Nevada Here We Come! (Caffeine Please...)

Hello there, from Joliet, Illinois!

Slightly delusional and sleep deprived, but we wanted to share our journey thus far with everyone. As far as first days go, this was a good one! We traveled through beautiful countryside and enjoyed seeing the states pass us by, while we stopped occasionally at unique and different service centers. We passed the time (through a caffeine/sugar (starbursts and skittles)) induced states) by discussing community, and imagined the art we may see at Burning Man. Tomorrow will be an even bigger driving day with more adventures in our path. Can't wait to see what lies ahead of us on our trip and at Burning Man! Off to catch some Zzzzzzs!

The Big Blue Marble Crew

Atomic Fire Ball

Best part of receiving our Burning Man tickets in the mail?

The surprise "Atomic Fire Ball" candy included inside.


Gotta love a sense of humor. I love these people already.

KICKSTARTER SUCCESS!

With your help in just 90 days we raised over $5,000!!! Our current total is close to $6,000 and with checks still coming in everyday, I’m confident that we’ll exceed this number as well!

Thank you so much, I can’t tell you all how grateful I am. Without your support, generous donations, and faith in this project and what we will achieve, we never would have made it. Your words of encouragement and wishes of good luck helped fuel this fundraising effort, and together we did it!

*Thank you to my awesome “street team” for helping to spread the word and somehow sneak Big Blue Marble into any unsuspecting conversation - it worked!

*Thank you to my re-tweeters, re-posters, and all around awesome social media gurus.

*Thank you to the “tech support team” aka Ken - videos, websites, and all that confuses me, thank you for helping me figure it out!

*Thank you for sending cards of encouragement, notes of good luck and inspiring contacts to contact!

*Thank you to my family and the friends that feel like family for your unwavering support these last five months, encouraging me to build this dream.

To everyone who has somehow had a hand in this organization and it’s development, big or small, I thank you. Community, social change, and improving our environment - together we are making a difference.

love&peace,

Vanessa

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle ... for CASH.

It's pretty hard these days to not have an accumulation of STUFF, especially electronic stuff. I'd be willing to bet that you have an ipod or some kind of mp3 devise. I'd slap money down that you have a cell phone, or maybe even two. If you are like me and are directionally challenged, we'll then you definitely have a GPS. How about a computer, video game system, printer, digital camera, palm pilot (do they still make those?), PSP system, nano robot toy thing (I just saw a freaky robot gerbil in CVS the other day) and come on, who doesn't want to try out the new ipad? (However ridiculous and poorly marketed the name is. Seriously Apple, ipad?!)

Every day American’s throw away more than 350,000 cell phones, over 100 million per year and 130,000 computers daily. Electronic waste is now the fastest growing part of the U.S. garbage system. When electronics are improperly disposed of they can leak lead, cadmium, mercury...affecting the quality of clean water, soil used for food supplies and our natural environment.

We are part of a consumer society ... and we have a lot of stuff. Stuff that you don't need, stuff that a newer more "improved" version comes out a month after you buy it, stuff that hurts the environment and stuff that when it comes down to it, really is not all that important.

We can CHANGE. We can redefine consumption and change the way we think, act, buy and use. Deciding what you buy and where you buy it from matters because when you buy something you are giving value to it. Do The Green Thing is a public service organization that inspires people to lead a more environmentally friendly life. Do The Green Thing produces videos and shares stories from creative people around the world about how they are doing the green thing from walking more, to consuming less or simply unplugging their electronics when not in use.

Where does our stuff come from? What happens to it when we throw it away? What happens to something if we recycle it?

Meet Annie Leonard, an environmental activist who has traveled the world to explore answers to these questions. This short video explains in a simple and sometimes humorous way the real costs of our consumer driven culture. Learn about extraction, production, distribution, consumption, disposal and "another way" in a film style that reminds me and brings me back to the good old days of School House Rock.

Recycle For Cash

Stuff. It's cluttering. You don't use it. That cell phone from five years ago is broken. You want a new way to get rid of your stuff, to clean out your electronic closet without throwing everything in a garbage bag.

Easy.

Recycle it. Gazelle is an organization where you can recycle your old electronics.

Gazelle wants to change the world – one cell phone, one laptop, one iPod at a time.

It is our purpose – and our promise – to provide a practical, rewarding way for people to finally rid themselves of all those old cell phones, digital cameras, and gaming systems that they no longer use, but can't seem to find a way to let go of.

Too often when people think of recycling, they rush straight to smashing things into bits for parts. We believe that reuse should always come first. If your GPS unit still works, why not keep it in circulation AND get paid for it? If reusing isn't in the cards, then let us recycle that vintage camcorder. We think of it as ReCommerce.

Yeah, we're green.

Green for you with dollars in your pocket. Green for the environment with fewer electronics being trashed.

It's good to Gazelle. That's our promise.

How Does It Work?

Join Gazelle and Big Blue Marble and recycle your old electronics. If you recycle through the Big Blue Marble Gazelle page, you will not only be helping our planet but also donating to Big Blue Marble at the same time. And for that we will love you forever.

Take five minutes, pack up those old electronics in a shoe box, stick some newspaper in there for packing material (packing peanuts are a big no-no. They are the equivalent of nature's cockroaches. They never go away) slap on the free shipping sticker and there you have it.

Do the green thing, it's free.

Visit http://bigbluemarlbeinc.gazelle.com/ to recycle your old electronics. :)

Welcome to Maryland.

Dusty.

The first of two storms. We received 3 feet of snow with this one.

Lost in the snow.

We like it best inside.

Kickstarter Rocks.

We Launched Our Kickstarter.com Page!

Never heard of Kickstarter?

Kickstarter.com is an awesome website that helps fund ideas and new projects for artists, film-makers, musicians, writers, inventors ...and organizations like Big Blue Marble.

It is a unique way to fund because it's an all or nothing funding platform. As the project designer you set the amount you want to raise and your own time frame (up to 90 days). Post a video, give a description and if by the end of your time frame you have reached your goal, the money get's directly deposited into a bank account you set up. If you don't reach your goal, backers of the project never get charged and sadness, you don't get the funding. It's a neat way to set things up because it ensures that people won't try and do a project that they are not fully prepared or funded for. Basically no half-assing. I like it.

Oh, and people get rewards (I like to think of them as prizes) for donating! We have some cool ones like getting sent behind the scenes videos from our trip and special interviews, getting a postcard from one of our awesome locations, tote bags (who does not love a tote bag?) getting to be a producer for the documentary with your name in the credits and having us come to where ever you are in the great U. S. of A. so that we can interview you for the film, and a bunch more.

Our goal is $5,000 and we have 89 days to do it. So while your snowed in, drinking hot chocolate, take a minute and check out our page. I'm confident that together we can do it. :)

love&peace,

Vanessa

Storytelling

There's no such thing as an unwritten life...

just a badly written one.

We’re going to live like we’re telling

the best story in the whole world.

Are you ready?

A quote from The Brother's Bloom, written by Rian Johnson.

Moving Should Be Pronounced "Ugh"

The FreeDictionary.com's definition of MOVING:

mov-ing [mvng]

adj.

1. Changing or capable of changing position: a moving target.

2. Relating to or involved in a transfer of furnishings from one location to another: moving expenses; moving van.

3. Causing or producing motion.

4. Involving a motor vehicle in motion: a moving violation.

5. Arousing or capable of arousing deep emotion: a moving account of the tragedy.

Vanessa's free definition of MOVING:

mov-ing [uh-g]

adj.

1. Changing or capable of changing position: The process of playing "human tretis" to fit your stuff in boxes and those boxes into a van.

2. Relating to or involved in a transfer of furnishings from one location to another: Smashing, cramming and stuffing everything you own into your parents mini-van that you borrowed.

3. Causing or producing motion: Driving south on i95.

4. Involving a motor vehicle in motion: Preferably where you can only see out your side mirrors. Forget about seeing out the back.

5. Arousing or capable of arousing deep emotion: Missing the people who made New Haven my home away from home.

Organized Chaos.

Success. Move completed and my little world is unpacked. Settled...for now. :)

HTML, FTP, Embedded Codes, Oh My!

So it seems to be popular opinion that if you set out to create a website, use social media tools like Twitter and Facebook, and make a documentary, you are good with technology.

Au contraire, mon frere. There is an exception to everything and I am that exception here.

Half the time I don't understand what my BlackBerry smartphone is doing with all of its blinking and little updates, let alone know how to get it to do what I want it to. (However, I do know sadly from experience, that an incessant blinking red light means impending doom and death is on its way, if not already arrived, for your multi-hundred dollar piece of technology.) An even bigger slice to my pride is that up until a few months ago I had no clue you could change your Google mail background theme. You will be happy to know that mine now is the "tree" theme - it changes your background to fit with the weather. Coolness.

And lastly, until just a few weeks ago this whole HTML business could have stood for just about anything in my mind except for what it actually does stand for, "Hypertext Markup Language."

I many not naturally be tech-savvy, but I am good at doing my homework, reading up on the latest "how-to" articles, and most importantly (especially for my sanity!) knowing when to give up and say, "I Need Help!"

Here are some helpful links for the technologically illiterate like myself.

W3schools.com

A great website for people looking to learn about web building. The best part about this site is that they give great information and it's free! HTML, XHTML, CSS, Flash - you don't know it? They do.

Mintblogger.com

Rajeev Edmonds, describes himself as a problogger, technical editor, and social media enthusiast. @MintBlogger on Twitter, Rajeev does a great job of posting links to articles and blogs about the best ways to utilize social media.

JohnHaydon.com

John Haydon, does social media and inbound marketing for nonprofits. His site is the place to go to if you are new to Twitter and want to learn how to make the most of it. You can follow him on Twitter @johnhaydon but I find his website to be the most helpful. He also does a really cool 31 day challenge to optimize your blog with social media. Day 15 of the challenge, "Twelve Steps to Creating a Bootylicious Facebook Page."

My Brother-In-Law

A tech-savvy God. He knows everything. When all else fails, he can fix it.

Sometimes Beginning is the Hardest Part

How does one start to plan a cross-country adventure about connecting people and the environment?

Well, first you need an idea, even if it starts off as a distant, faraway dream.

What has now evolved into Big Blue Marble Inc. started off as a hodge-podge idea, dreamed up on a dreary June afternoon. Unhappy with my new choice of residence in New Haven, CT (a far escape from where I grew up just outside of Philadelphia, the city that later became my home during my four years of college and still holds my heart) and tired of working long hours as an environmental educator at a local nonprofit, surviving on a shoe-string budget, I set out for the one place that no matter what the circumstance always proved to be a calming release from everyday burdens: The Beach.

[A Side Note: Now if you are familiar with Connecticut you would know that the coastline of Connecticut is not the Atlantic Ocean but the Long Island Sound. And if you are familiar with the Long Island Sound and it's "cleanliness" you may be asking yourself, "Calming? Clarity? What the hell is she thinking?! Try dirty, disgusting, chemical saturated, polluted water!" And to be fair, you have a point. Although, in the last 10 years there have been tremendous improvements to the clean-up of the Sound, awareness about water quality and pollution, as well as care of the Sound and surrounding ecosystems still have a long way to go - BUT, as you will find out all of this has relevance to Big Blue Marble.]

No matter what type of water, a lake, the ocean, a stream, or even the Long Island Sound, I always find myself more grounded and relaxed after I have spent some quiet time watching my surroundings, writing or just sitting. I love the beach. I love the smell, the sticky air, the salty water, the sound of waves and the feeling of connection that it brings me. It was here sitting all alone, preparing to get an unwanted showering as I watched the ominous drifting of cumulonimbus clouds come closer and closer to my little spot on the beach (Cumulonimbus clouds are the big fluffy ones that look like stuffed animals but are the clouds that produce nasty summer thunderstorms), that I started to think about what it was that I really wanted to do. Why was I in CT? What were my goals? And probably the simplest but most important question, what makes me happy?

Big Blue Marble was born out of seven "happiness" factors: Traveling. Writing. Music. Outdoor Adventure. Art. People. Curiosity.

I wanted an adventure, I was restless and searching for the movement and rush of a bigger space - whether it was a city or a mountain. I was missing creativity in my everyday life and job. I wanted to do something creative that had significance for myself, my community, and my environment.

I've traveled a lot, but mostly on the East Coast or abroad - I have never actually explored all of what the great U. S. of A. has to offer: Mountains, cities, rural mid-western 'burbs, national forests, exploring the differences in American culture from one side of the US to the other, and a diversity of niches and eclectic spaces, I wanted the opportunity to take it all in and be able to share these experiences with others.

As I reflected on what my current job at the time (working with urban youth to help connect them to their community and the environment, and develop skills to succeed as adults) I realized that many of us, not just those marginalized, are disconnected from our surroundings. We are disconnected from each other, our neighbors, our natural environment and the great country that we live in. Even with all the fancy technology, gadgets and gizmos that promise to do just about everything except make your morning cup of coffee (for that you go to Starbucks), many people are lacking a personal connection to those around them. We live in such a globalized world which promises greater linkage to those around us, yet there is still a void of personal connection that does not come from the newest iphone application.

As I thought about what was important to me I realized that I wanted to be involved in something that would bring people together and allow individuals to express their beliefs in a creative manner. Being outdoors and advocating for our environment and sustainable practices has always been important to me. I wanted to try and bring all of these aspects of what I value and was searching for into a larger framework. And so, the idea of going on a road trip to explore the United States and view first hand how people are connected to our natural environment by looking at the different mediums of art people create, was born.

Big Blue Marble Inc. is an organization created to help breach the "connection void" - both between individuals and between people and our environment. Art and creativity can be used to encourage people to be more aware of their community and environmental surroundings, be inspired to learn, and to take action on issues that they are passionate about. It is about bringing people together from diverse backgrounds with each-other, and our natural environment, all of us working in symmetry to promote a planet of sustainability, compassion and peace.

Big Blue Marble plans uses art as a tool to explore a new set of ideas about the care and sustainability of our Earth. And this road trip idea? Over the course of four months we'll travel the country in my Outback Subaru while trying to create the smallest carbon footprint possible. We'll be conducting a study looking at the connection (or disconnection) between human creativity and environmental awareness and action. The study will be done through first person interviews with creative individuals across the nation. Oh, and not to forget, along the way we'll be creating a documentary following this journey.

Why use art? If I just told you that wildfires are becoming more common as hotter temperatures dry out soil, and that between 1990 and 2000 there were over 45 wildfires in America, compared to the 1950s where there were only 2 (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment) or that the United States produces 4.5 times the world average of tons per carbon per person (Al Gore, An Inconvenient Truth) or that it takes more than 500,000 trees, an entire forest, to supply Americans with their Sunday newspapers a week, ...would you care? How bout if I told you that Hurricane Katrina was no fluke, that back in 2005 an MIT Study supported the scientific consensus that global warming is making hurricanes more and more powerful and destructive, marking that since the 1970s major storms in both the Atlantic and Pacific have increased in duration and intensity by 50 percent (Al Gore, An Inconvenient Truth). You might say, "Wow, that's scary" or "That's interesting" or "Get to the point, you're boring me."

But what if I showed you this:

A wildfire destroying homes in Yorba Linda, California

Saturday, Nov. 15, 2008. (AP Photo/Mark Avery)

Trash washed to shore on the Hawaiian Coast
(Photo Credit: NOAA)

South Philadelphia's "Magic Gardens"
A mosaic labyrinth created out of recycled materials by
artist and activist Isaiah Zagar over the last 16 years.

Which do you think you are going to remember more? Which do you think would move you to learn more? To get more information? To do something?

Art connects people, it evokes emotion within who they are and what they believe. The rattling off of facts and statistics, does not create the same feelings of excitement, urgency, or a need to unify that people receive from a photograph, a sculpture, or a song that hits someones heartstrings. Information and awareness are the keys to change but plain facts alone are not always as meaningful or connecting to people as they could be if coupled with with art or a creative platform. Big Blue Marble hopes to use art as tool to help connect people with each other and evoke awareness about some of the pressing environmental and social issues that we face today.

My own personal creativity is picking up a pen and jotting down some thoughts. It's sometimes going to a pottery studio to spin on the wheel. And often, it's heading outdoors, peering through a tiny viewfinder, finding the right light, and softly hitting a round little button, to hear the release of that perfect little "click" - I've always enjoyed still photography, preferring old-school film over digital. There is something to be said about being able to have creative control over a picture, from start to finish. From the time you slip the film into the camera, to when you sift through the mixing chemicals in a darkroom, watching the colors and shadows evolve and waiting patiently for the right moment to carefully lift your picture out of it's chemical bath and place to hang dry. To me art is a release, feeding me clarity and a greater sense of unity with those around me. I feel these same sort of feelings when I take a long hike, or when I'm sitting quietly by the shore, probably because I see art within nature. It was in sitting by myself on that June day, watching the clouds and listening to the water of the Long Island Sound that I was able to come to realize what it was that I really wanted to do at this point in my life.

It's long past June. Seven months later and where am I now?

Well, for starters I've quit my job in New Haven, Connecticut. I always drive by a huge billboard on i95 that says "Recession 101: Bill Gates started Microsoft in a recession." I'm not Bill Gates, and Big Blue Marble Inc. is certainly not Microsoft, but hey, who is to say we can't dream?

By the end of this month I'll be transporting my little green Subaru and everything I own (or really everything that I can fit into my car) down to Washington, D.C. where I will be crashing ever so gratefully (and rent free!) with my older sister and brother-in-law. I'll be working full time on getting Big Blue Marble off the ground and will be a dog-walking, laundry-doing, dinner-making, awesome machine! *Rent free comes with hidden clauses. :)

So here's to excitement, exploring the United States, meeting diverse people, shooting a documentary, and a new beginning.

Call me crazy? Try happy.

-Vanessa