History of The Sustainable Living Roadshow
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In 2005 in San Francisco, a seed that was planted hundreds of years ago began to sprout and lift its leaves towards the beaming sun above. We call this seed the Sustainable Living Roadshow. This is the story of this seed's journey through time!

The vision of the SLR was originally planted by local organic farmers well before GMOs or the chemical corporations came along. Snake Oil Medicine Shows planted seeds of rare medicine and information to communities by carriage; Old Time Chautauqua tours brought seeds of education and entertainment across the country; around the world, the Circus utilized the rail-way systems to bring seeds that fruited spectacular, mind-blowing entertainment into communities; Jim Hightower utilized the Rolling Thunder tour to plant seeds of political transformation; the Merry Pranksters experimented with seeds that expanded consciousness on their Further Tours. These organic seeds, untainted by influences of corporate greed, chemical pesticides and corrupt politics were planted and grown with love, adventure, education, fun and exploration into communities, growing new ideas, information, entertainment and perspectives! The vision of the SLR has been in growth and development for a long time, has dropped seedlings all around the world and now is ready to grow and grow throughout the United States.

In 2005, two groups, one based in San Francisco, CA and one in Burlington, Vermont, unknowing of one another started working on the creating the same unified. Organizers of the Clean Fuel Caravan Coalition (CFC) based in San Francisco had been busy planting seeds all over the country. Since 2003, they had been traveling via biofuel buses throughout the US and Central America. On their travels to plant these seeds of mindfulness and engrain this information into communities, they found more groups doing the same work! To keep these various groups in a communal container, to share the best resources to make these ideas spread virally and to learn the best methods of tour and event production, the Clean Fuel Caravan was established and has grown into a beautiful organization, with over 25 branches of organizations who have toured the world in biofuel buses, dropping seeds of inspiration, entertainment and education about a more harmonious planet! Collectively, the twenty-five member branches have toured over 700,000 miles through the US, Central America and West Africa. Clean Fuel Caravan members have been on the cover of US Today, in the NY Times, on local news stations. Members have worked internationally with governments to start biofuel collectives, started over 8 non-profit organizations, participated in over 50 events and produced over 10 of our own events. These groups are partially responsible for the word biofuels entering the mainstream global vernacular!

On the other side of the country, a group in Vermont, the Fossil Free Way, had sprouted at the same time as the CFC! As a result of founder Zachary Carson's thesis, "Using biofuel bus tours as a means to educate and inspire a shift in the collective consciousness around sustainable living strategies across the country", the group embarced on a four month journey hosting sustainability workshops at festivals and farmers markets across the country. Additionally, the group filmed a documentary and visited businesses, organizations and individuals who were leading the way in their sustainable living practices. At the end of the 15,000 mile journey on recycled vegetable oil, Zachary Carson met up with organizers of the Clean Fuel Caravan, Jonathan Youtt and David Sartori, and the synergy began.

The two groups found an enormous amount of similarities in their networks, their visions and their desires to make these bus tours more successful and mainstream. We began formalizing our vision by means of promotional materials, websites, weekly meetings and more. We utilized the collective experiences of the 25 CFC member groups, the collective networks of everyone we have met through the years and the collective ideas of hundreds of people to created the Sustainable Living Roadshow. The SLR began organizing at different festivals and events to showcase our passion and skills at different venues. We were planting these ideas and information at the crest of a progressive wave and our work was inspiring to everyone who encountered it.

We tried for years to get the vision of the Sustainable Living Roadshow off the ground, but the collective consciousness of this country was not ready for what we had to offer. Biofuels hadn't entered the human vernacular, global warming was receiving little attention and fuel was still affordable. People liked these ideas, but people did not yet understand the importance these ideas and technologies would play in our future or the market viability of integrating new solutions.

Now, after a "some-what" shaky eight years with President Bush, the ideas we have been teaching and inspiring about as a massive underground movement have come to the surface and has become a mainstream reality that the world is thirsty for. So, as the collective consciousness shifts, we have shifted our work as well. We have grown from individual groups who travel to educate, to a collective of touring groups and organizations that empower individuals and communities with solutions and education needed to re-direct the fate of our planet. We are evolving as quickly as the world is becoming inundated with Green. We have grown from the years of experience, of learning what worked and what didn't, and now we are pulling together our collective network to inspire, educate, empower and entertain communities across the country with the information that everyone is desperately searching for.

 Selected Previous SLR Events

2009
  • San Diego State University Spring Fest, San Diego, CA – SLR Showcase
  • California Student Sustainability Coalition Convergence, San Luis Obispo, CA  
  • Coachella Music Festival VIP Party, Indio, CA – SLR Showcase
  • UC – Riverside GreenFest, Riverside, CA – SLR Showcase
  • Alternative Healing Festival, San Diego, CA – Conscious Carnival
  • UC Berkeley Spring Fest, Berkeley, CA – Conscious Carnival  
  • Harvey Milk Day, San Francisco, CA – Conscious Carnival
  • Esperanza Community Garden Opening, San Francisco, CA – Co-Creators
  • Forecastle Festival, Louisville, KY – SLR Showcase
  • Bass Nectar Tour, 2 month US Tour – Eco-Coach Rental, biofuel location, eco-info
  • California Student Sustainability Coalition Annual Conference – Shuttle Bus, Panels
  • Treasure Island Music Festival, San Francisco, CA – Conscious Carnival
  • West Fest: 40th Anniversary of Woodstock, San Francisco, CA – SLR Showcase
  • Power to the Peaceful, San Francisco, CA – SLR Showcase
2008
  • Green Apple Music Festival, San Francisco, CA -- SLR Showcase
  • Lightning in a Bottle Festival - Santa Barbara, CA – Conscious Carnival 
  • 3 Ring Weekend @ Copper Mountain, CO – Conscious Carnival
  • Sustainable Living Roadshow National “Be the Change” Tour:  August-November
    • CELLspace Launch Party, SF, CA
    • SF Victory Gardens, City Hall, SF, CA
    • Democratic National Convention – Denver, CO
      • Green Frontier Fest, SLR Sustainability Street Fair
    • Republican National Convention – Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN
      • Liberty Parade & Festival 
      • Ripple Effect Festival w/Micheal Franti, Dead Prez, AntiFlag, Zach de la Rocha
    • White-Earth Reservation Indigenous Pow-Wow, MN
    • University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL– 2 day SLR festival
    • Tupac Shakur Foundation, Atlanta, GA
    • University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN  - 2 day SLR festival
    • Martin Luther King Jr K-9 School, 9th Ward, New Orleans, LA
    • Gretna Heritage Festival, New Orleans, LA – 3 day festival
    • Common Ground Volunteering, 9th Ward, New Orleans, LA  
    • 100 Acres Woods, Austin, TX – 2 day SLR camping festival
    • California Student Sustainability Coalition Conference, SFSU, SF, CA

2007


  
 

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