Ryan Is Hungry » Community

PostSecret Picnic

ryanne — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 15:01:48 +0000

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Last summer we had the opportunity to document the PostSecret Community Picnic. PostSecret is an online art project started by Frank Warren. Hundreds of thousands of people have mailed him postcards with secrets emblazed upon them. Every Sunday he posts a handful on his blog. These powerful messages have connected with so many people, a community has formed around the project. The PostSecret Picnic was their first face to face meeting, and we had the pleasure of participating. Enjoy!

Check out Frank’s beautiful books on Amazon:

The new book, PostSecret: Confessions on Life, Death, and God, is coming out in the fall.

Transparency Camp Video Goodness

ryanne — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 19:47:10 +0000

We recently attended and made videos for Transparency Camp hosted by The Sunlight Foundation and iStrategy Labs in DC. They invited the policy wonks and tech geeks to hang out, hack, brainstorm and collaborate. It was a great step towards getting online government transparency to be a reality. See the individual interviews, all of which are available in the open source Ogg Theora video format, on TransparencyCamp.org.

OpenCongress.org: What’s Happening In Congress?

ryanne — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 15:35:02 +0000

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We recently had the pleasure of making a screencast for OpenCongress.org, an open source, collaborative website that helps citizens keep track of everything happening in Congress. We think it’s pretty awesome. Check them out!
p.s. for all the video geeks, the video is overlapping the sidebar- i wanted to keep it big so you could see all the detail…enjoy!

Vermicomposters.com: Connecting Worm Lovers Around The Globe

ryanne — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 17:08:17 +0000

One of our friends here in the Shenandoah Valley recently linked to this great site Vermicomposters.com, where lovers of worm composting can connect, trade secrets and show off their bins. We love the google map they have on the front page where you can find your local vermicomposting neighbors. We even found some of our friends in far off locations. It really illustrates how popular worm composting is becoming, as there are about 600 people listed on the map. Check out their Ning Social Network and add yourself to the map!

Rainforest Action Network- Kicking Butt, Taking Names

ryanne — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 02:08:09 +0000

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We recently had the privilege to make a video about Rainforest Action Network, the non-profit envrionmental change maker. We first met Julie Wolk, RAN Grassroots Organizer, at the Bioneers Conference. Julie explained that RAN works to hold corporations accountable for their environmental practices through an ‘inside-outside’ approach to activism. Having protesters outside a store or shareholders meeting helps to put the pressure on, having a contact meeting directly with CEOs on the inside helps get the demands met, both creating space for each action to make real change.

We were super impressed and moved by the passion and dedication that everyone we interviewed in the organization has. They’ve made incredible changes and continue to train and empower the next generation of environmental activists to get engaged and tell corporations that ‘business as usual is just not OK’.

We’ve been working on this for a few months, going through their extensive video archive, gathering interviews and trying to bring 20 years of RAN’s work into the spotlight. All media in the video (music, photos and original interview footage) is Creative Commons licensed. Thanks to everyone at RAN for letting us come in and document your work!

The Greenhorns: A Documentary About Young Farmers

ryanne — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 01:22:24 +0000

QuickTime

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Can I get a ‘hell yeah!’? I was reading this article in the New York Times today about the resurgence of young farmers when I saw a link to The Greenhorns film. Talking to our friend Chris from Wanna Farm he asked

there sure is a lot going on in our country involving small farms. i just can’t tell if we’re just standing in the middle of the choir or if change is really happening.

I’m hoping that change is really happening. Connection to our most basic necessities- food, water, shelter, community- have been close to lost in a few short generations. For me, I just want those things back. I’m hearing about and meeting more and more people who feel the same and are taking action to find those things again.

Go nominate a young farmer to be part of The Greenhorns documentary here.

Revisiting :: Swap-O-Rama-Rama: Don’t Commodify, Modify!

ryanne — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 21:15:05 +0000

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As Jay and I prepare for a big move back to the East Coast (Rural Virginia/DC area to be exact-we’re officially bi-coastal now!), we’re dispersing most of our possessions back into the world via Craigslist, Freecycle and Etsy. Yep, we’re moving again. We still love the SF Bay area and the San Mateo Eco-Village very much, but we’re feeling the need to start building something of our own. Jay’s dad has land in Virginia that is the perfect spot to put to use what we’ve learned this past year about gardening and sustainable building (thanks to all of you and this here blog!). What a perfect time to re-visit the Swap-O-Rama-Rama video! More to come about the move…
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You might recognize Wendy Tremayne from our Green Acre Series here on RyanIsHungry. Wendy founded Swap-O-Rama-Rama as a way to break out the consumer cycle of shopping for clothes. Utilizing the abundance that just a few people’s closets can bare, adding a little creativity with fancy sewing machines and silkscreen artists for custom modifications, Swap-O-Rama-Rama makes recycling clothes fun and social. This particular swap was part of Maker Faire, an event to celebrate makers of all kinds from robot artists to crafters to computer hackers.

As Wendy says here:

There is no creativity in consumerism…makers don’t make good consumers. The less you know, the less you can make, the more you’re going to buy.

Want to produce a Swap-O-Rama-Rama where you live? You can! Because it’s Creative Commons licensed! Contact Wendy through the site and she’ll get you started!

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[tags] swaporamarama, wendy tremayne, clothing swap, recycle clothes, recycling, green, sustainable, gift economy, maker faire, san francisco, ryanishungry[/tags]

GRUB: Bryant Terry’s Organic Soul Party

ryanne — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 19:32:21 +0000

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Bryant Terry, co-author of the book GRUB: Ideas for an Urban Organic Kitchen, and Jason Harvey, founder of Oakland Food Connection, teamed up recently to have a totally organic soul food brunch. Hanging out with food justice foodies as of late, we’ve been hearing a similar idea that to encourage folks to think about where their food comes from and who controls it, they have to have a taste of ‘real food’. Real food meaning local, sustainable, fresh, no pesticides, delicious, colorful, home grown and cheap. Yes, this food can be affordable, especially if we’re not paying extra for it to get shipped thousands of miles and for the medical bills we will incur because of the processes and chemicals that will eventually make us sick and over weight. Thanks Bryant and Jason for inviting us over!

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Community Choice Aggregation: Power By The People

ryanne — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 23:32:48 +0000

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I’m so sick of getting my utility bill and seeing that a huge majority of my money goes to pay for energy from Natural Gas and Nuclear (and in many places in the US, Coal). I want my money to go towards renewables and I’m not the only one. Many communities, including San Francisco and Oakland are petitioning and passing legislation for more choice in their energy purchasing. The movement is called Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) or Community Choice Energy. This type of legislation would not take down big corporations like PG&E, but would work with their existing infrastructure to deliver energy from sources chosen by the community. This would allow citizens to put their money towards more sustainable and renewable options and not have to wait around for the private companies to decide when to start investing in these technologies. As you’ll hear Rory Cox of PacificEnvironment.org say:

PG&E gets about half of its electricity from domestically sourced natural gas. The plan that PG&E is pushing right now is to import natural gas from abroad…most likely…from the former Soviet Union and The Middle East. It would require a whole brand, new fossil fuel energy infrastructure. We’d rather see those billions spent on clean energy.

When will it end? When will companies stop thinking that it is ok to continue to invest in finite resources? When communities stop relying on them to make energy choices for the people. For more info on Community Choice Aggregation, check out Local Clean Energy and Local Government Commission’s CCA page.

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Neelam Sharma: Food Not Lawns in Los Angeles

ryanne — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 17:13:21 +0000

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Neelam Sharma is the Programs Director for CSU, Community Services Unlimited, an organization empowering South Central Los Angeles residents to eat and grow healthy food. The “Food Not Lawns” attitude towards neighborhoods, I must admit, is infectious. After hanging out with urban and suburban farmers in the last year, we see people watering grass and we gasp. What a waste! CSU encourages and empowers folks to start thinking this way by teaching backyard gardening and reclaiming un-used urban space for food production. Check out their other projects in our previous video ‘Community Services Unlimited: Rocking LA with Food and Beauty‘.

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Community Services Unlimited: Rocking LA with Food and Beauty

ryanne — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 17:52:06 +0000

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We first met the Community Services Unlimited folks at the Just Us For Food Justice Bioneers day. They told us we should come check out their work in community gardening in South Central LA. How could we not? These folks are on the front lines of urban gardening in an LA neighborhood most famous for violence. The work they have done transforming empty lots and street abutting school yards into luscious, cornucopias of food and beauty is awe inspiring. They hold weekly workshops at each garden site to get folks involved and to taste goodies from the garden as well as local farmers’ wares. In an area of town where the only food resources tend to be liquor stores and fast food joints, CSU is a welcome addition empowering residents to grow their own and take action for food justice.

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Just Us For Food Justice: Youth at Bioneers

ryanne — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 03:20:08 +0000

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Just Us for Food Justice is a youth track of the Food and Farming program at The Bioneers Conference that happens annually in Marin County, California. We had the privilege of hanging out with this crew of folks who came from as far as Costa Rica and as close as Oakland. The day included a trip to Allstar Organics Farm, the Marin Farmer’s Market and the Marin Youth Center‘s incredible kitchen for the cooking of a feast of epic proportions and local, organic origins. Each group of participants is involved in helping resolve issues of food justice and equality in their neighborhoods back home. They came together this day, to share stories and experiences over a plate of home cooked, healthy food in preparation for Bioneers weekend. Thanks to the folks at Bioneers for letting us join them!

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Green City Gallery: Showing Off Urban Green

ryanne — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 21:38:55 +0000

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The Green City Gallery is an eco-demonstration site/art gallery/community meeting and event space in downtown Berkeley, CA. A collaboration between Bay Localize, an Oakland based non-profit focused on post petroleum community empowerment, and Dig Cooperative, an eco-design crew helping to re-invent urban environments to be more sustainable. The Green City Gallery was established to showcase to the public, as well as local politicians and business folk, that green does not have to be hippy-fringe but practical, clean and smart. Some of our favorite demonstrations are the roof top garden (keeps buildings naturally insulated, provides green space and food to occupants), the constructed wetland/greywater filtration (filters all your household water naturally through gravel and plants right back out to your garden) and last but not least, the composting toilet and urinal (fertilize your plants every time you go!). Thanks to Ingrid from Bay Localize for touring us around! If you’re in Berkeley, head over to the space, it’s at 1950 Shattuck Avenue, Downtown Berkeley.

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Green Guerillas Give PG&E A Run For Their Money

ryanne — Sat, 04 Aug 2007 10:18:24 +0000

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A few months ago we did a story about California’s primary utility company, PG&E’s, Let’s Green This City campaign. The green posters were all over the city of San Francisco. Our initial reaction was, “Cool! A corporate utility company is actually talking green!” These posters suggested many things that individuals could do to green their lives like ride a bike instead of drive, switch your lightbulbs to fluorescents etc. But what about PG&E going green? Why weren’t any of the posters advertising how much renewable energy they were buying?

After a while we started to notice counter messages advertising PG&E’s environmental record. Posters and stickers with the slogan “Let’s Greenwash This City” and statistics citing PG&E’s purchase of renewables at less than 4% started showing up all over the city as well. This counter message was initiated not by a competing billion dollar utility corporation, but by a group of citizens called Green Guerillas Against Greenwash. Their purpose was to counter PG&E’s million dollar ad campaign with the simple truth that no matter how many bikes Californian’s ride, companies like PG&E could make a massive systemic difference by just making cleaner energy purchases.

So far the Green Guerillas have helped successfully pass The Community Choice Energy initiative through the city legislature and over to Mayor Newsom’s office (where it was not vetoed!). This plan would give the residents of San Francisco a choice of where they can buy their power instead of having to settle for dirty PG&E energy. In the near future, they hope this will force PG&E to look at the greater picture and take their own advice to really help “green this city”.

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[tags]green guerillas against greenwash, letsgreenwashthiscity, letsgreenthiscity, pge, renewable energy, green, san francisco, ryanishungry[/tags]

EcoTuesday: Green Business Networking Can Be Fun

ryanne — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 03:37:22 +0000

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Nikki Martinez and Oren Jaffe started EcoTuesday as a chill networking event for Green business folk to interact with each other. Structure is the key to success at EcoTuesday. The event opens with speakers from various green backgrounds- a good topic to spark conversations later. Next, everyone has a chance to introduce themselves and what they’re passionate about- second great topic to chat about. Finally, it’s walk around and mingle time- introduce yourself to the CEO of that small solar business, get an interview with some potential employees or start a business revolution with other fellow green upstarts. EcoTuesday strives to be a place for green and sustainable partnerships to form helping to strengthen the larger green movement with the proper economic strength and business savvy.

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[tags]ecotuesday, green business, green drinks, happy hour, green networking, networking, nikki martinez, oren jaffe, san francisco, ryanishungry[/tags]

Marc Powell: Community Building Through Food Hacking

ryanne — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 05:15:18 +0000

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Marc Powell is an anarchist, hacker chef who opens his kitchen up to strangers and friends every Thursday to cook up some amazing, hacked food creations. Attending a food hacking supper club is a mind expanding experience that teaches folks not to be afraid of experimenting with your cuisine. You can’t cook wrong if you have the right friends to help you out! During this particular five course meal, we had, among many things, the most amazing savory mushroom soup, fava bean soufflÃ©, candied bacon wrapped scallops and a citrus meringue your grandma would have been proud of. The synchronicity of friends- old and new, of food knowledge- a lot or a little, made this one of the most unique food and friendship building experiences we’ve ever had. Marc fully believes that sharing knowledge through experimentation and cooking truly is revolutionary social networking. We would have to agree. Thanks Marc!

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[tags]food hacking, marc powell, unicorn precinct 13, anarchy, cooking, community, green, san francisco, ryanishungry[/tags]

The Gift Economy: Really Really Free Market SF

ryanne — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 04:45:54 +0000

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Update: If you are a media outlet and would like to use this video or photo, please do. As it is Creative Commons Licensed media, please include the attribution “Courtesy RyanIsHungry.com”. Thank you.

A beautiful day in the park, a fresh homemade meal, some free clothes and books- what could be better? The Really Really Free Market, as opposed to the Not-So-Free Free Market, breaks down the myth of scarcity and encourages us to take advantage of the abundance all around us. Kirsten Brydum, RRFM organizer, gave us the low down on how great it feels to get rid of your stuff, share knowledge and maybe find that odd item you’ve been searching for. This is not a barter situation, where you’re still weighing your stuff against what you think it could be worth in dollars. This is about giving and receiving through a gift economy which encourages sharing without the expectation of payment. The Really Really Free Market is like hanging out on Freecycle or Craigslist Free Listings, except you’re breathing fresh air and seeing people f2f (face to face) instead of p2p (peer to peer)! Imagine that!

Check out the Wikipedia entry on The Really Really Free Market to find one in your area, or start your own! All you need are some friends, some stuff or some knowledge to share!

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[tags]really really free market, rrfm, gift economy, barter, trade, san francisco, dolores park, ryanishungry[/tags]

Co-Working: Independent Workers Unite

ryanne — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 17:39:25 +0000

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Many people strive for the freedom that working for themselves and freelancing brings. You can work odd hours in your pajamas at home, travel to exotic locals but still be on the job, not have to clock in at an office. After the initial exhilaration of being independent cools a bit, there is something missing- co-workers and the social environment that working for a company can bring. Enter Co-Working. Co-Working is an idea that independent workers still want and need social interaction and structure during working hours. Going stir crazy working in your living room? Can’t stand that Madonna remix album they keep repeating at the cafe? Want to bounce your ideas off some other geeks? Co-Working!

We started our Co-Working experience at The Hat Factory here in San Francisco. The most unexpected benefit, besides meeting great people, was the ability to separate work time from relax time- not an easy task for a freelancer. Our day schedule looked like this: Get up, go to Hat Factory, work for 6-8 hours, come home, put the computer to sleep, cook dinner, watch a movie. Hey, we didn’t end up working for 12 hours today! We have a sustainable, not-burnt out life outside our work! Thanks Co-Working!

Thanks to Brad Neuberg and Chris Messina and Tara Hunt, from Citizen Space, for sitting down with us and explaining how Co-Working got started and what it all means. Get involved in starting your own Co-Working space by connecting to the folks already doing it! Check out the Co-Working Wiki, Blog and E-mail list.

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[tags]coworking, barcamp, brad neuberg, chris messina, tara hunt, citizen space, citizen agency, san francisco, ryanishungry[/tags]

Jon Phillips: Creative Commons Guru

ryanne — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 06:30:07 +0000

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We’re constantly thinking about sustainability- in the environment we live as well as in the way we work and produce media. Creative Commons is a non-profit organization trying to change the way people use copyright and licensing for media and intellectual property. Instead of the traditional “all rights reserved” model for distributing works, Creative Commons continues to educate creators about the advantages that come with the “some rights reserved” model.

Jon Phillips is an artist, educator, open source developer and Creative Commons evangelist who loves to school companies and the general public on the freedom that can be created by a true participatory culture. A culture of sharing and respectful negotiation between maker and taker. Catch Jon speaking at The First Annual Pixelodeon Festival, June 9-10 at The American Film Institute in Los Angeles.

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[tags]creativecommons, jonphillips, sanfrancisco, pixelodeon, ryanishungry, cc[/tags]

Glenn McAnanama: UpperGreenSide.org

ryanne — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 18:03:15 +0000

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On a recent trip to NYC, we got the chance to sit down with green, community organizer Glenn McAnanama of Upper Green Side. Community organizing can easily become a full time job. Glenn gives us some advice on how to keep meetings sane and get active in local government. Little by little, block by block, community groups like Upper Green Side can start to make green change from the bottom up. Thanks to Amy Stodghill from It’s The Environment, Stupid. for introducing us to Glenn.

[tags]community organizing, green, upper green side, nyc, new york city, green new york, ryanishungry[/tags]

Behind The Scenes: SustainableRoute.com

ryanne — Sun, 25 Feb 2007 23:15:33 +0000

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Ryanne‘s sister, Ashley Hodson, is another green vlogger. She created The Sustainable Route as a post graduation project to explore the sustainable movement in The United States. We got the chance to talk to her about the challenges of producing a videoblog on the road with a small, independent, two person team. With donations from individuals, Community Capitalism made this project possible. The Sustainable Route is one of our earliest Have Money Will Vlog success stories. To see what the green movement looks like across the country, check out The Sustainable Route.

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[tags]sustainable route, sustainable, green, videoblog, ashley hodson, road trip, ryanishungry[/tags]

Green LA: TreePeople

ryanne — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 19:39:32 +0000

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On a recent trip to Los Angeles, we had the chance to visit one of the most green places in the city, TreePeople. TreePeople is a non-profit organization that focuses on educating city dwellers on the dire importance of tree planting in urban areas. Our favorite thing about TreePeople is their rainwater catpure programs. Rainwater is almost always overlooked as a source of water for municipal use. Cities and towns often have water shipped in from far away just to meet the population’s needs, when in fact the amount of water that falls from the sky could offset water shipment by a huge percentage- creating a more sustainable system. If you’re in the Los Angeles area, check out The TreePeople Campus which is part of the beautiful Coldwater Canyon Park- a 45 acre area in the hills above Los Angeles where you can hike, jog, picnic, birdwatch and smell some fresh, green air.

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Technorati Tags: green, sustainable, treepeople, sustainablity, los angeles, rainwater capture, rainwater harvest, trees, ryanishungry

San Mateo Ecovillage

ryanne — Sun, 08 Oct 2006 23:16:23 +0000

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We get really excited when we see folks trying to live in an “alternative” and sustainable fashion. Sanda and Brian started the San Mateo Ecovillage as a testament and example that people can live sustainably and communially in a suburban environment. They own two apartment complexes on the waterfront of San Mateo. They grow a lot of their food in the garden and have made additions to their first building using mostly recycled materials. We love documenting these kinds of projects where people are taking action to live closer to each other and with the land.

Technorati Tags: sanmateo, cohousing, co-housing, sustainablity, sustainable, ecovillage, sanfrancisco, ryanishungry

P.S. This video is compressed with h.264 codec. You’ll need QuickTime 7 to view.

Ryan Is Hungry » Community

PostSecret Picnic

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Transparency Camp Video Goodness

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OpenCongress.org: What’s Happening In Congress?

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Vermicomposters.com: Connecting Worm Lovers Around The Globe

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Rainforest Action Network- Kicking Butt, Taking Names

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The Greenhorns: A Documentary About Young Farmers

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Revisiting :: Swap-O-Rama-Rama: Don’t Commodify, Modify!

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GRUB: Bryant Terry’s Organic Soul Party

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Community Choice Aggregation: Power By The People

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Neelam Sharma: Food Not Lawns in Los Angeles

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Community Services Unlimited: Rocking LA with Food and Beauty

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Just Us For Food Justice: Youth at Bioneers

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Green City Gallery: Showing Off Urban Green

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Green Guerillas Give PG&E A Run For Their Money

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EcoTuesday: Green Business Networking Can Be Fun

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Marc Powell: Community Building Through Food Hacking

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The Gift Economy: Really Really Free Market SF

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Co-Working: Independent Workers Unite

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Jon Phillips: Creative Commons Guru

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Glenn McAnanama: UpperGreenSide.org

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Behind The Scenes: SustainableRoute.com

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San Mateo Ecovillage

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