January 20, 2010 by Mark.

Sometimes I have to remind myself that nature’s the source of our existence, and the source of life, connection, love, and peace. It comes out in this video, from our friends at PrAna.

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January 18, 2010 by Mark.

Dear YERTians,

Thanks to you and dozens like you, YERT received just over $20,000 in donations during December. This is an extraordinary breath of fresh air into the film– one that we plan to use very wisely. We have news about this and more in this latest YERT update!

In This Update:
• EVENT: YERT featured on FireDogLake TONIGHT, 8pm EST
• EVENT: Coal Free Future Project and YERT film preview on 2/11 in Pittsburgh
• Mark & Ben featured on “The Wall” by Repower America
• Film Festival Update
• Marketing Survey Results + ChicoBag Winners!
• How YERT raised $20,000

EVENT: YERT featured on FireDogLake TONIGHT, 8pm EST
YERT was recently asked to appear on FireDogLake.com– our second appearance on that site. FireDogLake has a regular “movie night” event, and tonight, Monday 9/18, they’ll be featuring three YERT short films with Ben, Julie, and Mark available for Q&A in chat form. Come join us! http://firedoglake.com/booksalon/ . Oh, and here are the three films for discussion:

• YERTpod30: Perennial Good Food in Kansas
• Wes Jackson’s most important challenge for us humans
• YERTpod31: An Epiphany of Three Wise Men in Missouri

EVENT: Coal Free Future Project and YERT film preview on 2/11 in Pittsburgh
We have a very special event coming up in Pittsburgh– Ben is a key performer in and has created short film “faux-mercials” and visuals for the Coal Free Future Project’s presentation of “Welcome to the Saudi Arabia of Coal,” an original multimedia play by Jeff Biggers, American Book Award winner and frequent contributor to Huffington Post and The Nation. From the Coal Free Future Project’s website: “The performance draws attention to the national scandal of mountaintop removal mining, and the grave health impacts of coal mining and coal-fired plants, and the potentially catastrophic consequences of climate destabilization triggered by CO2 emissions.” In addition to Jeff and Ben, the play features and is directed by Appalachian Voices National Field Coordinator and actress Stephanie Pistello, and is set to songs by some of coal country’s finest songwriters. After the performance, we’ll be screening selected “sneak peek” chapters of the YERT feature film– chapters featuring Joel Salatin, Wes Jackson, and other favorite personalities from the trip. We’re eager to get your honest feedback to help shape the creation of the film!

<-- Here's a picture from "Welcome to the Saudi Arabia of Coal," courtesy of the Coal Free Future Project.

The event happens from 8-10pm on Thursday, Feb. 11, 2010 at the Union Project Great Hall, 801 N. Negley Ave., Pittsburgh, PA. Contact mark@yert.com for more details. For more information about the Coal Free Future Project and additional events around the country in Louisville, KY, Asheville, NC, Washington DC, Columbus, OH, Lexington, KY, and NYC, visit http://CoalFreeFutureProject.org.

Mark & Ben featured on “The Wall” by Repower America
Through a bit of magic performed by our friends at Repower America, Mark and Ben have been given exclusive “big boxes” to highlight the videos posted on “The Wall,” a collection of countless videos by activists sharing their views about the need for action on climate change. Ben and Mark created videos sharing our views, and our small squares were upgraded to more easy to see “large squares.” Browse around here and then click on the picture of Mark or Ben to listen to our messages! Here’s The Wall. Or if you want to cheat and go right to our video messages (with, oddly, small squares for us), click for Mark’s message and Ben’s Message.

Film Festival Update
Scott and Ben have been working their tails off on the latest cut of the YERT film, with our most recent film submission going into the Tribeca Film Festival in NYC. The next big entry date is the Mountain Film Festival in Telluride, CO. We’re still waiting for results from the South By Southwest entry. In the meantime, we’re working to get the time of our film down to 90 minutes, with the next big developments likely to be the addition of additional narration and some motion graphics to move the story along more effectively. After that we’ll drop in some custom music. We are currently trying to get the film fully baked by the summer of 2010.

Marketing Survey Results + ChicoBag Winners!
Thank you all for the excellent feedback that you contributed through the marketing survey that we released in December. It was extremely helpful to our planning and marketing efforts– so much so that I’d like to share it with you and put the knowledge into the public domain to help other filmmakers out there. You can check out the data about pricing and demographics here. And there were some wonderful suggestions for marketing an environmental feature film in our open-ended question, with the top 99 suggestions collected in our blog here.

And, as promised, we’ll be shipping out a YERT ChicoBag to five special survey participants, chosen at random (via random number generator in Excel). Congratulation to the winners, specifically…

• Joan Hare
• David Buscher
• Callie Williams
• Aaron Meyers
• Ellie Gordon

How YERT raised $20,000
We are thrilled and a little stunned by the incredible flow of donations from YERT supporters all around the world. We received contributions from over 30 brand new donors in December, bringing the total number of donors to 119, raising just over $20,000 in December. We blew away the matching donation of $3,000, and apparently that got the ball rolling with people coming out in waves to support the project. Most (95%) of the money came through checks written to Pittsburgh Filmmakers, with 5% coming through PayPal.

We were wondering how we were going to find the funds to finish the film, and this round of support lets us worry much less about that and focus on finishing the film. We still need more money to do it right, but this keeps the core team in gear for the foreseeable future. It also gives us more options for marketing and distribution when that time comes around– increasing the impact of the YERT film even more.

We can’t thank you enough for all of your incredible support. May you have a happy, GREEN new year, and please keep in touch.

Peace,
Ben, Julie, and Mark
team@yert.com

http://www.yert.com

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January 8, 2010 by Mark.

YERT has given loads of presentations at colleges around the country, and with the help of some pretty smart student organizers, we’ve developed a list of tips to help make any event more popular on campus. Please feel free to use these tips in your own event!

* Reserve speaker, apply for funding, reserve room space. This should be done (at least) 3 weeks in advance if possible.
o Be sure to talk to the appropriate IT people early as well to ensure that they can be there.
* Be sure the event is on your school calendar and can be found on the school’s website
* Once you know where/when the event will be, put up posters all over campus. 11×17 is better. Post them all over. A great place is on the inside of bathroom stalls so that you have a captive reading audience!
* Make a facebook group/event and invite all your friends! Be sure to send them reminder messages a couple of days before and the day of the event.
* Get the event in the campus and local newspapers. For local papers, you usually have to send them something like 2 weeks before the day you want it in the paper.
* If you have friends at the college radio station, get them to make some plugs for you in their show.
* Same goes for friends who work for the campus tv station. Even better if you can get them to screen one of the short videos.
* Send out emails to all with links to the videos to class lists or post them in a place online (in Bowdoin’s case the student digest) where most of the student body will see it.
* Make alliances with students! Email leaders of all clubs on campus who may find YERT interesting, from religious clubs to environmental groups to film clubs and get them to spread the word. Don’t forget to e-mail lists of students who are majoring in or studying environmental areas.
* Make alliances with professors! In your own classes you can write the date on the blackboard/whiteboard before class or ask to make a quick announcement. You can also ask professors to make announcements, make a powerpoint slide they can include at the beginning of their lecture, or try to show one of the short films if it relates to something you’re covering in class (especially if it’s an environmental studies class).

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October 26, 2009 by Mark.

Hey, YERTians!

I just learned about a video project/website created by a good friend of YERT - Damien Somerset. It’s called “Shift Logic” http://shiftlogic.org/ and by the looks of it he’s got his head in a very YERTy place.

Go to the site. Sign up and submit some headlines. Then vote on your favorites and the best ones get turned into new shows that make the most of Damien’s quick humor and clever editing style.

Fun, up-beat, and smart all at the same time. Brings up the important issues while staying fun. I couldn’t recommend it more.

Cheers,
Mark

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August 24, 2009 by Mark.

I recently discovered that the YERT Logo is not easily found on the Internet. That’s right, your favorite eco video web site’s logo is tough to find. Until now. The green YERT Logo for Your Environmental Road Trip (YERT.com) is right here. Check it out below, too…

(above: new green logo for YERT.com - Your Environmental Road Trip)

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July 8, 2009 by Mark.

We interviewed Christopher Flavin during the YERT road trip. We think this is worth re-posting!…

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 8, 2009

Contact: Julia Tier

(+1 202) 452.1999 x594

jtier@worldwatch.org

Worldwatch Institute Launches Initiative to Assess Agricultural Methods’ Impacts on Sustainability, Productivity

Washington, D.C.—The Worldwatch Institute is launching a two-year project to point the world toward innovations in agriculture that can nourish people as well as the planet, supported by a $1.3 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The project will focus specifically on sub-Saharan Africa.

Currently, 1 billion people worldwide go to bed hungry each night. In the first study of its kind, the Worldwatch Institute will assess the impacts of a range of farming techniques on the environment and agricultural productivity. The project will provide stakeholders, including policymakers, farmer and community networks, and international donors, with research on practical solutions for creating sustainable food security.

Among the many innovations and approaches that Worldwatch plans to examine are:

· Adding nitrogen-fixing plants into crop rotations as a low-cost solution for enriching soils and breaking weed and pest cycles;

· Overcoming freshwater shortages with rain harvesting, efficient irrigation, micro dams, and cover cropping;

· Strengthening local breeding capacity, including the use of farmer-run seed banks and genetic markers of important crop traits;

· Tapping international carbon-credit markets to reward farmers for enriching their soils and planting carbon-sequestering tree crops;

· Involving women farmers in decision-making at all levels.

“Agricultural development is at a crossroads,” said Worldwatch President Christopher Flavin. “The current crisis offers a window of opportunity for refocusing the world’s attention on food, agriculture, and rural areas, and for reestablishing food security as a global priority. We look forward to bringing Worldwatch’s signature multidisciplinary approach to this groundbreaking project.”

The day-to-day management of the project will be overseen by Worldwatch Senior Researcher Brian Halweil. “We’re thrilled to be working with the Foundation and partners to take a serious look at sustainability as well as agricultural productivity,” said Halweil. “We hope to harness the global environmental community as an ally in eliminating hunger in the 21st century, as well as the growing ranks of people in wealthy nations who see food as the way to affect the world around them.”

The project will culminate in the release of State of the World 2011: Nourishing the Planet. This 27th edition of the Institute’s widely read annual report, which tackles the most critical trends in sustainability each year, will be accompanied by an online, behind-the-scenes look at the ongoing research, which will enable farmers, scientists, government officials, and others around the world to share their perspectives regarding agricultural solutions for alleviating hunger.

“Environmental sustainability is critical to ensure the greatest, longest-lasting impact on the lives of small farmers in the developing world,” said Prabhu Pingali, Deputy Director of Agricultural Development at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. “By understanding how a range of approaches affects the environment and farmer productivity, this project will help all of us create sound solutions to help farmers lift themselves out of hunger and poverty in the long term.”

The Worldwatch Institute will enlist key partner organizations to provide on-the-ground research in locations around the world, access to farmer-to-farmer networks, and knowledge of specific agricultural interventions, from irrigation and soil improvement to market development. This robust network includes World Neighbors, Ecoagriculture Partners, Heifer International, Rodale Institute, Slow Food International, International Fund for Agricultural Development, and the Global Water Policy Project.

Comments Sara J. Scherr, President of Ecoagriculture Partners: “This project offers a unique opportunity for the environmental community and the agricultural development community to jointly explore new strategies and technologies to achieve universal food security while also sustaining habitats for wildlife, protecting critical watersheds, ensuring healthy soils, and helping to mitigate—rather than exacerbate—climate change.”

For more information or to interview Brian Halweil or Christopher Flavin, please contact Julia Tier at jtier@worldwatch.org or call (+1) 202 452-1992 x594.

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February 10, 2009 by Ben.

THIS JUST IN:
YERT’s dear friend and Pittsburgh City Councilman, Bill Peduto, yesterday proposed that the City of Pittsburgh become the first city in America to be lit by LED lights. Check out the full article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette HERE and feel free to call or contact Bill and give him some major props. WAY TO GO, BILL!!

Posted in Issues, Ben, Uncategorized | No Comments »

September 17, 2008 by Erika.

While in Bismarck, North Dakota, YERT spoke with Roger Johnson, the state commissioner of agriculture, about a crop he feels would be a wonderful asset to North Dakota’s economy. He has been trying to get it approved for many years.  “There are farms just ten miles into Canada growing it and making a profit. We’ve made it legal at a state level in North Dakota, and yet farmers here cannot grow it, as it would be against the Federal law,” he said.

What he was referring to is industrial hemp. His is not a plea we have never heard before, but his voice stands out amongst the “legalize hemp” community.  Sitting in a pressed shirt in front of a bookshelf and an American flag, he looked like the last person you might expect to empty a bag full of hemp milk, Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soap, hemp fabric swatches and hemp balm onto his large desk (which, in fact, he did). But don’t be fooled. He’s a big fan, and carried his support all the way to D.C.

His reason? Reason.  He finds it quite difficult to comprehend how our neighbors to the north as well as most (all?) of Europe has managed to legalize and profit from the growing of industrialized hemp.

It wasn’t always this way.  Hemp, the non-psychedelic cousin of marijuana, has been touted for hundreds of years for its ease of growth and wide array of uses.  It is a source of clothing, textiles, oil, food, paper, biofuel, lotions, soap, rope, conditioner, among many other uses. Some of the first US settlers grew hemp to make a strong canvas for sails, and it is thought that the Constitution was drafted on hemp paper.  Even as late as World War II, the US government encouraged farmers to grow hemp through the “Hemp for Victory” campaign when more than 400,000 acres of US soil was dedicated to support this war effort.

Since then, the plant has become confused with marijuana, though the two plants are easy to identify as distinct plants with the naked eye. The leaves and stalks are different to the trained eye, while even an untrained eye can distinguish the two based on growing height alone.  Roger suggested that he would we able to quickly identify illegally grown marijuana from a plane if necessary.

One of the most common misconceptions is related to the presence of THC in hemp. This chemical is responsible for the “high” induced by marijuana, but is found in very low concentrations in hemp.  As Roger put it, “Sure. You could ‘smoke’ hemp, but the joint would have to be the size of a telephone pole.”

Roger was also quick to suggest the idea of random sampling to ensure that marijuana isn’t growing hidden amongst the hemp plants. The notion that drug dealers might try to “hide” marijuana plants in a field of hemp concerns some, but not Roger. He pointed out that though hemp and marijuana are distinctly different, they do cross pollinate. This would create some very weak marijuana, and bring up the levels of THC in the hemp- making it likely that the marijuana crops would lose their potency, and that the farmer would get caught.

So if hemp is so great, it’s easy to identify, and straightforward enough to regulate it, then why aren’t we profiting from it here in the US?  Politics, red tape, and lobbyists from plastics companies like Dupont.  If you’d like to join Roger Johnson in his fight an easy first step would be to check out the following sites:

http://votehemp.com/

http://www.americasheartland.org/video/315_2_controversal_crop.htm (video)

And send a standard form letter to your representative here:

http://capwiz.com/votehemp/issues/alert/?alertid=9370876&type=CO

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September 6, 2008 by Erika.

. . .Or, “If BMX racing is now an Olympic sport, why not snowkiting?”

To Cross the Moon, also known by the hip acronym “2XtM”, is a wind energy awareness project started by Sam Salwei. An avid snowkiter, Sam decided to use his passion for snowkiting (a growing outdoor sport where a person in skis or a snowboard is pulled by a kite) to promote another passion— wind power.

Through two expeditions, Sam and friends have used the awesome power of the wind to pull them across the winter landscape of North Dakota, holding educational seminars with community groups along the way. Together, they have informed around 10,000 people about the potential of wind power in the state, demonstrating just how much power there is in the wind, and how foolish it would be of us not to take advantage of it. According to the 2XtM website, North Dakota is ranked as the number one state for wind energy potential.

Ben, Mark, and I were swept away one afternoon when we met with Sam and his girlfriend, Kathryn. Literally, swept away. Because it was the middle of summer, we each got to try kiteturfing, same idea as kitesurfing, but on land. After a quick lesson and getting strapped in, the kite took off, and so did we. Ben probably got the strongest impression of how strong the power of the wind truly is, by getting dragged across the field by a runaway kite. (His clothing bore the holes and grass stains to prove it.) Mark, the runner of the group, wouldn’t let the kite get the best of him, and rather than have it pull him down, he would run after it, with Sam laughing and shouting, “Where are you going?!”

I also had the chance to take on the wind with a smaller handheld kite that was still incredibly powerful. It kept flying away from me; I just couldn’t hold on tight enough. Every now and then I would feel in control- even if only for a moment- and experience a balance of tug-and-pull. Feeling the wind pulling the kite, literally harnessing its power with my two hands, was incredible. Right then, I realized, that there is power- energy- embodied in every gust of wind, power that we are wasting by not taking advantage of it. It felt clean, powerful, and abundant.

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July 22, 2008 by Erika.

Bike/Walk to Work DayWe are still in catch-up mode as we excitedly welcome Ben and Julie’s new baby into the world and rev up for the next phase of YERT.  Bear with us as we work to get you caught up on where we’ve been and what we’ve seen! Now to spend a couple more blogs wrapping up Minnesota . . .

* * *

Many people recognize Portland, Oregon as one of the most bike and public transit friendly cities in the nation.  The city is so well known for its mass transit efforts that help the environment, in fact, that YERT’s Oregon green video is centered around this theme.  But would you have guessed that Minneapolis- a city known for its chilling winters- would come a close, unofficial second?

On the Twin Cities’ Bike/Walk to Work Day walkers, bikers, and the sun were all out in full force.  The parks scattered throughout downtown help to break up the high rise buildings and the Greenway- a bike/pedestrian path that extends for twenty miles- provides a straight pathway for commuter cyclists riding to work downtown.  We camped out at the Greenway and stopped a few riders for some of our ‘peeps’ on the street. For some, even the chilling winters were only a small worry compared to the benefits of saved parking fees, additional exercise, a shorter commute (in some cases), fresh air, and smaller carbon footprint.

Also while in the twin cities area we interviewed Ari Ofsevit with hOurcar, a car sharing service in Minneapolis.  Like most car sharing programs, the concept is simple- rather than drive a car of your own, you reserve one online for only the hours you need it. Pick it up at a designated neighborhood spot, drive it around for the hours reserved, then return it to the same spot when finished. Gas is included in the hourly price.  It offers a lot of convenience without a lot of hassle.  Unlike many of the larger car sharing services, however, hOurcar is a nonprofit, dedicated to the mission of promoting environmentally sustainable communities.

Here are some ideas and tips that might make a carefree, car-free lifestyle a bit easier.

Buy a great book- Who wants to sit in traffic, anyway?

Carpool- Yeah, you’ve heard this one before, but this time actually do it!

Pimp your ride- Take pride in your bike. Get it ready for a trip to the grocery store, for transporting papers to the office, and for riding after dark by outfitting it with side bags, a light, and a basket.

Hitch a ride- Type “ride share” into Google to find a bunch of sites that offer ways to meet up with others interested in carpooling or dividing the expenses and driving of a longer trip.

Live near work- Probably the easiest way to cut down on the amount of driving is to live, work, and play in the same area. If having all three isn’t a possibility, at least try to live near where you work, as commuting accounts for 734 billion miles driven by Americans each year.   

Posted in Erika, Travelog, Uncategorized | 3 Comments »