Hi friends,
One of our friends was pleasantly surprised to find out that we were actually going through with our cross-country eco-video project in the beginning of May. 'You mean you're actually going to do it?', and he meant it. For anyone else who thinks it's a great idea but isn't sure if we're actually going to do it, please let me assure you that it's very much going to happen, for real.
We are excited to announce an exciting dinner/concert fundraiser on Saturday, April 25. We'll be hosting a spaghetti supper at the Unitarian Universalist Church on Grafton Common from 5:00-7:00pm, with an acoustic concert to follow at 7:00pm. This dinner/concert will be a fundraiser to help cover the costs of our cross-country eco-video project - we're asking for $10 for the dinner, or $10 for the concert, or $15 for the dinner and the concert together. Directions are at the church website, www.UUSociety.net.
We are very fortunate to have two very talented musicians playing acoustic sets beginning at 7:00pm:
Katrin is a great singer-songwriter here in Massachusetts who plays shows regularly and has several albums released. Her website is www.Katrinrocks.com - she's got songs on ITunes you can hear and some videos on YouTube here and here. Katrin is a great musician and we're lucky to have her as part of our concert.
Greg Hare is a long-time friend from New York who deserves to be famous! He's a wonderfully-talented singer-songwriter. Hear one of his songs, 'The Present' here. It's a link to an MP3 that you can listen to or right-click to download. Greg has been inspired to write a song about our project for us to use, so come to the concert and hear the premiere of his new song!
OK, you've been so generous in spreading the word about our project when we've needed your help. We'd love to have you come to the dinner/concert on April 25 and we need your help to spread the word about the concert to your friends and family. This is our big fundraiser before we leave on our cross-country journey in the beginning of May, and to date we have raised $5,000 (thank you thank you thank you!) but we still need to raise an additional $7,000 and this dinner/concert will go a long way to helping us meet our goal! With your support we can do it! Please spread the word!
Speaking of support, thanks so much for your vote a few weeks ago for us as part of the Sea Change Radio grant proposal through JustMeans/Green Mountain Coffee Roasters. Several other organizations pulled ahead of us in voting, but the decision is also based on the content of the proposal and the comments that people left in addition to the voting, so we'll have to see what happens. The finalists are being announced on March 28, and I'll let everyone know if Sea Change Radio gets into the final round.
Carrick and I are off to Maine tomorrow for the Maine Environmental Educators Association Annual Conference up at the Chewonki Foundation in Wiscasset. We're one of the presenters for the conference and also we'll have a table to hand out flyers and let the all the teachers know about our exciting project. Then on Saturday and Sunday I'll have a table close to home in central Massachusetts at the Grafton Fine Arts Festival. We're doing what we can to be at the fairs and festivals - much more efficient to go where the people are at, rather then have them come to us!
You can read our latest interview at www.VegDining.com, which is featured on their homepage. VegDining is our official guide to vegetarian restaurants all over the U.S. as we travel, and as a reminder we are giving out free VegDining cards to anyone who donates $50 or more to support our project. The VegDining cards get you discounts at vegetarian restaurants - a must-have for travelers looking for healthy food on the road.
Be well,
Colin
www.OurRenewableNation.org
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Ed Begley Interview, Voting Still On!
Hi friends,
It was a long shot, but I thought it would be great to do an interview with Ed Begley while in California, talking about what people can do to live more sustainably. Ed Begley, of course, is one of the leading environmentalists in Hollywood and is a well-known actor, currently starring in his TV reality show 'Living With Ed' on Planet Green. I contacted him to let him know about our cross-country eco-video project and asked for an interview, which he was kind enough to agree to! We're meeting at his home at the end of May for the interview and possibly for a tour of his famous green house! This is wonderful news and will surely be a highlight of our cross-country eco-video series.
The voting for the Green Mountain Coffee Roaster's Climate Change $200,000 grant is still open until this Saturday, so if you haven't voted yet please do. The grant project is for our friends at Sea Change Radio who we are collaborating with for our cross-country video project - if they win the grant they will use some of the grant to support our project. Just click on this link:
http://www.justmeans.com/showideadetails?ideaid=8382&isread=y
and make sure you click the 'SUPPORT IT!' button on the right to vote, and please leave a comment as well. Your vote really helps, so please vote if you haven't already!
This week we also added another interview while in San Francisco, Rev. Sally Bingham, who began the Interfaith Power & Light movement. The Interfaith Power and Light campaign is mobilizing a national religious response to global warming while promoting renewable energy, energy efficiency and conservation. There are Interfaith Power & Light chapters all over the country and their impact has been tremendous. We'll be talking with Rev. Bingham about what role religion has to play in promoting sustainable living.
Be well,
Colin
www.OurRenewableNation.org
It was a long shot, but I thought it would be great to do an interview with Ed Begley while in California, talking about what people can do to live more sustainably. Ed Begley, of course, is one of the leading environmentalists in Hollywood and is a well-known actor, currently starring in his TV reality show 'Living With Ed' on Planet Green. I contacted him to let him know about our cross-country eco-video project and asked for an interview, which he was kind enough to agree to! We're meeting at his home at the end of May for the interview and possibly for a tour of his famous green house! This is wonderful news and will surely be a highlight of our cross-country eco-video series.
The voting for the Green Mountain Coffee Roaster's Climate Change $200,000 grant is still open until this Saturday, so if you haven't voted yet please do. The grant project is for our friends at Sea Change Radio who we are collaborating with for our cross-country video project - if they win the grant they will use some of the grant to support our project. Just click on this link:
http://www.justmeans.com/showideadetails?ideaid=8382&isread=y
and make sure you click the 'SUPPORT IT!' button on the right to vote, and please leave a comment as well. Your vote really helps, so please vote if you haven't already!
This week we also added another interview while in San Francisco, Rev. Sally Bingham, who began the Interfaith Power & Light movement. The Interfaith Power and Light campaign is mobilizing a national religious response to global warming while promoting renewable energy, energy efficiency and conservation. There are Interfaith Power & Light chapters all over the country and their impact has been tremendous. We'll be talking with Rev. Bingham about what role religion has to play in promoting sustainable living.
Be well,
Colin
www.OurRenewableNation.org
Thursday, March 12, 2009
30 Seconds to Support our Cross-Country Eco-Video Series
Hi friends,
We've been given a fantastic opportunity to collaborate with a national radio program and podcast, Sea Change Radio. They are applying for a $200,000 grant for a program that they plan to cover solutions to climate change all over the country, and they are going to be using our content, both video and audio, from our cross-country eco-video series. If they win the grant they will be supporting our project financially. To date we have raised $4,500 out of a project budget of $20,000.
You can help us and Sea Change Radio win the grant with 30 seconds of your time! Please follow this link, http://www.justmeans.com/showideadetails?ideaid=8382&isread=y
and vote for the project. The project with the most votes will win the grant - another project in the lead for votes only has 85 votes, so we can do this! The voting is finished this Saturday, so please visit the link ASAP and cast your vote!
I've been optimistic that somehow things would work out for us, without quite knowing how or when. This could be our opportunity. Thanks for your help!
Be well,
Colin McCullough
www.OurRenewableNation.org
We've been given a fantastic opportunity to collaborate with a national radio program and podcast, Sea Change Radio. They are applying for a $200,000 grant for a program that they plan to cover solutions to climate change all over the country, and they are going to be using our content, both video and audio, from our cross-country eco-video series. If they win the grant they will be supporting our project financially. To date we have raised $4,500 out of a project budget of $20,000.
You can help us and Sea Change Radio win the grant with 30 seconds of your time! Please follow this link, http://www.justmeans.com/showideadetails?ideaid=8382&isread=y
and vote for the project. The project with the most votes will win the grant - another project in the lead for votes only has 85 votes, so we can do this! The voting is finished this Saturday, so please visit the link ASAP and cast your vote!
I've been optimistic that somehow things would work out for us, without quite knowing how or when. This could be our opportunity. Thanks for your help!
Be well,
Colin McCullough
www.OurRenewableNation.org
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Places to Stay, Facebook, Changents
Hi friends,
As the economy continues to be a big challenge, I remember back several months ago when I was having second thoughts about our cross-country eco-video project. I wondered if it was appropriate in this economy to go spend 2 months traveling across America (missing 2 months of work), and knew that fundraising would be especially challenging. I decided that what we are doing is too important and that we needed to move forward regardless. Our eco-video series is truly a unique project and it's more important now in this time to make this happen. This will be the only eco-video series made for kids, by a kid - kids relate to someone their own age in a totally different way than grownups. It's critical for kids today to see how exciting and full of opportunity a renewable, sustainable future can be. So we will go ahead and go on faith that things will work out financially, one way or another.
One way we are trying to keep our travel expenses down is to connect with families across the U.S. who are willing to host our family for the night as we're coming through. We've been getting emails from so many generous people throughout the country offering a place to stay - people who I've never met but who support our eco-video project and what we're trying to do. There are still some cities for which we are looking for hosts, so please look over the list here and if you know of anyone in these places who might be willing to host our family for the night, please let us know!
Jackson Mississippi, May 12
New Orleans, May 13 & 14
Baton Rouge, May 15
Lubbock Texas, May 18
Santa Fe New Mexico, May 19
Flagstaff Arizona, May 21
Grand Canyon Arizona, May 24
St. George Nevada, May 25
Las Vegas, May 26
Grant's Pass Oregon, June 6 & 7
Roseburg Oregon, June 8
Portland Oregon, June 9 & 10
Lincoln Nebraska, June 17
Des Moines Iowa, June 18
Niagara Falls. June 25
One last thing - two websites that I'd like to encourage you to visit that we're a part of. You can join us on Facebook on our group, Our Renewable Nation, and send me a friend invite. It's a great way to connect with our project. Also, visit www.Changents.com, which is a great website for change makers throughout the world - lots of great stories and projects that people are working on! You can join Changents and become one of our backers - just search for Our Renewable Nation.
Be well,
Colin McCullough
www.OurRenewableNation.org
As the economy continues to be a big challenge, I remember back several months ago when I was having second thoughts about our cross-country eco-video project. I wondered if it was appropriate in this economy to go spend 2 months traveling across America (missing 2 months of work), and knew that fundraising would be especially challenging. I decided that what we are doing is too important and that we needed to move forward regardless. Our eco-video series is truly a unique project and it's more important now in this time to make this happen. This will be the only eco-video series made for kids, by a kid - kids relate to someone their own age in a totally different way than grownups. It's critical for kids today to see how exciting and full of opportunity a renewable, sustainable future can be. So we will go ahead and go on faith that things will work out financially, one way or another.
One way we are trying to keep our travel expenses down is to connect with families across the U.S. who are willing to host our family for the night as we're coming through. We've been getting emails from so many generous people throughout the country offering a place to stay - people who I've never met but who support our eco-video project and what we're trying to do. There are still some cities for which we are looking for hosts, so please look over the list here and if you know of anyone in these places who might be willing to host our family for the night, please let us know!
Jackson Mississippi, May 12
New Orleans, May 13 & 14
Baton Rouge, May 15
Lubbock Texas, May 18
Santa Fe New Mexico, May 19
Flagstaff Arizona, May 21
Grand Canyon Arizona, May 24
St. George Nevada, May 25
Las Vegas, May 26
Grant's Pass Oregon, June 6 & 7
Roseburg Oregon, June 8
Portland Oregon, June 9 & 10
Lincoln Nebraska, June 17
Des Moines Iowa, June 18
Niagara Falls. June 25
One last thing - two websites that I'd like to encourage you to visit that we're a part of. You can join us on Facebook on our group, Our Renewable Nation, and send me a friend invite. It's a great way to connect with our project. Also, visit www.Changents.com, which is a great website for change makers throughout the world - lots of great stories and projects that people are working on! You can join Changents and become one of our backers - just search for Our Renewable Nation.
Be well,
Colin McCullough
www.OurRenewableNation.org
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Presentations Aplenty
Hi friends,
We've been keeping our presentation schedule full for the spring, with a goal of 2-3 talks each week to spread the word about our cross-country eco-video project. 2 months to go! Yikes, so much left to do!
Last weekend we set up a presentation for homeschoolers at our friend's yoga studio in Worcester, Flowforms Yoga. We emailed all the local homeschool groups but were unlucky that day - nobody showed. On Sunday we gave a presentation at the Worcester library and had great help promoting it from the Regional Environmental Council in Worcester, but only a handful of people showed up. That was disappointing, because we're needing to spread the word in a BIG way right now. These library talks have been spotty in attendance at best, so I think we'll pass on that strategy.
Today I exhibited at the Massachusetts Environmental Educator Society's annual conference at College of the Holy Cross in Worcester. There were several hundred people there, both science teachers and educators who run different environmental programs. It was a great place to be to spread the word about our project and network with other environmental groups in Massachusetts. Having the support of environmental educator associations will be key to promoting our video project and distributing our video series on a national level once it is completed. I got a lot of enthusiastic feedback from teachers who are excited about what we're doing and who are anxious to follow our cross-country journey in their classrooms. Our Postcard Program fundraiser was also a big hit as well.
For fairs and conferences, we're planning to give a workshop and exhibit at the Maynard Energy Fair this Saturday in Maynard, Massachusetts and also give a workshop and exhibit at the Maine Environmental Educator Association annual conference on March 27.
Carrick and I were invited to be part of the Celebrity Reader series for Millbury public TV, and tonight we went into the studio to film our part. Local notable people are invited for a weekly program for kids to read kid stories, but instead of reading stories Carrick and I talked about our trip and showed how to read maps. We had a fun time on the show, and they are planning to include some of our videos we brought on DVD. The program doesn't appear online, so only residents of Millbury and Sutton will see it on TV.
I posted a short new video about the solar-powered wind turbine toy that I mounted to the dashboard of our car. People ask about it and I had the footage already, so I just put it together and posted it on various video websites. Already 1,200 hits in a few days - go figure. Here's the URL for it if you want to check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a067XLOooEI
So that's the update for this week. Another foot of snow on Monday, and California is still 2 months away...
Be well,
Colin
www.OurRenewableNation.org
We've been keeping our presentation schedule full for the spring, with a goal of 2-3 talks each week to spread the word about our cross-country eco-video project. 2 months to go! Yikes, so much left to do!
Last weekend we set up a presentation for homeschoolers at our friend's yoga studio in Worcester, Flowforms Yoga. We emailed all the local homeschool groups but were unlucky that day - nobody showed. On Sunday we gave a presentation at the Worcester library and had great help promoting it from the Regional Environmental Council in Worcester, but only a handful of people showed up. That was disappointing, because we're needing to spread the word in a BIG way right now. These library talks have been spotty in attendance at best, so I think we'll pass on that strategy.
Today I exhibited at the Massachusetts Environmental Educator Society's annual conference at College of the Holy Cross in Worcester. There were several hundred people there, both science teachers and educators who run different environmental programs. It was a great place to be to spread the word about our project and network with other environmental groups in Massachusetts. Having the support of environmental educator associations will be key to promoting our video project and distributing our video series on a national level once it is completed. I got a lot of enthusiastic feedback from teachers who are excited about what we're doing and who are anxious to follow our cross-country journey in their classrooms. Our Postcard Program fundraiser was also a big hit as well.
For fairs and conferences, we're planning to give a workshop and exhibit at the Maynard Energy Fair this Saturday in Maynard, Massachusetts and also give a workshop and exhibit at the Maine Environmental Educator Association annual conference on March 27.
Carrick and I were invited to be part of the Celebrity Reader series for Millbury public TV, and tonight we went into the studio to film our part. Local notable people are invited for a weekly program for kids to read kid stories, but instead of reading stories Carrick and I talked about our trip and showed how to read maps. We had a fun time on the show, and they are planning to include some of our videos we brought on DVD. The program doesn't appear online, so only residents of Millbury and Sutton will see it on TV.
I posted a short new video about the solar-powered wind turbine toy that I mounted to the dashboard of our car. People ask about it and I had the footage already, so I just put it together and posted it on various video websites. Already 1,200 hits in a few days - go figure. Here's the URL for it if you want to check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a067XLOooEI
So that's the update for this week. Another foot of snow on Monday, and California is still 2 months away...
Be well,
Colin
www.OurRenewableNation.org
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