About this project

Promoting "Innovative Action" in a community near you.

I guess that just about sums up what Good Dirt Radio is all about.
Let me explain…

We want to promote local, sustainable ideas to a national audience.

A group of us in Durango, Colorado were pretty depressed about the state of environmental affairs. We all had enough of the negative news and "gloom and doom" reports of the direction our species was headed. Even though the reality is that our environment is under siege, we realized that the more frightening the reports became, the less inspired we were to action. But we knew action was necessary... but what actions really made a difference?

We decided to build a radio news series modeled on the SUCCESS stories out there, about real actions people are taking in light of the environmental challenges we all face --actions that were actually doing some good. And then we structured the stories to be accessible to everyone who wanted to replicate those behaviors in their own communities. We wanted to change the tide from problems that created more problems to a model of solutions that lead to more solutions. We started collecting the stories and getting them out to public radio stations.

The programs highlight real people taking innovative steps in their businesses, schools, homes, and communities that, if replicated, lead all of us toward a more sustainable future. We called it Good Dirt Radio so that we could "broadcast the good dirt" and hoped more good things would grow out of it.

And they did.

For the past six years, we have been expanding the model, working on a volunteer basis. We've aired the programs monthly on over a dozen public radio stations in the West, along with podcasts on our website and an experimental test on over 1200 stations, with incredible response, from an appreciative fan base.

Paul Hawken, well known author, entrepreneur and environmental activist commented on our program:

"One of the major hurdles to a renewed and restored earth is public education. In our busy world, we hear about problems but very little about solutions. If people don't understand how they can contribute on a personal, community level, they experience numbness or despair. When we are isolated by hopelessness, we miss out on the largest driver of social change; citizen action. The work being done by the folks at Good Dirt Radio helps access the attention of the mass audiences we need to help with environmental restoration. Their news programs inspire people to make informed choices, and that helps us all."

It seems that the model is popular. People are much more receptive to following a positive role model doing something that the listener can mirror in their own community, than trying to figure out things on their own to fight the wave of negative news.

Gary Hart, Former U.S. Senator, had some feedback:
"The effort of cutting edge media outlets like Good Dirt Radio to raise citizen awareness of climate change and a host of 21st century environmental challenges is crucial to changing public policy and unwise practices of the past. Good Dirt Radio deserves our wholehearted support in its continuing efforts to educate local communities and the entire nation."

The thing about the stories we highlight on Good Dirt Radio, is that these are uplifting reports that offer insight into how certain people are truly forging new ways of doing things. They're deviating from the norm (our collective destruction of the biosphere) and showing a new twist on being a responsible citizen in the 21st century.

Mark Udall, Colorado Congressman: "Congratulations, Good Dirt Radio! We will change the world at the local level. "

The subject categories range from starting farmers markets, to eco-brokers highlighting energy saving homes, ranchers practicing holistic range management, and families finding ways to cut their energy bills in half.

So on we went… filtering out the average pieces and really finding the gems of people to follow. The key players in the stories aren't usually the high flying famous personas you see in the news. These are individuals, who live down the street, and are much like you and me. But they do something that makes them stand out. It may be that they have an eco-ministry where a local church leader is finding new ways to help his followers see the forest AND the trees, or how a couple started a local recycling business out of their spare bedroom, and expanded to support a whole town, or how do-it yourselfers are finding economical ways to heat their homes with inexpensive passive solar kits. Or how people are finding a new resurgence in building local gardens, and changing their shopping habits that demand greener services from local stores. The stories are only as limited as our imaginations…

We've now got well over sixty programs aired and archived on the website. You can go check them out anytime over at our place: www.gooddirtradio.org

We've also received a few awards. We were recognized on the "e-town" program for our efforts, and won the "Wirth Chair Award" from Tim Wirth, former U.S. Senator, and President of the United Nations Foundation:

Timothy E. Wirth: "I am honored that Good Dirt Radio was selected as a recipient of the Wirth Chair Sustainability Award for its innovative work in broadcasting. Good Dirt is not only helping to shine a light on success stories that illuminate a more environmentally sound future, but also demonstrating that communications is changing in ways that empower people at the community level to get their ideas and point of view out to the public."

O.K. so why the request here? on Kickstarter?

Well, as you can see, a small band of committed citizens can create a pretty good buzz. But we've all been doing it in our spare time, as volunteers, between our "regular" jobs. That's why we've only had the program monthly. But we want to make it weekly and go nationwide.

We've got the model, track-record and the stories lined up. What we lack is the funding to support the production of fifty-two programs for a year of broadcasts. We still provide all our programs to radio stations free of charge, and we would like to keep it that way. News organizations are going through their own struggles and one thing they need is affordable, professional programming.

We've outlined the weekly series that we're trying to launch with the help of you visitors to kickstarter.com.

Its called "The Weekly Wake-up Series"
Since climate change is the grand daddy of all problems we face, it has the most dramatic effect on individuals. For most people, the thought of catastrophic climate change creates a general feeling of angst with no where to go. After all, what difference can one human really make trying to fight a climate crisis, right?

Well to avoid the all too familiar reaction of "human in the climate-lights" syndrome, we're focusing the entire set of programs on actions that are being taken that actually make a difference. This way, people can choose whatever category of action that resonates with their interests, and engage in solutions to climate change in their own communities. It's an empowering challenge for us and we are hopeful you see the relevance in what we plan to do.

We hope you'll get on board with us at Good Dirt Radio. If you ever get down about all things environmental, we find that its helpful to just pick a subject and get involved. First of all, you'll feel better. Second, you'll be adding your behavior to the mix, helping us create a world where each day there are more trees growing instead of less, where the air is getting cleaner, where there are more fish in the sea, and diversity in the biosphere, not less. It happens by building stronger communities with local voices along the way, one person at a time, one story at a time.

Give us a vote with your opinion, if not with your dollars, so when we go weekly, nationwide, and when you hear local voices on Good Dirt Radio on your radio station, or online, you can smile a bit more broadly.

Good on Ya !