! Today we present you with a special little video, just in time for the election. This one features a single quote by Wes Jackson at the Land Institute, in which he talks about what he would do if elected President. Take a look. Wes is brilliant and the Land Institute was quite possibly the most important spot YERT visited in all 50 states. We’ll be featuring more of him in an upcoming video (editing it right now!). Here’s the clip…

YERT Presents Wes Jackson Presenting the Most Important Human Challenge Ever!

If the embedded video doesn’t work for you… go here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDSn-bDyvdA

YERT at Cafe Scientifique! That’s right, Mark, Ben, and Julie will be presenting the YERT story to anybody who would like to show up. The format is great - eat, drink, and talk about cool stuff! We’ll also have all of our garbage on display– from the whole year. Good times all around. It all happens at the Penn Brewery at 7:00 PM on Monday, 11/3. Check out their website for more information: http://www.cafescipgh.org/. If you’d like YERT to present to your school, college, or community, contact mark@yert.com.

PHASE 2 UPDATE! If you’re wondering what happened to YERT and our “weekly” videos, fret not! Ben, Julie, Erika, and I are all well, there are videos in the pipeline, and we’re moving as fast as we can to build out “YERT Phase 2,” which includes a feature film, educational curriculum, and eco-presentations all over the place. We’ve been processing hundreds of hours of footage, adjusting the legal structure of YERT, and meeting with folks in the funding community in Pittsburgh and beyond.

In the meantime, we could use a little help in getting to the next stop on this YERT train. We need a little money and some people– cash and warm bodies. YERT is seeking connections to film industry professionals, hungry interns, and volunteers interested in helping out the planet while sharpening their skills on a fun, independent media project with national scope. For more information, please contact Mark Dixon– mark@yert.com, 415-672-5537. (We have opportunities for video editors [FCPro in HD:1080p], motion graphics designers, web developers, new media marketing interns, and video watching/logging volunteers! Course credit may also be available for students.)

We particularly need lots of volunteer video watchers– to watch about 500 hours of footage and transcribe every word from the interviews. We’ll credit you in our film and on our website, and you’ll get a chance to see huge chunks of wonderful raw interviews that make up the foundation of YERT. And we’d be eternally grateful. All we ask is that you sign up for chunks of 10 hours, and we’ll help you out with the rest.

About the money - we basically depleted our funds during the course of the trip, but need $3000 for a bit of hardware (a hard drive), software (to support our video watching volunteers), and those legal expenses. It is all integral to the creation of the film and can’t be delayed. Think you can help? Please make a contribution to the project at the YERT Shert Shop. You can also put a little cash into the YERT bank by buying YERT Chico Bags, which make GREAT GIFTS and double as awesome gift wrappers. You’ll be glad you did.

That’s all for today. Have a great scary day and don’t forget to VOTE on Nov. 4!

YERTfully Yours,
Mark (and Ben, Julie, and Erika)

team@yert.com

YERTYERTYERTYERTYERTYERTYERTYERTYERTYERTYERTYERTYERTYERTYERTYERTYERTYERT

Posted in Events, Video, Issues, Mark | 1 Comment »

October 16, 2008 by Mark.

Heya! Mark here. I’m headed off to speak on a panel about “new media” at the upcoming Bioneers conference in Portland, Maine! The Bioneers conference started near San Francisco in California, but has now expanded to include satellite events and around 15,000 attendees all around the country. The Maine satellite event is called “Kindle” and I encourage you to check out its website here.

The Bioneers conferences and their enthusiastic attendees and panelists were an inspiration to me and the YERT team before and during the YERT road trip, so it is exciting to be attending as a panelist. It feels like home. And I suspect you can catch a flavor of our enthusiasm for it all in the video that we created about our visit to last year’s Bioneers at their event’s HQ in San Rafael, CA…

I’ll keep you all posted about this weekend’s event as time allows, but there is probably a Bioneers event near you! Take a look at the map below and also this page to learn more about these distributed “Beaming Bioneers” conferences.

View Larger Map

Posted in Events, Travelog, Mark | 1 Comment »

September 28, 2008 by Mark.

Dear YERTians,

We’ve got some great news! YERT was featured on this week’s edition of "Living on Earth," our favorite national environmental radio program. You may have heard this program on iTunes or any number of public radio stations across the country. We hope you enjoy the show!

Click to listen to YERT on Living on Earth!

Or download this mp3 file directly.

Also, a YERT friend and interviewee, Tony Kvale, founder of Kvale Good Natured Games, is trying to get ahead in an online competition at Forbes.com. He’s gotten into the semifinals, but needs YERTy help to cross the line in the top five! Can you take a moment to vote for him– and help propel a thoroughly green game company into the minds of Forbes readers? Thanks for your help!

There are two options for voting (takes just a couple minutes):

1) http://boost08.perfectprize.com/voting/
Straight to the ballot itself. Check off Kvale games, submit & follow instructions.

2) http://www.KvaleGames.com/?p=VoteHenry08
Gives an overview of Kvale Games, spells out the voting steps, and only involves an extra click.

And finally, a quick update about the YERT team… Ben and Julie (and their beautiful new baby Bailey) have moved temporarily to Pittsburgh while Ben performs with the Pittsburgh City Theater. Erika continues her work with Ashoka in Washington, DC. In the meantime, Mark has jumped into Pittsburgh’s green community, and is working to secure funding to complete the YERT film and related curriculum and discussion materials. Our primary video camera (Canon XH A1) was damaged by sparks during the road trip, so "she" is in the shop right now, getting ready for new life documenting whatever else we encounter in these early stages of YERT Part 2!

We also have to apologize for the dearth of new videos for your entertainment. We haven’t forgotten about them, but we need a little time to put some cash into YERT and generally sort out our lives before we can continue at full steam. But continue we will! We’re also on the hunt for unpaid interns who are interested in new media, film, and marketing experience– there are plenty of ways that students young and old can get involved and get some cool experience at the same time. Please spread the word to friends and family– and film teachers (and their students)!

That’s all for now. Thanks for sticking with us all these months (and years!), and we’ll be in touch again very soon.

YERTfully Yours,

Ben, Julie, Erika, and Mark (Your YERT Team)

team@yert.com

YERTYERTYERTYERTYERTYERTYERTYERTYERTYERTYERTYERTYERTYERTYERTYERT

Posted in Events, Mark | 1 Comment »

August 23, 2008 by Mark.

I’m going on vacation for a week or so, starting tonight. Somehow my father managed to retire just a month or so after YERT finished its travels, so now he’s taking the family on a boat ride in Maine. Fortunately, I’m considered family. I’ll be back soon, but in the meantime I hope that you can all enjoy your summers.

There have been plenty of things happening in YERT-land these days. We had a great Homecoming party at the Rachel Carson Homestead, complete with a donation of about 50 organic and fair trade chocolate bars by Theo Chocolate in Seattle. Needless to say we were wired. And we received a warm welcome to Pittsburgh, where I’ve since discovered so many green events in September that I’m not sure how I’ll ever sleep again!

YERT was also interviewed by Living on Earth a couple of days after the party, and they plan to run a YERT segment on their nationally syndicated show sometime in late September. We’ll let you know when to listen for it on the radio. If you’re looking for a good planetary radio program, I think that Living on Earth sets the bar.

We’re still working on videos, but it is taking longer than expected to turn them around in this post-road-tripping life. Nevertheless, we’re still hungry to process the footage and can’t wait to share it with you. It will come when it comes. Thanks for your patience…

Until September, YERTfully Yours,
Mark

P.S. I don’t mean to get political, but if you think that “drill here, drill now” is a good plan, send a note my way and I’ll be happy to share with you a few of the complications that arise from that “strategy.”

Posted in Events, Mark | 1 Comment »