Hitting the Road to Save the Planet

Transcript

OPEN: Chucking it all and going off to save the planet isn't practical for most people. Well, Mark Dixon and Ben and Julie Evans are doing just that. Your Environmental Road TripóYERT for shortójust launched their year-long eco-tour of the United States from Pittsburgh. The Allegheny Frontís Tim Palucka reports that they are not only trying to educate people on the road but also with online videos.

MARK DIXON (from YERT trailer on YERT.com, used with permission): Greenógreen lawns, green bikes, green people, green beerówell, organic beer. 50 states, one year, one planet to saveóyours. Your environmental road trip.

PALUCKA: Thatís Mark Dixon, founder of Your Environmental Road Trip, or YERT. Heís come up with idea for an interactive dialogue with Americans about the environment. The goal is to learn about the things people are doing to live a greener life, and pass them along to other people. The whole concept came to him during a meditation retreat.

DIXON: After 4 or 5 days the idea for an environmental road trip actually just kind of justópop!ófell into my head.

PALUCKA: After that, Mark gave up a job in Silicon Valley and moved to Pittsburgh to live with his sister to save money to fund the road trip. While living in Pittsburgh, he realized it was the perfect place to launch the project.

DIXON: We really felt like Pittsburgh really has a story, a story thatís worth hearing nationally, of taking an industrial base and transforming it into an environmental success story. And if Pittsburgh can do it, heck, anybody can do it.

SOUNDS: Background sounds of YERT prelaunch party.

PALUCKA: Before hitting the road, a small crowd gathered together in a restored church for a prelaunch party. Ben Evans, a longtime friend of Markís, will join him on the trip.

BEN EVANS: Weíll probably do that, actually. Weíll probably do San Antonia, Austin, and then maybe down to Corpus Christi.

ATTENDEE: Then you can see the whooping cranes.

BEN EVANS: Oh, awesome.

PALUCKA: Eyeing a wall map covered with suggestions of places to visit, Ben says that America has a big role in saving the planet.

BEN EVANS: America is sort of like this Titanicóweíre this huge giant. And so when the giant wakes up I think good things are going to happen. If the giant doesnít wake up and see the light then the whole planetís in a rough spot.

PALUCKA: Benís wife Julie was the last one to join the road trip. Theyíre both successful actors who gave up their New York apartment a few weeks ago. It took a little convincing to get Julie onboard. And she still has one major concern.

JULIE EVANS (joking): That Iíll kill the boys. That Iíll eat them. Yeah, my biggest worry is that Iím a woman in a car with two men for a year. And thatís a worry. You can imagine, right?

PALUCKA: Their car is a Ford Escape Hybrid SUVóthe greenest American vehicle they could find that would hold the three of them. And they have big plans for their trip.

JULIE EVANS: We want to make no waste. I guess the exact goal for that is about one shoebox worth of waste, between the three of us, per month of the trip. And we have a little composting bin, weíre gonna to try to compost anything thatís compostableÖ.

BEN EVANS (joking): Weíre all gonna be blaming the compost pile. I mean, itís gonna be like, ìHoney, thatís the compost pile, itís not my feet, I swear.î

PALUCKA: And they want to keep it funny. In this video clip, already posted on YERT.com, Mark and Ben are frantically looking through the freezer for enough ice cubes to save the polar ice caps.

MARK and BEN (from ìBear Necessitiesî video on YERT.com, used with permission:

BEN: Is this enough?

MARK: How many are there?

BEN: Like 30, ah crap oneís missing.

MARK: I donít think itís gonna be enough.

BEN: Wait a second thereís more. Coolpakóreusable non-toxic ice substituteóice substituteónever loses it cooling power and thereís two of them How much do we need again?

MARK: 18 cubic miles.

PALUCKA: They took their antics to Station Square in Pittsburgh. Kids flock to Ben, whoís dressed as Uncle Sam. Ten-year-old Ryan says his favorite animal is the polar bear.

BEN EVANS: So whatís gong on with the polar bears? Theyíre disappearing. Whatís going on, man?

RYAN: Global Warming.

BEN: But I like warm weather. Whatís wrong with the world getting warmer?

RYAN: Itíll melt all the ice and the polar bears will sink?

BEN: What! Are you kidding me?

RYAN: Nope.

BEN: Dude, what do we do?

RYAN: Stop polluting the earth?

PALUCKA: You can see videos showing like this on YERT.com as they interact with people across the country. They hope to get suggestions online about where they should go, or who they can stay with overnight for free. After all, as Mark likes to point out:

DIXON: Itís not just our environmental road trip, itís your environmental road trip, silly.

PALUCKA: For the Allegheny Front, this is Tim Palucka.