Press Release

PITTSBURGH— Ever try cutting down your garbage to one-hundredth of its normal size? On the road? With a pregnant woman?

Mark Dixon spent a year exploring weird, wild and wonderful approaches to sustainability across America. He will share stories and film highlights of his trip at 11 a.m. Nov. 4 at the Community College of Allegheny County (CCAC) South campus room A-408, 1750 Clairton Road (Route 885), West Mifflin, 15122. The presentation is free and open to the public.

Dixon participated in Your Environmental Road Trip (YERT, www.yert.com), a one-year 50-state video documentary journey to explore and personalize sustainability across the country. Throughout their travels, Dixon, Ben Evans and Julie Evans released fast-paced videos online to share their adventures. These included their very own “road rules” eco-challenges (like keeping all of their garbage in the car all year), visits to environmentally significant destinations and interviews with more than 800 leaders, businesspeople, researchers and average citizens from all walks of life.

The YERT team has been sharing their journey with live audiences all around the country, including presentations at the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture 2009 Conference, the Bioneers Conference in Portland, ME, and the GLUE Conference ’09 in Milwaukee. Locally, they have also presented at Duquesne University, Carnegie Mellon University, Chatham University, Westminster College, Point Park University and many other venues.

Their work has been featured by the Weather Channel, Voice of America, the San Francisco Chronicle and on NPR stations nationwide via the environmental news program, “Living on Earth.” Now the team is working on “YERT Phase 2,” developing a feature film, additional short films, live presentations and an educational curriculum based on the project.

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About CCAC
The Community College of Allegheny County is the largest institution of postsecondary higher education in Pennsylvania. The college serves 30,000 credit students through 170 degree and certificate programs and offers thousands of lifelong learning non-credit and workforce development courses to 35,000 students annually. Incorporating a learning-centered environment committed to the future of the region, CCAC continues to expand its reach through innovative programming and accessible instruction offered via convenient day, evening, weekend and online courses. With four campuses and six centers serving Allegheny County and surrounding communities, CCAC endeavors to fulfill its mission to provide affordable access to quality education and offer a dynamic, diverse and supportive learning environment that prepares the region’s residents for academic, professional and personal success in our changing global society.