In one day, the average American produces 4.4 pounds of trash. In one year an American is responsible for 606 pounds, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

A group of 3 friends —Julie Dingman Evans, Ben Evans, and Mark Dixon — set off on a yearlong adventure of environmental awareness to all 50 states and kept a year’s worth of trash in their car totaling at only 40 pounds!

“One of the things we did when we traveled was film 10 hours of footage in each state,” Ben Evans, resident of Louisville, Kentucky, filmmaker and director of YERT (Your Environmental Road Trip), said.

The team chose to spend their entire life savings funding the trip with few donations along the way.

At five years from start to finish: 600 hours of footage + 2 and a half to three years of editing = the birth of YERT.

The feature film explores land loss, drought, climate change, use and abuse of natural resources, etc., and teaches audiences what citizens in some states are doing to override environmental affairs and “incorporate environmental ethics.”

“’When I turn on a light switch, a part of a mountain blows up.’ That’s what I want people to take away. Think twice about the energy they use and to use greener energy,” Evans said.

It is in his mission to reimagine the human race’s role in the ecosphere in becoming a keystone species rather than a dominant species.

“That’s [the] real challenge,” Evans said, “reversing the way we live right now. We control and dominate.”

Evans doesn’t want humanity to expand until we learn to live harmoniously with the earth and be more enlightened.

“We’re just now working on increasing the visibility of sustainability,” Lauren Pangburn, senior, international studies major, said.

Pangburn is IU Southeast’s very own sustainability advisor of the Student Government Association.

She said they are currently discussing the issue of transportation for students who travel from downtown New Albany to campus.

Because it’s Pangburn’s last year, it is important to her that she leaves a beginning behind for others to persevere.

“Will the sustainability council be sustained?” Pangburn said.

She is striving more than ever to push all efforts toward a greener campus and community socially and economically.

Evans said a big thing he learned along the way was “the power of a single individual to effect enormous change.”

“Care about these issues, don’t let people off the hook,” Evans said. “It was reaching a point where going out and finding answers were more important than what we were doing.”

YERT has won several awards at film festivals across country such as an Audience Award, Best Environmental Documentary, and Best Documentary Feature.

The team is planning another road trip once the funds are available. Evans said all purchases made from YERT’s sales will contribute to their savings.

To support their mission, the film is available to rent or purchase on DVD at www.yert.com.