http://www.dirtthemovie.org/ en Copyright 2011 2011-09-27T19:48:12+00:00 http://www.dirtthemovie.org/blog/entry/wangari-maathai-lives-on-in-our-hearts/ http://www.dirtthemovie.org/blog/entry/wangari-maathai-lives-on-in-our-hearts/ Wangari Maathai lives on in our hearts. The trees, soils, rivers, and all living beings will miss the living voice of scientist, feminist, Green Belt Movement founder, professor, activist, mother and grandmother Wangari Maathai who died this week. She gave Kenyans, women, Africans and all humans a reason to stand as tall as the trees she defended and planted. There are 30 million living tributes acknowledging her gift to us as well as millions of humans whose lives were enriched by her actions and words. We were honored to meet her in person and especially graced by the powerful, eloquent and brilliant wisdom she shared with us and audiences in DIRT! The Movie. 2011-09-27T18:48:12+00:00 http://www.dirtthemovie.org/blog/entry/soil-scientist-suggests-how-we-can-help-the-dirt-and-people-of-japan/ http://www.dirtthemovie.org/blog/entry/soil-scientist-suggests-how-we-can-help-the-dirt-and-people-of-japan/ Send Soil Saving Street Sweepers to Fukushima and Miyagi. Help salvage Fukushima’s future. Let’s start testing several models of commercial street and curb cleaning vacuum machines to determine which perform best at removing the Iodine, Celsium and Strontium fallout from the surface of rice paddy soils. 2011-05-05T17:00:34+00:00 http://www.dirtthemovie.org/blog/entry/green-roofing-tips/ http://www.dirtthemovie.org/blog/entry/green-roofing-tips/ Green roofs come in many forms, and whether they are of the extensive or intensive variety, having good soil is crucial to having a functioning green roof. Now, this can’t be just any soil that you picked up at your local nursery. Regular gardening soil will not work the same way on your green roofing, even if you plant the same flower or vegetable from your backyard. Soil used on green roofs is specifically engineered to make the most out of your green gardenscape without weighing down on the roofing structure or the insulation installation, which is something regular gardening soil can’t provide. Choosing the right soil for your green roof can easily become a convoluted list of chemicals and organic processes that swing right past your head if you’re not a botanist or soil engineer. Here are some layman ways to identify the type of soil that is needed for your uncomplicated green roofing project: 2010-12-30T20:19:52+00:00 http://www.dirtthemovie.org/blog/entry/how-to-make-your-garden-sing-.-.-.-and-stop-talking-smack-about-you/ http://www.dirtthemovie.org/blog/entry/how-to-make-your-garden-sing-.-.-.-and-stop-talking-smack-about-you/ After the fall harvest it’s time for you and your garden to take a well-deserved rest. You’ve busted your back all year long to impress your neighbors with your green lawn and heirloom tomatoes hanging upside down and organically grown. Isn’t that enough? Simmer down already! Stop being such a show-off. (Till early spring that is. Then it’s time to get cranking again.) 2010-11-11T22:28:28+00:00 http://www.dirtthemovie.org/blog/entry/the-lost-gospel-of-dirt/ http://www.dirtthemovie.org/blog/entry/the-lost-gospel-of-dirt/ Dirt! The Movie was inspired by William Bryant Logan’s book DIRT: The Ecstatic Skin of the Earth. It connects our deepest positive multi-denominational religious values to the ground beneath our feet – among other amazing perspectives on the subject. The book itself was written in a cathedral. 2010-08-10T20:19:07+00:00 http://www.dirtthemovie.org/blog/entry/dirt-the-movie-featured-in-produced-by-producers-guild-of-america-mag/ http://www.dirtthemovie.org/blog/entry/dirt-the-movie-featured-in-produced-by-producers-guild-of-america-mag/ Dirt! The Movie is featured in the Spring 2010 Green issue of Produced By, The Official Magazine of the Producers Guild of America. Click on more to download the PDF and read all about it! 2010-07-21T20:36:53+00:00 http://www.dirtthemovie.org/blog/entry/brooklyn-childrens-museum-soil-workshop/ http://www.dirtthemovie.org/blog/entry/brooklyn-childrens-museum-soil-workshop/ At the Brooklyn Children's Museum (a pioneer educational institution and the first museum created expressly for kids), a workshop on soil teaches kids about dirt and its wonders. Watch the video (originally published on Ecocentric) and learn with the kids about soil, seeds, and the world class Olympic snail race. 2010-07-21T19:26:25+00:00 http://www.dirtthemovie.org/blog/entry/dirty-business-clean-world/ http://www.dirtthemovie.org/blog/entry/dirty-business-clean-world/ Dirt! The Movie is one of the most powerful, most influential, and most important documentaries I have ever seen. Of all the planets in the known universe, only Earth has a living, breathing "skin" formed over the course of countless millennia. Our entire world is dependent on the health of our dirt, and it is safe to say that we don't even consider dirt and soil - it's probably at the very bottom (if even on) our list of things to improve our environment and incorporate green and sustainable business practices into our company's standard operating procedures. 2010-07-01T20:50:04+00:00 http://www.dirtthemovie.org/blog/entry/bill-benenson-on-earth-focus/ http://www.dirtthemovie.org/blog/entry/bill-benenson-on-earth-focus/ Dirt! The Movie Producer/Director Bill Benenson interviewed on LinkTV's Earth Focus. To see the interview, click on the more link: 2010-06-09T22:36:11+00:00 http://www.dirtthemovie.org/blog/entry/digby-goes-to-hollywood/ http://www.dirtthemovie.org/blog/entry/digby-goes-to-hollywood/ The Dirt! Team was having a little fun this week back at Dirt! Central. This is our suggestion for the famed Hollywood sign re-design. 2010-05-28T20:43:18+00:00 http://www.dirtthemovie.org/blog/entry/dirt-the-movie-a-parade-magazine-pick/ http://www.dirtthemovie.org/blog/entry/dirt-the-movie-a-parade-magazine-pick/ Parade Magazine and parade.com chose Dirt! The Movie as one of it's Parade Picks for the week of May 23, 2010. It was quite an honor to be selected by "the most widely read magazine in the U.S." 2010-05-28T20:23:52+00:00 http://www.dirtthemovie.org/blog/entry/happy-40th-anniversary-of-earth-day-earth-day-honor-earth-day-and-get-/ http://www.dirtthemovie.org/blog/entry/happy-40th-anniversary-of-earth-day-earth-day-honor-earth-day-and-get-/ Since the space shot of our planet eye-popped up on the cover of the Whole Earth Catalogue, more of us in the general public have had a new perspective on our planet. And a growing world wide appreciation that has turned into celebrations in honor of our planet. 2010-04-22T20:53:33+00:00 http://www.dirtthemovie.org/blog/entry/team-earth/ http://www.dirtthemovie.org/blog/entry/team-earth/ Our friends at Team Earth (Conservation International) launched their new movie series with Dirt! The Movie! check it out here: http://blog.teamearth.com/tag/dirt/ 2010-04-20T17:40:23+00:00 http://www.dirtthemovie.org/blog/entry/andy-lipkis-celebrates-earth-day-with-dirt-the-movie/ http://www.dirtthemovie.org/blog/entry/andy-lipkis-celebrates-earth-day-with-dirt-the-movie/ Why should we care about dirt? With more than half the people on earth living in cities, what’s the big deal about something we work hard to keep out of our homes and streets? As it turns out, dirt – the earth’s living soil - is a huge deal when it comes to our sustainability, resilience, adaptation to climate change and protection from its effects, in fact our very lives. 2010-04-17T00:15:57+00:00 http://www.dirtthemovie.org/blog/entry/get-dirty-in-the-garden-this-month/ http://www.dirtthemovie.org/blog/entry/get-dirty-in-the-garden-this-month/ Dirt salutes National Garden Month which the National Gardening Association (NGA) sponsors every April. This April let's garden to improve our health and community well being. As the NGA puts it: gardening will make "America a greener, healthier, more livable place." Same for the whole planet! Healthy gardens, healthy people and healthy communities begin with healthy dirt. Your faithful Dirt Road Warrior has also been spending time in the garden. 2010-04-12T22:21:54+00:00 http://www.dirtthemovie.org/blog/entry/be-a-part-of-the-living-breathing-dirt-test/ http://www.dirtthemovie.org/blog/entry/be-a-part-of-the-living-breathing-dirt-test/ Please remember that above all our film emphasizes that soils are living breathing systems. And that one of the best actions we can take to help those eco-systems is to test our soils and share that information. So we invite you – heck, we urge you - to participate in The Living Breathing Dirt Test. It's fun, easy to use, scientifically valid and demonstrates that your soil is alive and breathing. How alive? That’s what you will be testing. 2010-04-06T21:13:29+00:00 http://www.dirtthemovie.org/blog/entry/dirt-the-movie-is-popping-up-at-wonderful-community-cinema-screenings-acros/ http://www.dirtthemovie.org/blog/entry/dirt-the-movie-is-popping-up-at-wonderful-community-cinema-screenings-acros/ Your Dirt Road Warrior is delighted to report that DIRT! The Movie is popping up at wonderful Community Cinema Screenings across the country. PBS’s Emmy and Peabody award winning series ITVS honors independent film makers and audiences by putting them together in screenings in which community members discuss issues raised in the film and relate them to their own concerns and activities to improve their lives. 2010-04-02T20:56:33+00:00 http://www.dirtthemovie.org/blog/entry/dirt-in-central-park/ http://www.dirtthemovie.org/blog/entry/dirt-in-central-park/ It was a really great DIRTy week - from Central Park in NYC, with our hero and inspiration Bill Logan and a few hundred new friends, to the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History in D.C. we spread the dirty word to passionate dirt lovers and the newly initiated. 2010-03-31T22:21:10+00:00 http://www.dirtthemovie.org/blog/entry/haiti-and-afghanistan-the-dirt-is-dying-...-how-we-can-help/ http://www.dirtthemovie.org/blog/entry/haiti-and-afghanistan-the-dirt-is-dying-...-how-we-can-help/ Dirt is dying in Afghanistan 26 years of chaos will do that: constant warfare, extended drought, deforestation, de-vegetation, declining soil fertility, falling water tables, salinsation, widespread wind and water soil erosion, a nightmare Afghanistan now faces the complete eradication of its forests. So there will be more floods, avalanches and landslides. And millions more displaced Afghans. Afghanistan’s long-term environmental degradation is caused, in part, by a complete collapse of local and national forms of governance. 2010-03-05T00:13:32+00:00 http://www.dirtthemovie.org/blog/entry/my-dirty-valentine/ http://www.dirtthemovie.org/blog/entry/my-dirty-valentine/ Valentine’s Day is here! And although we adore flowers, chocolate and love poems, isn't it more fun to get dirty? We thought you'd agree. So this year send a "dirty" Valentine gift to those you love: Dirt! The Movie. 2010-02-11T18:05:16+00:00 http://www.dirtthemovie.org/blog/entry/gene-rosow-on-air-america/ http://www.dirtthemovie.org/blog/entry/gene-rosow-on-air-america/ Listen to Gene Rosow on Air America's Hollywood! CLOUT with Richard Greene discussing the Haiti tragedy and its relationship to the use and abuse of the soil and its repercussions. 2010-01-21T00:23:01+00:00 http://www.dirtthemovie.org/blog/entry/dirt-the-movie-at-the-television-critics-associations-winter-press-tou/ http://www.dirtthemovie.org/blog/entry/dirt-the-movie-at-the-television-critics-associations-winter-press-tou/ Director/producers Gene Rosow and Bill Benenson flank Andy Lipkis, of Tree People, and Dirt! The Movie's narrator Jamie Lee Curtis after a boffo presentation at the Television Critics Association's Winter Press Tour held at the Langham Hotel in Pasadena on January 13th. Dirt! The Movie airs Thursday, April 20th at 10pm on PBS Independent Lens. Shout it out, Dirt! has clout. 2010-01-20T23:42:48+00:00 http://www.dirtthemovie.org/blog/entry/wheres-the-dirt-in-copenhagen-part-2/ http://www.dirtthemovie.org/blog/entry/wheres-the-dirt-in-copenhagen-part-2/ How we manage carbon is key to dealing with climate change. And dirt is key to managing carbon. Soil is the key life support system for ecological functions: biomass production in agriculture and forestry; storing, filtering and transforming nutrients, substances and water; biodiversity of habitats, species and genes; the physical and cultural environment of all human activity; the source of raw materials....you get the idea. 2009-12-17T19:44:39+00:00 http://www.dirtthemovie.org/blog/entry/wheres-the-dirt-in-copenhagen-part-1/ http://www.dirtthemovie.org/blog/entry/wheres-the-dirt-in-copenhagen-part-1/ While the temperature this decade continues to climb, thousands of like-minded citizens of the planet have gathered in Copenhagen to talk about climate change. Millions of people around the world are paying attention. 2009-12-10T20:20:32+00:00 http://www.dirtthemovie.org/blog/entry/whats-down-in-the-ground-dirt-lovers/ http://www.dirtthemovie.org/blog/entry/whats-down-in-the-ground-dirt-lovers/ Your loyal Dirt Road Warrior just touched down in Minneapolis/St. Paul from sunny southern California. Always a thrill to step out into air that's dropped 53 degrees in temperature and renew my appreciation for my "Get Dirty" wool cap and the warm hearts of organic farmers. 2009-12-07T18:35:19+00:00 http://www.dirtthemovie.org/blog/entry/this-thanksgiving-thank-the-dirt-with-compost/ http://www.dirtthemovie.org/blog/entry/this-thanksgiving-thank-the-dirt-with-compost/ We throw away tons of garbage each year and compost is a way to lower our deposits into landfills. Compost also allows food and animal products to decompose, rather than rot. Done right, compost helps to create rich, healthy, sweet smelling soil. 2009-11-24T18:35:51+00:00 http://www.dirtthemovie.org/blog/entry/michelle-obama-asks-are-you-ready-to-get-dirty/ http://www.dirtthemovie.org/blog/entry/michelle-obama-asks-are-you-ready-to-get-dirty/ Today the Chicago Sun Times Blog posted a transcript from the White House Garden Harvest. Michelle Obama made many inspiring and educational remarks to her audience, but our favorite was when she asked, "Are you ready to get dirty?" 2009-10-29T22:38:05+00:00 http://www.dirtthemovie.org/blog/entry/blog-action-day-2009/ http://www.dirtthemovie.org/blog/entry/blog-action-day-2009/ It's Blog Action Day 2009. DIRT! gets around....DIRT! The Movie is screening this weekend at the Bioneers conference in San Rafael. DIRT! gives a shout out to Rainforest Action Network for making October 12 - 18 World Rainforest Week and hosting REVEL 2009. Get Dirty with us - sign up for updates here! 2009-10-14T22:39:02+00:00 http://www.dirtthemovie.org/blog/entry/on-harvard-yard-out-of-the-ivory-tower-and-into-the-dirt/ http://www.dirtthemovie.org/blog/entry/on-harvard-yard-out-of-the-ivory-tower-and-into-the-dirt/ Whatever you picture folks doing at Harvard, we're guessing its not playing in the mud. Turns out that some of the braniacs at America's oldest university have been working right along on the environment. Some are putting down their pens and books and realizing that going green starts in their own backyard. Literally. 2009-10-06T19:49:43+00:00 http://www.dirtthemovie.org/blog/entry/gary-vaynerchuk-tasting-wine-by-eating-dirt/ http://www.dirtthemovie.org/blog/entry/gary-vaynerchuk-tasting-wine-by-eating-dirt/ Gary loves dirt. Sometimes he even eats it. Sounds like your average 6 year old, right? But Gary Vaynerchuk’s actually a wine critic.} 2009-09-14T16:14:38+00:00