Summaries Of Our Eco-Educational Programs


Earth From Above USA
2008 - Present
Budget - 2008: $2,000,000
Eco-educational = Photographic exhibit, experiential program



Matter of Trust is the fiscal sponsor for the upcoming
Earth From Above -USA Exhibit and Educational Program in New York. A breathtaking collection of large-scale aerial  photography by world-renowned French environmentalist, Yann Arthus-Bertrand. A visual record for future generations, this outdoor public art exhibition presents awe-inspiring portraits of our planet, and a new perspective on the need for sustainable living. Free-to-the-public, day and night, experiential, and green by design, the 8-week exhibition features 150 images from around the globe captioned by sustainable development experts. With an inspiration pavilion, walkable world map, and exhibit for the blind, Earth From Above -USA will bring into focus our planet’s fragility to deliver a poignant, hopeful and educational message.

From field trips to experiential lessons to classroom tools, Earth From Above -USA offers turnkey support for K-12, college and adult curricula. The American producer of the exhibit, Picture Earth, will collaborate with France's Goodplanet.org to launch a national poster program, adapted for the American market, already on permanent display across 50,000 schools in France.








Fields of Fuel.org - Documentary Film
2007 - Present
Total Budget: $350,000
Total Raised to Date: $220,000
Direct Fields of Fuel Expenses: $209,000 = 95%

Eco-educational = Documentary on alternative energy
, WON THE AUDIENCE AWARD AT SUNDANCE

fieldsfuel

Matter of Trust is the fiscal sponsor for the Fields Of Fuel documentary. Oil is the lifeblood of the world. Now. ‘Fields of Fuel’ tells the story of Josh Tickell, world energy expert and author, as he travels around the globe looking for an immediate solution to the looming oil crisis. Tickell discusses a homegrown, renewable fuel called ‘biodiesel.’ Made from vegetable oil, biodiesel could be the beginning of a shift for all US transportation fuels. Some credit Josh Tickell with starting the biodiesel movement in the United States starting with The Veggie Van Voyage in 1997 crossing the US by filling up on Mac Donalds french fry oil.

This Sundance Award winning documentary hits theaters starting August 15th (Los Angeles), August 22nd (New York) and will then roll out across the country in a city by city release and educational tour. The 'Fields' film team is submitting the film for consideration by the Academy of Motion Pictures, Arts and Sciences for the 2008 Oscars. This is a 90 minute HD documentary film. A one-year tour will accompany the release of the film to provide education about biodiesel and alternative energies. Join the movement to educate America on our choices for alternative energy.







Peace of Mind Kits
2006 - Present
MofT General Fund
Eco-educational = Research, website, handouts and products

Peace of Mind ........

Our ecological compliment to the "Disaster Kit." Peace of Mind kits inform and prepare instead of react and frighten. This kit provides pleasurable lifestyle ideas and outside the box plans that provide comfort even in times of crisis.








Green Energy Millions (GEM) Campaign

2007 - Present
MofT General Fund
Eco-educational = awareness campaign



Our Green Energy Millions (GEMs) campaign is a connection between our current lifestyles and our earth. We've gathered bite size, quick, inexpensive commitments that every individual can do. Join us and make your GEMs here today for a brighter, greener future!







Solar Peace Sculpture

2007 - Present
Total Budget: $50,000
Eco-educational = Awareness for the connection between peace and alternative energy



Matter of Trust is the fiscal sponsor for Fred George’s Solar Peace Sculpture which appeals to the global citizen as well as politicians around the world. Symbolically, in addition to the commentary on current wars, this piece represents a call to the world to embrace alternative energies.

Standing 50 feet tall, Solar Peace Sculpture is constructed of 120 oil barrels, with a solar energy panel mounted on each barrel. The solar energy produced from the panels will feed into the electrical grid of the city, with the monthly proceeds donated to various local charities. Current proposal locations include Saarbrüken, Germany and New York City.

"I conceived this piece in December 2006, coming back from Paris. I decided to make my next piece of art about the imperative necessity to protect our precious environment, to turn to alternative fuels and to hold our politicians accountable when it comes to speaking on our behalf. The birth of my daughter Emma last year triggered a sense of urgency to create a highly visible statement. My sculpture shall inspire people to think about energy conservation and the direction we want the world to proceed in the future. ” – Fred George

Fred George started his career more than three decades ago in architecture, fashion, music, corporate and advertising photography. Having been called “The American Helmut Newton”, these days George donates a lot of his time to create works of art in multiple mediums, including sculpture, which earned him a comparison with the artistic legend Joseph Beuys. For George, his sculptures are a perfect way to express his global political and environmental concerns.








Evolosity - Sustainability Excellerated

2008 - Present
MofT General Fund
Eco-educational = Conference, Lectures, Panels, Leadership Training, Forum


yin-yang

Matter of Trust is the fiscal sponsor for Holly B. Shepherd and Evan Henrich's Evolosity Forum. The mission is to excellerate the social movement towards a sustainable and just world. The first conference will focus on Food. The other 3 are for Water, Energy, Stuff and an over all Leadership Training session for youth.








Biofuels4Schools.org
2007 - Present
Total Budget: $15,000
Eco-educational = Biofuels and clean air awareness

School Bus

Matter of Trust is the fiscal sponsor for Lindsay Hassett's Biofuels4Schools.org. This is an eco-educational organization that dedicated to the immediate shift from fossil fuels to alternative fuels. It focuses on school bus clean air awareness programs as it relates to children's health issues. Calculate your
schoolbus' or personal vehicle's greenhouse gas emissions.








"Nats, Philos, Fools and Funds" -
Naturalists, Philosophers, Foolshearty Grassroots Projects and Funders
1999 - Present
MofT General Fund
Eco-Educational = Annual Conference

yin-yang


This annual roundtable, hosted by Matter of Trust, invites experts, funders and green business entrepreneurs to discuss how best to concentrate our resources for maximum benefits. We review current and new projects, proposals from grassroots groups seeking fiscal sponsorship, and socially conscious businesses or large companies shifting towards a greener future. No idea is too wild: recycling hair clippings from salon floors for use cleaning up oil spills, train tracks made from solar panels, cow dung methane converters used to power dairy farms. The bigger the idea, the more we love to have inventors bring them on!








What You Can Do.org

2007 - Present
MofT General Fund
Eco-educational = Research and website

yin-yang

Did you ever hear a stirring story about a distressing social issue or ecological problem that made you feel like you desperately wanted to do something, but you just didn't know what?Issues are presented to us every day, and at the end of the news report our impulses to help are often simply met with a phrase like "write your congressman." That seems unsatisfying to us at MofT, and we know that people are capable of changing things for the better in more hands-on, concrete, practical ways. So, here's a list of ideas we've compiled from experts and research explaining What YOU Can Do.







Good Karma Exchange
2006 - Present
MofT General Fund
Eco-educational = web-component

yin-yang

A new component of our Nats, Philos and Fools Conference, and part of our fund-raising section, this was developed for all Excess Access donors of items and other visitors to our sites who got bitten by the philanthropy bug and wanted to connect more with good works. We are also continually researching grassroots nonprofits and projects that post wish lists on Excess Access. When possible, we fiscally sponsor beneficial programs that request our assistance.








Pipeline
2000 - Present
MofT General Fund
Eco-educational = Powerpoint Presentation and lecture

pipeline

Pipeline is a look at the history of petroleum and its effects on the environment through photos, information and world music. Feel free to email us for more information.








It's Easy Being Green - Our Humorous Eco-tips Handbook - FOR SALE NOW

© 2003
Total Raised: $14,712.96
Direct Program Expenses: $14,849
- $4,853.96 (research / compilation) (writing and editing were donated by Jennifer Pratt and Lisa Gautier)
- $9,859 (printing on hemp paper)
- Sales To Date: $866.67 online+ $112.96 in stores (50% books intended as promotional giveaways)

Eco-educational = Book


It's Easy Being Green


This book was written and compiled for our organization by Jennifer Pratt, with a foreword and edited by Lisa Craig Gautier, founder of Excess Access and Matter of Trust, Inc. With 230 pages printed on hemp paper using soy ink, it is an edible and delightful guide to a convenient, green lifestyle offering hundreds of useful tips.See how small changes by individuals add up and actually create less work and more pleasure out of life. It's Easy Being Green is a must have for every bathroom reading stack.








The Skin Of Trees, An Intimate View of Bark
, by Cedric Pollet - COMPLETED
Brooklyn Botanical Garden Art Gallery
2006
Total Raised: $5,000
Direct Program Expenses:
$4750 = 95%
Eco-educational = Photography Exhibit

Tree bark lips
This tree's bark naturally grows lips

Matter of Trust was the fiscal agent for this eco-educational project in New York. With artistic vision, Cedric Pollet looks closely at trees, revealing the spectacular beauty of tree bark. Coming from a scientific background, he combines art and science in highly beautiful, original images. He uses no digital effects or photographic manipulation, but shows us real elements of the natural world. The fascinating shapes, patterns, textures, and harmonious colors fill us with admiration and a sense of wonder. These photos stimulate our curiosity and refresh our way of looking at living, growing things.








FILM United Nations Environment Programme - World Environment Day - 2005
- COMPLETED
©2006
MofT General fund
Eco-educational = Documentary
Eco-educational = Community Program Coordination for 5 day Expo

World Environment Day 2005Video

This 55-minute documentary is a behind-the-scenes look including interviews with contributors to this event. Matter of Trust was invited to join the San Francisco Department of the Environment in organizing festivities involving international and local participants. It is filmed and edited by MofT founder, Lisa Gautier, who coordinated with over 250 community groups providing environmental content for this week-long celebration. The United Nation's Environment Programme asks that its annual World Environment Day (WED) be hosted by a different international city every year on June 5th. San Francisco, California hosted WED's first official Expo in the United States in 2005. See our documentary on youtube. It's in 8 parts.







"Marcus Foster's Oakland Technology Exchange OTX West" - COMPLETED

2003
Total Raised: $4,992
Direct Program Expenses: $4971 = 99.9%

Eco-educational = Documentary

Video

MofT was the fiscal agent for this excellent documentary by Chantal Buard on the step-by-step method for developing a computer-repair, distribution and recycling system. See it on youtube. It's in 2 parts.









FILM "Haight Ashbury Food Program (HAFP) - Nourishment Is A Birthright" - COMPLETED

© 2002
Total Raised: $5000
Direct Program Expenses:
$5000 = 100%

Eco-educational = Documentary

Haight Ashbury Food Program

This 20-minute mini-documentary highlights the community kitchen that reclaims 100 tons of almost expired food from stores and prepares meals for the homeless of San Francisco.


FILM "Haight Ashbury Food Program (HAFP) - Nourishment Is A Birthright II"- COMPLETED

© 2003
Total Raised: $450
Direct Proram Expenses:
$450 = 100%

Eco-educational = Documentary

This updated version of the first documentary includes footage on HAFP's job-training program. The film is credited with raising $160,000 for the organization's 20th Anniversary, according to their Executive Director at the time, Devra Edleman. Copies are available upon request and it will be displayed on YouTube.com as of March 2007.







FILM "Excess Access - Linking Society's Surplus With Nonprofit Needs" - COMPLETED

©1999
Total Raised: $4500
Direct Program Expenses: $4500 = 100%

Eco-Educational = Documentary

Excess Access logo

This 15-minute mini-documentary shows how Matter of Trust and Excess Access began and how it works. Copies are available upon request and it will be displayed on YouTube.com as of March 2009.







Women's Green Global Action Network - Mexico City Conference
- COMPLETED
2004 - 2005
Total Raised: $1500
Direct program expenses:
$1425 = 95%

Eco-educational = Conference for Key International Women in the Environmental Movement

Women growers

Matter of Trust was the fiscal agent for Women's Global Green Action Network (WGGAN) until they were eligible to be under the umbrella of our friends at Earth Island Institute in 2006. WGGAN cultivates global partnerships of grassroots women environmental leaders for a thriving planet. By providing access to communication tools, support services and networking capabilities, WGGAN helps women strengthen their alliances and leadership abilities in order to develop a collective agenda for affecting environmental and social change at the local, regional and global level.









Gold Coast Environmental Awareness Afterschool Program
Partnership with Mad Science - COMPLETED

2004
Total Raised: $1,000
Direct Program Expenses: $950 = 95%

Eco-educational = Afterschool program

Mad Science

MofT was the fiscal agent for this after-school project on the environment. In partnership with Mad Science Gold Coast Educators, the semester-long course showed kids how science reveals itself in nature.








Youth Media Lab Project - COMPLETED
2005 - Present

Total Raised: $1,000
Direct Program Expenses: $950 = 95% + donated equipment

Eco-edcuational = School Program For Inner City Kids
Manmade Surplus = Donated Equipment

Youth Media Lab Project

We are the fiscal agent for Youth Media Lab (YML). YML is dedicated to providing media education to educators, youth service providers, youth and their parents. YML conducts after-school television and digital video production classes for Oakland Public School students and parents, provides professional development and media training for teachers, establishes or enhances school-site media labs and builds capacity for school sites and staff members to conduct their own media education classes after completing YML training.