YERT: Your Environmental Road Trip 2012
Distributed by First Run Features, 630 Ninth Avenue, Suite 1213, New York, NY 10036; 212-243-0600
Produced by Mark Dixon
Directed by Ben Evans
DVD, color, 113 min.
Sr. High - General Adult
Sustainable Living, Environmentalism, Ethics, Sociology
Date Entered: 12/18/2013
Reviewed by Justin Cronise, D'Youville College, Buffalo, NY and Genesee Community College, Batavia, NYYERT: Your Environmental Road Trip is an offbeat documentary of three friends who hop in their hybrid car for an epic year-long journey to all 50 US states. Along the way they explore innovative ways that individuals are addressing various environmental issues, such as the development of perennial grains and sustainable agriculture, roads that harness solar power, “Earthship” eco-housing, “TerraCycle” and other recycling/upcycling projects. The trip is also an experiment in sustainability and demonstrates numerous ways that ordinary people can make a difference, including conserving water and electricity, along with composting and reducing waste.
YERT meanders between topics just as it meanders back and forth across the country but does a nice job of showing how everything is connected – that the environmental crisis is much more than climate change, and the solution has many more facets than just renewable energy. The film also brings the environmental movement to a personal level: what we eat, what we buy, and what we throw away. YERT will be a useful starting point in an educational context, leading to further reflection on numerous topics from sustainable living to architectural design.
Self-described as a “docu-comedy,” the lighthearted and often goofy nature of this film may make it more accessible, especially to younger audiences. More for adult viewers, the couple in the group learns early on in the trip that they are going to have a baby, which resonates with the idea of protecting the environment for future generations. YERT is recommended for general adult audiences, introductory undergraduate courses, and high school classrooms discussing environmentalism.
Awards
- Audience Award, San Luis Obispo International Film Festival 2011
- Audience Award, Environmental Film Festival at Yale 2011
- Best Environmental Documentary, DocuFest Atlanta 2011
- Chris Award, Columbus International Film and Video Festival 2011
- Best Environmental Film, Southern Appalachian International Film Festival 2011
- Best Documentary Feature, Costa Rica International Film Festival 2011
- Best Regional Documentary Feature, Cincinnati Film Festival 2011