F.W. Horch Sustainable Goods & Supplies

Extended Holiday Hours

noreply@blogger.com (Fred Horch) — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 21:48:00 +0000

To help you with your last-minute shopping for the holidays, our Brunswick store will be open every day until Christmas. Tell your friends -- we'll be open both Sunday and Monday this week.

Sun, Dec 20 | Noon - 5 pm
Mon, Dec 21 | 9:30 am - 7 pm
Tues, Dec 22 | 9:30 am - 7 pm
Wed, Dec 23 | 9:30 am - 7 pm

Christmas Eve
Thu, Dec 24 | 9:30 am - 2 pm

We'll be closed Christmas Day through New Year's, re-opening on Tuesday, January 5, 2010.

We wish you a joyous end to 2009 and a bright beginning to 2010!

Keep Composting Kitchen Scraps

noreply@blogger.com (Fred Horch) — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 09:30:00 +0000

December's Sustainable Living Tip

Set up an indoor composting system to make it easy to compost kitchen scraps all winter long. With the right tools and a little thought, you can keep food waste from going to waste all year long--even in the dead of winter.

Cold Weather Composting Facts

According to the US Department of Agriculture, Americans throw away more than 25 percent of the food we prepare, about 96 billion pounds per year.
As a nation, we spend about $1 billion per year to dispose of our food waste.
Less than three percent of our food waste is diverted from the solid waste stream; each year we send 31 million tons of food waste to landfills and incinerators.
The three largest solid waste streams are yard waste, paper waste and food waste. All three could be diverted from the solid waste stream and composted instead. Turning garbage into compost would replenish our soils instead of polluting our water and air.
A goal of composting 100% of your food and paper waste all year round is reasonable as long as you have an outdoor area for storing materials. Indoor options can process quite a bit of material, but you'll probably find from time to time that you have some waste that needs to go outside.
You can add food scraps to an outdoor composter all winter. Scraps will freeze during cold weather and begin decomposing in the spring. You can also store kitchen scraps in five-gallon buckets for the winter. Some people find it convenient to have buckets on their porch or in their garage, saving them the hassle of getting to their composter in the snow. Just leave a little room at the top to allow material in the bucket to freeze. In the spring, once the path is clear, you can dump your buckets in your compost pile.
Insulated outdoor composters can extend your composting season. The tumbling Jora composer, for example, features dual chambers and several inches of insulation for hotter composting. Not only does this heat-trapping design allow for composting later in the fall and earlier in the spring, but it also makes it possible to compost meat and fish which are problematic at low temperatures.
Having a compost pail in the kitchen is a handy way to store food scraps for a few days, allowing you to plan your treks to your outdoor composter. Look for pails with activated charcoal filters in the lid to eliminate odors.
Many people find that a compost pail in the kitchen and their regular compost pile in the yard is all they need to keep composting all winter long. They simply put on their boots and beat a path to the composter.
Other people prefer to set up a system for handling food waste indoors. Bokashi buckets, worm bins and automatic composters are three popular options.
A bokashi bucket lets you collect and store food scraps for several weeks inside. These buckets feature a tight seal and promote anaerobic decomposition of food scraps. Once the bokashi bucket is full, you can transfer the contents to an outdoor composter, or in warmer weather bury the material directly into garden soil, where it completes the decomposition process.
You sprinkle bokashi, a dry powder containing dormant microbes, on each layer of waste you add to the bucket. This will innoculate your food scraps with fermenting microbes, preventing unpleasant odors from developing. When opened, a bokashi bucket has a distinctive pickled smell. There should be no odor at all when the bucket is closed.
Every so often, drain liquid from your bokashi bucket. This liquid can be diluted and used for watering plants, or it can be poured down your drain. Bokashi liquid can be especially beneficial if you are on a septic, since the microbes living in your bokashi bucket are the same types as those found in a healthy septic system.
Worm bins are another convenient method for composting indoors. Composting worms completely digest food scraps, producing solid castings which can be used as a soil enrichment for houseplants, lawns or gardens.
Plastic totes make convenient worm bins. If you make your own, be sure to provide a reservoir for liquid and a way to drain the bin. Tray systems like the Can O Worms are a step up from home-made worm bins, making it much easier to harvest the castings when the worms have finished eating all your food scraps. Holes in each tray allow worms to crawl up to find fresh food in the upper trays, leaving the trays on the bottom full of castings.
As with a bokashi bucket, drain liquid from your worm bin every so often. This "worm tea" makes a great liquid fertilizer when diluted with ten parts water to one part worm tea.
Meat, cheese, and highly acidic foods like pineapple and lemon rinds can cause problems in small worm bins. These food wastes are best handled indoors by bokashi buckets or outdoors in enclosed compost bins like the Jora composter. In general, the larger the worm bin or compost pile, the more variety of materials you can successfully compost. Vegetables, fruits that are not acidic, coffee grounds, and tissue paper are the easiest materials to compost in worm bins. Shredded paper or leaves should be added as a top layer and replaced as necessary.
Automatic composting machines such as the NatureMill work like waterless garbage disposals. Simply plug them in, toss in kitchen scraps and sawdust pellets, then let them heat and aerate the mixture to produce finished compost every two weeks.
NatureMills feature a thick layer of insulation and a small heater, so they can work equally well in heated and unheated spaces. The kitchen may be the most convenient location in terms of adding material to the unit, but a basement or garage may be more convenient in terms of space availability.
NatureMills use about 17 watts of electricity, about the same as four strands of energy-efficient LED holiday lights and much less than one strand of inefficient incandescent holiday lights.
Besides keeping unnecessary materials out of our landfills and incinerators, winter composting is a great way to get ready for gardening season. Worm castings in particular are great to have on hand when starting seeds. If you plan to start your own seedlings, you can't beat a mix of equal parts potting soil and worm castings to give your plants a healthy start on life.
Between four and five gallons of wet kitchen waste produce about one gallon of dry compost in my experience. Assuming you produce one gallon of kitchen scraps every three days, composting for six months would turn 60 gallons of garbage into about 12 gallons of compost. Once you start composting and using compost on your yard and garden, you'll discover that you can always use more. To produce one yard of dry compost, you'd need to start with at least 5,600 pounds of wet kitchen scraps!

Cold Weather Composting Clinic

noreply@blogger.com (Fred Horch) — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 15:25:00 +0000

F.W. Horch Sustainable Goods and Supplies, 56 Maine St., Brunswick, will host a talk by founder Fred Horch and Brett Thompson, Master Gardener Volunteer, titled "Cold Weather Composting," on Thursday, December 10th, from 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm. The talk is free and open to the public.

"Promote global worming," says Brett Thompson. "Worms work inside when everything outside is frozen solid, and they make the best compost."

Worm composting is one of several systems for cold weather composting that will be discussed. The goal of the workshop is to help people understand their options for keeping food waste out of the local landfill all year round.

Worm composting (or "vermiculture") is an indoor technique for year-round composting of paper waste and kitchen scraps. Thompson will demonstrate how worm bins work, and answer common questions. Worms and worm bins will be available for sale.

In addition to worm bins, automatic NatureMill composters, anaerobic bokashi buckets, and insulated outdoor composters will be demonstrated. Free informational handouts will be provided. Seating is limited, so those interested in attending are encouraged to call the store at 729-4050 to reserve a seat.

The talk is part of the F.W. Horch series on sustainable living. Each monthly talk is held at the F.W. Horch Sustainable Goods & Supplies store, 56 Maine Street, Brunswick at 7:00 pm on the second Thursday of the month. January's talk will be a workshop on making interior storm windows.

For more information, please call 729-4050.

More Heat, Less Waste

noreply@blogger.com (Fred Horch) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 02:06:00 +0000

November's Sustainable Living Tip

Turning down your thermostat during the heating season is the easiest way to save energy. Lowering your setting by one degree for eight hours every night will save one percent on your heating load. For the average Maine household, that will conserve 25 gallons of fuel oil over the season, keeping 550 pounds of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere!

But once you've taken the easy step of lowering your thermostats, what else can you do to save energy? Read on for our "greatest hits" list of the most effective ways to enjoy more heat with less waste.

"Greatest Hits" More Heat, Less Waste Ideas

If you have an oil boiler or furnace, clean and tune it up every heating season. Watch your technician inspect and clean your boiler once, and you'll have a good understanding of why this is necessary every year!
If you have a natural gas or propane system, have it inspected annually. These fuels burn more cleanly than heating oil, so you won't have the same loss in efficiency over the course of a heating season. But have a trained professional inspect your system to make sure it is in proper working order nonetheless.
Close your flue. A chimney that is open directly to your house, such as in a working fireplace (not a wood stove), is your largest single source of heat loss. Whenever you don't have a fire in your fireplace, the tighter you can close your flue, the better.
Cover your windows (part 1). Windows intentionally let energy into your home (in the form of light), but they also unintentionally let energy out. Between September and March, the night is longer than the day here in Maine. If you have curtains or blinds, close them whenever sunlight is not coming in.
Cover your windows (part 2). Installing storm windows with good weatherstripping will greatly improve the insulating value of your windows. In older homes, one of the easiest approaches is to install custom-made interior storm windows. These can be made to fit snugly, preventing wind from blowing around loose double hung windows. Install them in the winter, then remove them in warmer weather. Storm windows improve comfort as well as saving energy: they stop cold drafts and they cut down on noise. Interior storm windows are especially helpful in older apartment buildings in urban environments.
Cover your windows (part 3). Pay special attention to your indoor humidity levels in rooms where you install insulating drapes or interior storm windows. Your window glass will become much colder, potentially leading to condensation issues. If condensation is a problem, exterior storm windows are a better solution. They will keep your window glass warmer, reducing the condensation problem. Remember, condensation forms when warm moist air reaches a cold surface.
Seal your attic hatch. If you have a hatch or door to your unheated attic, make sure it closes securely and has weatherstripping all around it to prevent warm air from escaping up into your attic. For ceiling hatches, a good design is to install weatherstripping around the edge of the hatch and use latches to press the hatch closed on the weatherstripping. Warm air that gets into your attic and reaches the underside of your roof decking will melt snow on your roof, leading to ice dams. Keep warm air out of your attic!
Seal your foundation walls, windows and doors. If you have a bulkhead door, make sure it has weatherstripping around it. Cold air that seeps in below your house will get sucked up into your home. A tube of caulk and spray foam will go a long way toward preventing frozen pipes, cutting down on cold drafts, and lowering your heating bills.
Wrap your ducts and hot water pipes. If you have air ducts or hot water pipes in an unheated part of your home (such as your basement or garage), make sure they are wrapped securely in insulation all the way from the heating source to the destination.
Add a mud room. Every house in Maine needs a room for taking off muddy boots! Enclosing a porch so that it acts as an "air lock" will keep cold air from pouring into your home whenever someone comes or goes. It will also cut down on the drafts coming in and around your door all winter long, since wind won't be blowing directly against your exterior door. If you can't add a mud room, an exterior storm door with proper weatherstripping is a good alternative.
Hang dry your clothes. You're probably aware that an electric clothes dryer is one of the most power-hungry appliances you can use. But did you ever consider how much air an automatic dryer sucks out of your home? It's about equivalent to leaving a kitchen window wide open. When an automatic dryer runs, it blows hot air out of your home. Cold outside air finds its way in to replace the air that the dryer is sending out. A better alternative is to invest in a high efficiency washing machine that spin dries clothes, then hanging them to finish drying overnight on a wooden drying rack. Drying clothes indoors works especially well during the winter because indoor air humidity levels are low.
Clean your screens. Fall is a great time to take down the screens in your windows on the southern side of your house. Clean them and put them away for the winter. Unless you plan on opening your windows, the screens are useless and simply shade sunlight that would otherwise be helping heat up your home. While you're at it, clean your windows, too. You won't notice a huge difference on your heating bill, but every little bit helps! You might also prune branches or bushes that are shading your southern exposure.
Look for leaks. As the weather turns colder, air flows more quickly through any gaps in your exterior walls or ceilings. It's easy to feel for cold air leaking in on lower floors, but sometimes more challenging to find how hot air is leaking out upstairs. Just remember that cold air comes in downstairs, and hot air leaves upstairs. If you feel cold air blowing in under a door or around a light switch on an exterior wall, you know that an equal amount of hot air is being squeezed out of your house somewhere else. Spider webs are a good tip off for places where air is leaving. Spiders like to build webs where they will catch dinner, so they look for places where air currents send small insects. Once you find a leak, a bit of caulk is often all that's needed to fix it. If you have access to your attic, you may find that your electricians and plumbers cut holes for their handiwork. These holes are probably letting warm air up into your attic, which can lead to ice dams. You can safely use spray foam to seal gaps around any plumbing or modern electrical wire in good repair. If you find frayed wires or knob and tube wiring (i.e. two wires running through ceramic tubes and wrapped around ceramic knobs), you'd be well advised to call an electrician to replace it. (Knob and tube wiring is safe if properly installed, but often is not properly installed. Hire a professional to inspect it to find out.)
See how low you can go. Save energy and money by lowering your thermostat even more. The lower you go, and the longer you stay low, the more you save. If you don't believe it, try experimenting yourself. Most households can safely (i.e. without freezing pipes) turn down their thermostats to 55 degrees at night and during the day when no one is home. You might be able to go even lower. Just make sure everyone in your household is ready for the experience before you touch that thermostat!

Sustainable Home Tour and Talk

noreply@blogger.com (Fred Horch) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 20:18:00 +0000

Join us on Thursday, November 12 for "Sustainable Home Tour and Talk." Homeowner Dave Tilton will lead a tour and discuss the design features and performance of his high-efficiency, low-impact home. The tour will start at 4:30 pm in Brunswick; a carpool will be arranged to visit the Tilton residence. The talk will start at 7 pm in Brunswick. Both the tour and talk are free and open to the public.

"We wanted to build in terms of what we believe is best for our environment, our earth, and our responsibility for being a part of the human community," says Tilton. "That's why we are continuing to share what we have done and what we are learning about the performance of our energy systems so we and others can improve on what we have done."

The tour gives participants the chance to see how the owners have integrated sixteen design principles into the specific requirements of working with timber frame strawbale construction in a passive solar orientation. This integration includes three active energy systems: grid tied solar photovoltaic power, solar hot water, and a propane fired condensing boiler. All support a full radiant heating system and the usual domestic hot and cold water systems. Installed cost data as well as follow-on performance information will be available. In addition, participants can see how principles of universal design -- handicapped accessibility - have been included where appropriate and feasible.

The Tilton home has been in process since 2005. Occupancy began in October 2006 and "detailing" has been the major task since. The home is a full traditional timberframe with interior revealed structure, wrapped by strawbale walls in a solar orientation. This permits both passive solar supplemented by active solar grid tied PV and an Apricus solar hot water system. Heat for the full radiant floor system is furnished by the integrated solar hot water and Baxi-Luna propane fired condensing boiler system. Main house windows manufactured by Thermotech of Canada are triple paned. There are 588 bales in the house walls and 332 in the garage producing walls 18 inches thick with an R value of 50. The roof system consists of ship lapped boards exposed on the interior, with roof guard, Nudura insulation (7 inches on the house and 3 and 1/2 inches on the garage and connecting section) with strapping and steel roofing on top. The heating system can be supplemented with wood heat with an antique kitchen woodstove and a Vermont Castings Intrepid.

The house is handicapped accessible with three-foot-wide doors, lever handles, pedestal bathroom sinks and interior ramps from garage to main house. Electrical outlets, where possible, are placed higher in the walls. Composting toilets by Sun Mar are in use even though Richmond has town sewer and water systems.

Those wishing to tour the Tilton residence prior to the talk are invited to meet at the F.W. Horch store in Brunswick at 4:30 pm. A carpool to Richmond and back will be arranged. The talk will begin at 7 pm in Brunswick at the F.W. Horch store, 56 Maine Street.

Seating is limited, so those interested in attending are encouraged to call the store at 729-4050 to reserve a space.

This presentation is part of the F.W. Horch series on sustainable living. Each monthly talk is held at the F.W. Horch Sustainable Goods & Supplies store, 56 Maine Street, Brunswick on the second Thursday of the month. December's presentation will be on the topic of home composting of kitchen scraps during winter.

For more information, please call (207) 729-4050.

Early Bird Sale

noreply@blogger.com (Fred Horch) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 11:56:00 +0000

Join us Halloween morning for the annual Brunswick Early Bird sale.

6:30 - 7:30 20% off

7:30 - 8:30 15% off

8:30 - 9:30 10% off

Everything in the store is on sale.

(Sorry, no rainchecks or special orders.)

Happy Halloween!

Carbon Free Heating

noreply@blogger.com (Fred Horch) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 18:57:00 +0000

October's Sustainable Living Tip

Instead of burning fossil fuel or wood, use "carbon free" solar energy and clean electricity to heat your home and protect our climate. Start by signing up for clean electricity. Aggressively set back your oil boiler's thermostat. Then stay toasty warm with electric or solar space heaters.

More Facts About "Carbon Free" Heating

Burning oil, propane, kerosene, natural gas or wood emits carbon dioxide gas into our atmosphere. Scientists believe that this pollution is accumulating and destabilizing our global climate.
You can switch your CMP or Bangor Hydro bill to "clean" electricity that is generated from hydropower dams or wind farms by signing up with Maine Renewable Energy in three easy steps online.
Clean electricity is generated from naturally-renewing energy sources without consuming any fuel or producing any air pollution.
Maine has abundant and inexhaustible supplies of clean power: water, waves, wind and sun. The more people who sign up for clean electricity, the more capital is available to harness these renewable sources. Paying for clean electricity is investing in the energy future of our state.
Once you have switched your electricity account to clean electricity, you can use electric heaters for comfort and safety without contributing to climate change, air pollution or resource depletion.
If you have an oil boiler, you can easily minimize the amount of heating oil you burn this winter by turning down your thermostat and using electric space heaters instead.
Heating with electricity does more to protect our climate and air quality than heating with wood. Burning wood, no matter how efficiently, pumps carbon dioxide and other pollutants into our atmosphere. Trees naturally capture carbon dioxide from the air and store carbon in their tissues; when you cut them down and burn them you release that carbon back into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide or carbon monoxide.
Allowing trees to grow allows them to capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Until trees reach their maximum stature, they reduce the level of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere by storing carbon in their tissues. Trees "clean up" green house gases and help to stabilize our climate. A white oak, for example, can provide 200 years of "carbon cleaning" service if allowed to live its natural lifespan.
The best use of harvested wood, from the perspective of climate protection, is for furniture or buildings. This keeps the carbon "locked up." Burning wood or allowing it to rot releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
Whether you live with or without electricity, you can easily and safely heat your home and other buildings with a solar space heater.
Solar space heaters are direct air heaters that do not require plumbing or electricity.
Solar space heaters are much more affordable than solar domestic hot water systems or solar photovoltaic electric systems. A 1.5 kilowatt solar space heater costs about $2,000 and provides decades of reliable service with no fuel costs.
A solar space heater can be installed on a sunny southern-facing wall or roof.
Solar space heaters blow warm air into your building when the sun shines. A thermal mass, such as a brick interior wall, tile floor, or water barrels strategically placed, absorbs heat during sunny days and releases it at night.
Combining solar space heaters, electric space heaters, and good building practices permanently lowers heating costs. Switching fuels (for example, replacing "expensive" electric heat with "cheap" oil heat) only saves money temporarily while the relative price of the energy sources remains constant.
Eliminating combustion heat (i.e. anything that burns any type of fuel) allows homes to be more snug and safer.
Electric space heaters and solar space heaters do not require vents. They do not consume oxygen and do not produce carbon monoxide gas. They do not require the delivery or storage of fuel or wood.
You can minimize the risk of pipes freezing by replacing hydronic (water) baseboard heat with electric heat. In a typical hydronic baseboard heating system, pipes filled with water are located around the periphery of the building. If the power fails, the electric pumps used to circulate water through these pipes no longer work. If the temperature drops enough, the pipes burst as the water inside them freezes. Electric heaters are not filled with water. They can tolerate below-freezing temperatures without damage.
During the energy crisis of the 1970s, many all-electric homes were built. Unfortunately, many of these homes were not properly weatherized and insulated, so the owners incurred unnecessarily high heating bills. Proper weatherization and insulation can cut heating bills in half.
If the 80% of Mainers who burn #2 heating oil would switch their electricity accounts to "Maine Clean Power" and replace their oil-fired boilers with electric heaters, we would have an extra $1.5 billion circulating domestically in Maine's economy and we would keep 12 billion pounds of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere every year.

Storm Windows Clinic

noreply@blogger.com (Fred Horch) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 18:28:00 +0000

F.W. Horch Sustainable Goods and Supplies, 56 Maine St., Brunswick, will host a clinic by Rendon Sabina of Downeast Interior Storms, titled "Make Your Own Interior Storm Windows," on Thursday, October 8, at 7:00 p.m. The clinic is free and open to the public.

Interior storm windows are transparent, insulating storm windows that can be installed on the inside of any window. They are simply made using wood, polyolefin film, and open cellulose foam. They are affordable, reusable, and will save energy costs year after year.

Interior storm windows are designed to keep heat in and stop drafts. Properly measured, made and installed, interior storm windows will significantly reduce heating bills, particularly in homes with older double-hung windows. In general, they are much less expensive than replacement windows. Unlike plastic films, interior storms are reusable year after year. They can be installed and removed without the use of tools or fasteners.

Attendees at Thursday's clinic will learn how to measure, make and install interior storm windows for their own homes or for friends and family. Storm windows may also be custom ordered through F.W. Horch for those not wishing to make their own.

Free refreshments and handouts will be provided.

Space is limited. To reserve a seat or for more information, please call 729-4050 or visit www.FWHorch.com.

Common Ground Fair

noreply@blogger.com (Fred Horch) — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 04:52:00 +0000

Common Ground Fair is this weekend, so we'll be closing the store early on Wednesday, September 23 to pack up. Thursday the store will be closed as we travel up to Unity. We'll be at the Fair on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, September 25, 26 and 27, returning to our regular store hours next week. See you at Common Ground!

Super Efficient Home Course

noreply@blogger.com (Fred Horch) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 03:24:00 +0000

For those who missed Al Heath's "Design and Build/Retrofit Your Own Super Efficient Home" talk last week, he will be teaching this topic as an adult education course in Bath from October 1 to November 19.

Here are the course details:

Should you build new or renovate/retrofit your existing home to new energy efficiency standards? Which standards should you use? How tight should it be and what about indoor air quality and moisture? What is the best way to insulate? How much heat will you need and where will you get it? Solar? Wood? These and more questions will be addressed. This class will take an in-depth look at every type of energy use in your home. We will consider and evaluate all possible approaches to significantly reducing your home's energy budget while saving you money, increasing comfort, improving indoor air quality, and reducing our dependence on fossil fuels. Savings of 50-80% are achievable. Al Heath has been a carpenter/builder in the Bath area for 12 years. Four years ago he and his wife designed and built a super-insulated, passive solar home that uses one quarter of the energy used by new standard construction homes. He is a Maine Home Performance Energy Auditor and consults with builders and homeowners on energy efficiency practices.

Cost: $50
Instructor: Al Heath
Course ID: 200602.210

For more information, visit the Maine Adult Education Association web site.

Weatherize

noreply@blogger.com (Fred Horch) — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 18:43:00 +0000

September's Sustainable Living Tip

"Weatherize" your home by sealing air leaks, controlling moisture and adding insulation. You'll enhance your health and comfort, while saving money and the planet!

More Facts About Weatherization

"Weatherizing" a home means making it more comfortable and efficient in both winter and summer by preventing unwanted air leaks, eliminating excessive moisture, and controlling heat flow.
Most households spend more on heating and cooling their house than any other use of energy.
A typical house that burns fuel for heating releases almost twice as much air pollution annually as a typical car. (By contrast, homes that heat with clean green electricity emit no air pollution.)
The "mileage" (i.e. energy efficiency) of a home that burns heating oil is called its K-factor, measured in degree days per gallon. The higher the K-factor, the better.
Older homes often have a K-factor below 5. Newer homes can achieve K-factors above 10. If you take automatic delivery of heating oil, your bill should list your K-factor. (This is how your oil company determines how often to come fill your tank.)
Keep track of your home's K-factor to see whether the weatherization measures you're taking are getting results.
The best way to start weatherizing a home is to use weather stripping, caulk or spray foam to seal air leaks around doors, windows, sills, electrical outlets, and vent pipes. These are easy projects that a home owner or a handy man can do.
Seals around windows and doors eventually wear out, so inspect every year to identify weatherstripping that needs replacing.
Sealing air leaks along the walls in an unheated basement is especially important to avoid freezing pipes. Older homes have gaps where the wood sill meets the stone or concrete foundation. The most effective way to seal these is to use a spray foam gun kit instead of wasteful disposable spray cans.
Forty percent of all air leaks occur in the attic. Be careful when sealing leaks around chimneys; if you don't understand your local fire code hire a certified weatherization technician to handle air sealing your attic.
Control moisture in kitchens and bathrooms by installing fans that exhaust to the outside.
Check your attic and walls to see if yours is among the 65% of homes that need more insulation. You should have about 16 inches of insulation in your attic.
The best place to add insulation is in your attic, but do this after you've sealed air leaks. If you hire an insulation company, ask them about air sealing. They should list specific steps they'll take to seal air leaks. If they don't, consider hiring someone else.
Oak Ridge National Laboratory recommends insulating an existing home in Maine's climate to the following standards: attic R-49 (about 16 inches of cellulose), walls R-13, floors R-30, and basement and crawlspace walls R-25.
If your basement is unheated, either insulate the floor above it, or the walls. Be sure to seal air leaks first before installing batt insulation, or use a spray foam that will simultaneously seal air leaks and insulate.
All windows at night, and north-facing windows all the time, suffer a net loss of heat via radiation. To minimize heat loss, install storm windows (either exterior or interior) and close drapes or blinds whenever possible.
Because heating systems are most efficient when properly sized, and are properly sized according to the heat loss characteristics of the building they heat, you'll save the most money and energy if you reduce your heat loss through insulating and air sealing before replacing your heating system.
If you heat with oil, gas or wood, ensure that your flue is providing a proper draw to exhaust combustion fumes. Fresh air must be available for combustion to occur safely; many heating systems draw their combustion air from the heated living space and exhaust it outdoors. (In other words, they suck cold air into your home.)
Solar and electric space heaters are simpler, safer and cleaner than boilers or furnaces. Since they do not burn anything, they do not draw in cold air. If you can switch to clean electric heat, you can dramatically improve your environmental profile and live comfortably in a very energy efficient home.
Very tightly air sealed homes should install passive ventilation or heat recovery ventilators to provide fresh air.
Tightly sealed homes should use safe cleaners, paints and adhesives that don't diminish indoor air quality.
Properly designed super-insulated passive solar homes in Maine's climate do not need central heating systems because sunlight provides the baseline heat. Electric space heaters supplement the sun's energy.
The U.S. Department of Energy's EnergySmart Home Scale (E-Scale) is a way to rate a home's energy performance. The typical new home is a 100 on the E-Scale, whereas the typical existing home is a 130 (i.e. uses 30% more energy). An Energy Star home is an 85 on the scale.
By installing solar panels, wind turbines and other renewable energy systems, a home can generate its own energy, thereby lowering its score on the E-Scale.
One industry observer predicts that by 2050, 67% of new housing starts will have an E-Scale score of 0 or better (i.e. produce as much or more energy than they use).

Environmental Happenings

noreply@blogger.com (Fred Horch) — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 04:51:00 +0000

Add bats to the growing list of species whose numbers are in dramatic decline. According to Bat Conservation International (BCI), White-nose Syndrome has devastated bat populations across the northeastern United States over the past four years. "This is the worst crisis I've ever seen," says Merlin Tuttle, the organization's founder.

Since the disease was discovered in New York 2006, BCI estimates that it has killed at least one million hibernating bats of six species in nine states. Moving beyond the Northeast last winter, White-nose Syndrome is reaching into West Virginia and Virginia. Ultimately, bats across North America are at risk.

To learn what you can do to help our bats, visit the Bat Conservation International web site.

Environmental Events

F.W. Horch fall hours: Mon by appointment, Tue-Sat 9:30-6, Sun Closed.

Our store will be closed on Friday, September 25 and Saturday, September 26, while we are at Common Ground Country Fair. If you're going to the fair, please stop by our booth in the Energy and Shelter section!

Thursday, September 10 - Super-Efficient Homes: Build New or Renovate, 7 pm, F.W. Horch, 56 Maine Street, Brunswick. Come learn how to build new, renovate or retrofit your existing home to new energy efficiency standards. Al Heath, a certified energy auditor and former carpenter, will share lessons learned from his own experience designing and building a super-efficient home for his own family. For more information, please call 729-4050. Free and open to the public.

Sunday, September 13 - Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust Race 4 Space, 9 am, Livesay Soccer Field on Middlebay Road, Brunswick. Enjoy a beautiful race or walk and support the Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust. Four mile race starts at 9 am. Guided walking tour of historic Pennellville starts at 9:15. One mile race for junior runners starts at 10 am. Fun run for kids starts at 10:15. Registration fees $5 to $20 depending on event; proceeds benefit the land trust. For more information, visit www.btlt.org.

Wednesday, September 16 - Protecting the Nature of Maine: Fifty Years of the Natural Resources Council of Maine, 7 pm, One Longfellow Square, Portland. Join the Natural Resources Council of Maine for the Gala Film Premiere and Reception for an inspiring new documentary film featuring interviews with dozens of prominent Mainers, filmed in scenic locations from York to Mount Katahdin. Event starts with an introduction by the film's director, Richard Kane, and others involved. Reception, refreshments, cash bar to follow. $10. For more information, visit www.nrcm.org.

Saturday, September 19 - 2009 Wonder of Wood Fair, 10 am - 3 pm, Sullivan Gym, University of Southern Maine, Portland. Join Forests for Maine’s Future for a celebration of Maine woodlands. Bring the kids in for a Chewonki workshop featuring live forest critters. Take a course in chainsaw safety. Even learn how to brew your own beer. Free and open to the public. For more information, visit www.forestsformainesfuture.org.

Sunday, September 20 - How to Create a Wildlife-Friendly Backyard, 1 pm, Morrell Meeting Room of the Curtis Memorial Library, 23 Pleasant Street, Brunswick. Gretchen Kamilewicz, Habitat Steward, will teach you how to attract wildlife, while adding to the beauty of your home landscape, using shrubs, trees, perennials, and other plants. These improvements will benefit birds, butterflies, mammals, and other wildl ife during Maine’s four seasons. Hosted by the Brunswick Park and Gardens project. Free and open to the public. For more information, call 833-5125.

Friday, Saturday and Sunday, September 25, 26 and 27 - Common Ground Country Fair, gates open at 9 am, Unity. Don't miss the 33rd annual Common Ground Country Fair! Visit farmers and their livestock, eat delicious, Maine-grown organic foods, enjoy music and entertainment, learn basic gardening skills and see vendors of Maine-made crafts, folk arts, food, plants, agricultural tools and products for sustainable living. Be sure to drop by our tent in the Energy and Shelter section. Adults $10 / Seniors $8; Free admission to children under 12, MOFGA members, and Volunteers. For more information, visit www.MOFGA.org.

Saturday, October 3 - First Annual Maine Cool Congress, University of Maine, Augusta. Maine Partners for Cool Communities is calling together local Cool Teams, energy committee members, and municipal leaders for an all day event that will include speakers, networking, and valuable workshops. The conference will be held simultaneously at three locations across the state; The University of Maine in Augusta, Machias, and Presque Isle and will be connected through telecommunications in order to reduce traveling and to connect a greater number of communities. $25. For more information, call 761-5616.

Saturday, October 3 - Green Building Open House, locations throughout Maine and New England. The annual solar home tour is now the "green building open house." See how your neighbors are reducing their energy bills and carbon footprint through the power of the sun, wind, and smart building design. On Saturday, October 3, the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association welcomes the public to visit local sustainable homes and buildings on the tour throughout Maine and New England to view clean renewable energy at work. Free and open to the public. For more information, visit www.nesea.org.

Featured Products for September

noreply@blogger.com (Fred Horch) — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 03:43:00 +0000

Laptop Lunches Bento System 2.0

The Laptop Lunches Bento System 2.0 is ideal for families who embrace the bento concept for its function and sustainable style, but value the insulation and appeal of the traditional lunchbox. This brand new Bento System 2.0 is ideal for work, school, and travel. The insulated carrying case keeps foods fresh, and the sturdy polypropylene containers prevent squishing. Don't leave home without it! Includes everything you need to pack a healthy and delicious lunch.

Laptop Lunches Bento System 2.0 $39.95

Laptop Lunches Bento Set 2.0 $24.95

Laptop Lunches Bento Buddies 2.0 $12.95

Learn more »

To-Go Stainless Steel Lunch Tiffin

Get this 2-Tier Stainless Steel Tiffin Set (a nifty lunch box system that hails from India) for food on the go. All metal, reusable, lightweight, and has a lid that doubles as a plate. Easy to carry and clean, but hard to live without. Great for both cold or hot food, and the planet, too. Fold down the handle to make it compact and easy to store. Perfect for work, school, picnics, or a night out (makes for a stylish doggy bag). There’s nowhere it won’t go…except to landfill.

Stainless Steel Tiffin $22.95

Carrying Bag $15.95

Learn more »

Bamboo Reusable Utensil Set

This reusable bamboo utensil set is a stylish and practical way to bring your sustainable values on the road. Enjoy eating with your own utensils made of bamboo, a highly durable and sustainably harvested material. The wraps are made in Freeport, Maine, while the bamboo comes from away. Support both the local and global economy with this smart purchase.

Child set $15

Adult set $20

Learn more »

Stainless Steel Lunch Tin

Pack a sandwich, salad or piece of fruit in this stainless steel food container. Handy size, fully recyclable, dishwasher friendly, fits perfectly in your lunchbox. Seriously safe: stainless steel doesn't leach chemicals like some plastics. Keeps food tasting fresh, not like plastic. Lighter weight and more durable than glass. Dimensions: 6" x 4.5" x 2"

Stainless Steel Lunch Tin $14.95

Learn more »

Wrap-N-Mat Sandwich Wrap and Place Mat

A convenient, environmentally-friendly re-usable sandwich wrap and place mat in one! Simply place a sandwich or other snack foods in the center of the wrap and fold left to right, top to bottom and close the hook and loop fasteners. Your Wrap-N-Mat wraps keeps food fresh for hours. When needed, place a cold pack alongside the mat. Opens flat, so it's much easier to clean than baggies.

Wrap-N-Mat $6.95

Learn more »

Super-Efficient Homes: Build New or Renovate

noreply@blogger.com (Fred Horch) — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 14:40:00 +0000

Join us here at the store on Thursday, September 10 at 7 pm for "Super-Efficient Homes: Build New or Renovate," a green building clinic by Al Heath of Arrowsic. Our clinic is free and open to the public.

Al was a carpenter, designer, and contractor in the Bath/Brunswick area for twelve years before changing careers. Five years ago, when looking to have a new energy efficient house built for his family, he found that not only was it prohibitively expensive, but most builders didn't really know what "super-insulated, passive solar" meant. He then decided to immerse himself in the building science of energy efficiency and build his family's home himself. The resulting 2000 square foot house heats with one cord of wood and 50 gallons of kerosene per year. A solar hot water system provides the majority of hot water needs.

At the September 10th clinic, Al will share lessons learned during the process, including a list of helpful sources and contractors for those who want to design, build or renovate their own homes to be super-efficient. He is a Maine Home Performance Energy Auditor and consults with owners and builders on new and retrofitting projects.

Topics covered at the clinic will include: Should you build new, renovate or retrofit your existing home to new energy efficiency standards? Which standards should you use? How tight should your house be? What about indoor air quality and moisture? What is the best way to insulate? How much heat will you need and where to get it: solar, wood? In addition, Al will address specific questions from those who attend the clinic.

We'll provide free refreshments and handouts.

Space is limited. To reserve a seat or for more information, please call us at 729-4050.

Environmental Happenings

noreply@blogger.com (Fred Horch) — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 16:34:00 +0000

Late blight has hit Maine and New England with a vengeance this year. Dr. Steven B. Johnson, University of Maine Cooperative Extension Crops Specialist, writes, "Late blight is caused by Phytophthora infestans, a fungus-like organism. Few plant diseases can rival the widespread misery and despair of late blight. Many tomato and potato growers are getting their first introduction to late blight. I’m afraid that many are unprepared for the level of destruction that this pathogen can cause."

Tomatoes and potatoes affected by blight show brown spots on leaves and stems that quickly spread, causing the entire plant to wilt and die. Otherwise healthy and vigorous plants can be overcome in a matter of days. Dr. Johnson's note (available from the MOFGA web site) explains how organic growers can control late blight with copper hydroxide.

Unfortunately, copper hydroxide is not suitable for most home gardeners. If you apply copper hydroxide, be very careful to read and follow the application notes. Ideally, you should have an eye-flush container available, and wear coveralls, chemical resistant gloves, shoes, socks and protective eye wear if you plan to reenter the treated area within 24 hours after application.

Instead of attempting to treat blight, most sources recommend that home gardeners pull blighted plants and either immediately bury them at least 12 inches deep or bag them in plastic and throw them in the garbage. Composting blighted plants above ground can spread the spores and prolong the infestation. A related strain of late blight was responsible for the Irish potato famine; this disease has been a serious problem for a long time!

The weather seems to be the main culprit for the widespread nature of the disease this year. The organism thrives in cool, wet weather. Another problem, according to a specialist quoted by The New York Times, may have been infected plants distributed by large retailers like Home Depot and Wal*Mart. Seedlings showing signs of blight were observed in at least one box store in New York state and remained on sale for more than a week. The distribution of infected seedlings may have exacerbated the outbreak this year.

Environmental Events

F.W. Horch summer hours: Mon by appointment, Tue-Sat 9:30-6, Sun Closed.

Thursday, August 13 - Permaculture Design: Tools for Local Food Self Sufficiency, 7 pm, F.W. Horch, 56 Maine Street, Brunswick. Come learn how to turn your lawnscape into a sustainable food-producing gardenscape. Permaculture practitioners Noah Wentworth, Lisa Fernandes, and Ted Markow will lead the discussion. For more information, please call 729-4050. Free and open to the public.

Tuesday, August 18 - Climate Action and Clean Energy Now, 7 pm, The Gulf of Maine Research Institute, 350 Commercial Street, Portland. Climate expert Dr. Joseph Romm, author of Hell and High Water and the editor of the most widely read climate blog in the country (http://www.climateprogress.org/) will speak on the movement toward a clean energy future. This event is one of 50 events to celebrate Natural Resource Council of Maine’s 50 years protecting the nature of Maine. Join NRCM for a reception from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m., with the presentation to follow at 7:00 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. You are encouraged to register online to help with planning. For more information, visit http://www.nrcm.org/.

Pack a Lunch, Save a Lot

noreply@blogger.com (Fred Horch) — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 16:32:00 +0000

Get into the habit of packing a lunch in reusable lunchware. You'll save money, eat healthier, and help clean up our landscape.

More Facts About Packed Lunches

A recent article in Forbes magazine listed packing your own lunch as the number one way to save money at your job, with an estimated annual savings of $780.
Packing your own lunch makes it easier for you to eat a healthy mid-day meal because you can control your portion size, include a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables, and avoid processed foods.
If everyone used reusable lunchware, we could keep billions of disposable cups, utensils and wrappers from littering our landscape and clogging our landfills.
Eating lunch within walking distance helps reduce traffic congestion at one of the busiest times of day. According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, more car trips are taken per hour during lunch time (noon to 1 pm) than during the morning commute hours (7 am - 9 am).
The United States Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service provides several recommendations for "bag" lunches: pack just the amount of perishable food that can be eaten for lunch so you won't have to worry about the safety of leftovers, include a frozen gel pack or frozen drink to keep food cold, pack your lunch in an insulated lunch box, or pack items that don't require refrigeration, such as whole fruits and vegetables, hard cheese, peanut butter and jelly, breads, and crackers.
Rigid containers, such as stainless steel tins, keep everything from getting smooshed, making it easy to enjoy a healthy salad and fresh fruit every day.
Ramit Sethi, the author of I Will Teach You To Be Rich, suggests starting by deciding how many times each week you will pack your lunch, and how many times you will eat out. That way, you can plan ahead so you aren't stressed out every morning trying to put together a lunch for the day.
Having two or three sets of reusable lunchware makes your life easier because you don't have to worry about washing your lunchware every single day. If you forget or get too busy to wash things one evening, you'll still have a clean set ready to use the next day. (You will eventually have to wash them all, though!)
If you're really pressed for time in the mornings, pack up your lunch the night before and put it in the fridge. Until you get into the habit of taking your lunch with you, a reminder note on your door ("Don't forget lunch is in the fridge!") might be a good idea.
Packing your own tap water in a stainless steel bottle is by most accounts the cheapest and healthiest option for drinking. (Buy a water filter if you're concerned about chlorine or other contaminants in your tap water.) You risk cracking a metal bottle if you put it in the freezer, but you can fill it with ice cubes to help keep your food cool. By lunch time, the ice will have melted and your water will be ready to drink.
Signing up for a community supported agriculture (CSA) share, or visiting a farmers market, is a great way to buy fresh local food in season for a week's worth of lunches.
One reason people don't bring their own lunches to work is that they don't want to miss out on going out to eat with their colleagues. If you can change the culture of your workplace, people can bring their lunches and eat them together. Lunch time is important for socializing and networking; in a "green" workplace, you can bring your own lunch and eat it, too, without being left out of the group.
A "naked" lunch rule will help you make sure you really are saving money, eating healthier, and keeping our landscape clean. Ideally, everything you pack in your lunch will be "naked", i.e. it won't be in its own individual wrapper. For example, whole fruits and vegetables, sandwiches, and your water or other beverage will go "naked" into your reusable lunchware. Anything that comes in its own plastic, paper or foil wrapper is likely to be more expensive, less nutritious, and (thanks to the extra wrapper) more wasteful than a naked alternative.
Don't forget to bring home your peels, pits, paper napkins and any left overs. It all makes great compost!

Permaculture Design: Tools for Local Food Self Sufficiency

noreply@blogger.com (Fred Horch) — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 19:48:00 +0000

F.W. Horch Sustainable Goods and Supplies, 56 Maine St., Brunswick, will host "Permaculture Design: Tools for Local Food Self Sufficiency," a discussion led by local permaculture practitioners Noah Wentworth, Lisa Fernandes and Ted Markow, on Thursday, August 13, from 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm. The talk is free and open to the public.

"We can grow food and our local economy by utilizing our own yards, public open space and our local farmland," says Mr. Wentworth. "Come learn how to turn your lawnscape into a food producing gardenscape."

Addressing the growing concern about the energy consumed in shipping food from distant places and the degraded nutritional value when that food ultimately reaches our dinner plate, permaculture design offers strategies to grow more food in our own communities. Permaculture is a unique approach to creating agricultural systems that are perennial and evolve micro ecosystems that are healthier and more disease resistant. By designing ways to grow more food locally, permaculture seeks to strengthen local economies and revitalize our own yards, public open spaces and local farmland through plant diversity and balanced resource extraction.

Those attending the discussion will learn proven strategies for turning an unproductive "lawnscape" into a food producing "gardenscape" with enhanced economic and aesthetic value. Seating is limited, so those interested in attending are encouraged to call the store at (207) 729-4050 to reserve a space.

This presentation is part of the F.W. Horch series on sustainable living. Each monthly talk is held at the F.W. Horch Sustainable Goods & Supplies store, 56 Maine Street, Brunswick on the second Thursday of the month. September's presentation will feature Al Heath on the topic of designing and building or renovating your own super efficient home.

For more information, please call (207) 729-4050 or visit www.FWHorch.com.

Home-Grown Fertilizer

noreply@blogger.com (Fred Horch) — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 05:08:00 +0000

July's Sustainable Living Tip

Make your own fertilizer from kitchen scraps with a worm bin. Simply feed your worms shredded paper and food waste, then harvest liquid worm tea and solid worm castings. Spray worm tea directly on the leaves of your plants or dilute it one part tea to ten parts water for use every other week when watering. Use worm castings as a top dressing for your soil, or mix one to one with potting soil when starting seeds.

More Facts About Fertilizer

Packaged fertilizer is labeled according to the major plant nutrients it provides: nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K).
Fertilizers may also provide the secondary nutrients calcium, sulfur and magnesium.
Beyond the major and secondary nutrients, plants also need micronutrients including boron, chlorine, manganese, iron, zinc, copper, molybdenum and selenium.
Home-made fertilizers such as worm castings include not just the major and secondary nutrients, but a wide array of micronutrients.
The key to healthy plants is healthy soil. You lose nutrients from your soil each year when you harvest crops. Adding about an inch of compost every year to your soil replenishes the organic matter and many of the nutrients needed to sustain plant growth.
Although our planet's atmosphere is mostly nitrogen (more than 78%), it is in a highly stable form that is difficult for plants to use. Nitrogen must be converted (or "fixed") to ammonia before plants can use the nitrogen to create DNA and proteins.
The nitrogen in synthetic fertilizers is often fixed using natural gas. In the Haber-Bosch process, nitrogen gas from the air (N2) is combined with hydrogen from natural gas to form ammonia (NH3). This ammonia is then oxidized to create various types of synthetic fertilizers.
Each year between 3 and 5% of the world's supply of natural gas is consumed to produce synthetic nitrogen fertilizer.
Nitrogen fixation can also occur naturally without the need for natural gas.
Natural sources of nitrogen fixation include bacteria and plants in the legume family (clover, beans, alfalfa, lupines and peanuts) that have formed symbiosis with bacteria that fix nitrogen. Cultivating natural nitrogen fixation reduces or eliminates the need for synthetic nitrogen fertilizer.
Until the 1950s, farmers typically purchased fertilizers tailored to their soil needs from small manufacturers within a 100-mile radius.
In the 1960s, concentrated phosphates began replacing natural phosphate rock as a result of efforts by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and the Land Grant Colleges to promote higher analysis fertilizers. The idea was to deliver more phosphate to farmers at lower cost, resulting in the centralization of production of phosphate fertilizer.
By 2005, Florida produced 75% of the phosphate rock mined in the United States, all of which was converted to phosphoric acid to facilitate the production of concentrated phosphate fertilizers.
Unlike nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium do not seem capable of being fixed from atmospheric sources. Instead, these elements cycle through a biological process that requires direct replenishment to the soil. Composting yard and kitchen scraps is a sustainable method of returning these vital nutrients to your garden soil.

Environmental Happenings

noreply@blogger.com (Fred Horch) — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 05:06:00 +0000

Thursday, July 9 - Electric Scooters Test Ride, 6 pm, F.W. Horch, 56 Maine Street, Brunswick. Test ride an eGo electric scooters, then join Scoot USA for a discussion of fossil-fuel-free personal transportation options, including folding bikes. "Scoot to commute!" For more information, please call 729-4050. Free and open to the public.

Friday, July 10 to Sunday, July 12 - 21st Annual Maine Bike Rally, Fryeburg, Maine. The Maine Bike Rally is a much-beloved tradition that brings together hundreds of bicyclists from throughout the United States and Canada. The 2009 rally offers three days of road and off-road bike rides in beautiful western Maine and the Mount Washington Valley of New Hampshire for all levels of cyclists, plus a full weekend of family entertainment. For additional information, contact the Bicycle Coalition of Maine at (207) 623-4511 or email info@BikeMaine.org.

Tuesday, July 14 - Portland Greendrinks, 5:30 - 8 pm, Sebago Brewery, 48 Sanford Drive, Gorham Industrial Park, Gorham. Greendrinks brings together a lively mix of people from all walks of life: academics, NGOs, local businesses and government agencies. The goal is to create an organic, self-organizing network where everyone is welcome. It's a great way to catch up with people you already know, as well as an opportunity to meet new people and make new connections. The July Greendrinks event is co-sponsored by the Maine Volunteer Lawyers Association (MeVLA) and the Sebago Brewing Company. While the two don't have much in common, they both keep the environment at the top of their respective lists of priorities when doing business. For more information, visit www.PortlandGreenDrinks.com/greendrinks

Tuesday, July 14 - Transition Town Brunswick meeting, 7 pm, Morrell Meeting Room, Curtis Memorial Library, Brunswick. Transition Town Brunswick will be screening a filmed presentation by activist and author, Guy Dauncey, entitled "The Great Energy Revolution: Practical Solutions to the Climate Crisis and Peak Oil", taken during his keynote speech at the Climate Change Town Hall Conference in Grass Valley, California. "[Be] inspired to implement some of these ideas here in the Brunswick area so we can start the essential and exciting process of transitioning away from fossil fuels," writes Amory Weld, organizer of the event.

Saturday, July 18 - Birding at Moosehead Lake, 7:30 am, North Woods Outfitters, Greenville. Join Bob Duchesne, author of Maine Birding Trail, and Lisa Pohlmann, NRCM's deputy director, to explore a variety of habitats that create some of the best bird diversity in the state. Boreal Chickadees, Gray Jays, Spruce Grouse, and a variety of warblers, thrushes, and other songbirds more common to the boreal forest of Canada draw bird enthusiasts to Maine from far and wide. If you have questions about this trip, please feel free to contact Beth Dimond at beth@nrcm.org or (207) 430-0106.

Saturday, July 18 - Maine Animal Coalition's Fifth Annual Vegetarian Food Festival, 11am to 3 pm, East End Community School, 195 North Street, Portland. A half day of vegan food samples, exhibitors, workshops, cooking demos, kids activities, a raffle and more! For more information contact the Festival Chair: Angela M Bell, 207-409-3917, maineanimalcoalition@myfairpoint.net

Sunday, July 19 - Cultivating Community's Boyd Street Bash, Noon to 2 pm, Boyd Street Urban Farm, Boyd Street @ East Oxford Street, East Bayside Neighborhood, Portland. Beginning in 2004, Cultivating Community took an underused and contaminated land in the City of Portland's park bank and began to nurture it back to ecological health. Celebrate the community and the garden with a delicious sampling of food with ingredients straight from the garden, a showcase of green and low-impact technologies for your home and garden, Japanese Taiko Drumming and other music to serenade you, children's activities including "mud buddies" and face painting, and a tour of our planting beds, orchard, and community garden plots.

Saturday, July 25 - Eighth Annual Maine Lobster Ride & Roll, Rockland District High School, 400 Broadway, Rockland. The state’s most scenic and tastiest bicycle ride follows country roads and the rock-bound coast. The fully supported ride includes four distance options: 16, 30, 50 or 100 miles. Cyclists can look forward to a freshly made lobster roll lunch (tuna and veggie options available) and live Tour de France coverage at the end. The Maine Lobster Ride & Roll supports the Bicycle Coalition of Maine’s safety and education programs. For more information, please visit www.BikeMaine.org/lobsterride or call (207) 623-4511. Fees will be announced on the website.

Electric Scooter Test Drive

noreply@blogger.com (Fred Horch) — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:02:00 +0000

Scoot USA presents a "Sustainable Transportation" demonstration and discussion at F.W. Horch Sustainable Goods and Supplies, 56 Maine Street, Brunswick on Thursday, July 9 at 6 pm. eGo electric scooters will be available for test rides, followed by a discussion of fossil-fuel-free personal transportation options. The event is free and open to the public. The discussion will take place regardless of weather conditions; a rain date for riding the electric scooters will be scheduled if necessary.

"Scoot to commute!" says Jeff Cooper, Director of Fun for Scoot USA. "Years ago I selected electric scooters for my own use for the ease of maintenance, no gas or oil to deal with. Little did I know that gasoline would touch $5.00 per gallon!"

Cooper is known as an innovator, taking what seems ordinary and seeing a higher potential, whether a business concept, an activity, or a product. In addition to his Scoot USA business, Cooper owns Slot Car Junction in Brunswick and H2Outfitters Sea Kayaking Adventures in Harpswell. The original idea for Scoot USA came about because of the need for reliable transportation on Orr's Island where his kayaking business is located. After several months of research back in 2004 he settled on the eGo scooters based upon reliability, balance, and ease of operation. But the biggest attraction for use on the island was the ease of maintenance.

The demonstration on Thursday will start at 6 pm, one hour earlier than the regular monthly talks at F.W. Horch, to allow attendees to test ride the electric scooters. Following the test rides, the discussion will take place inside. Space is limited, so those interested in attending are encouraged to call the store at (207) 729-4050 to reserve a seat.

This event is part of the F.W. Horch series on sustainable living. Each monthly event is held at the F.W. Horch Sustainable Goods & Supplies store, 56 Maine Street, Brunswick, Maine, on the second Thursday of the month.

For more information about the F.W. Horch sustainable living series, please call (207) 729-4050 or visit www.FWHorch.com.

Water Conservation

noreply@blogger.com (Fred Horch) — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 22:01:00 +0000

June's Sustainable Living Tip

Here are two easy ways to conserve water. Outdoors, install a rain barrel. Indoors, install a more efficient shower head. Every year, you'll keep thousands of gallons of water from being sucked out of our groundwater or lakes.

More Facts About Water Conservation

Maine annually receives about 43 inches of rain on average.
You can fill up a 60 gallon rain barrel with a half inch of rain on a 20 by 10 section of roof.
Rain water is naturally distilled water; it's the best water for your garden because it doesn't add salts to your soil.
When you set up your rain barrel, make sure to put it on blocks or a stand so you can fill up a watering can from the spigot at the bottom.
If you could collect all the precipitation falling on a 1,000 square foot roof in Maine (approximately the average size house), you'd have 18,000 gallons in a severe drought year and 36,000 gallons in an extremely wet year.
The average residential account in the Portland Water District, Maine's largest public water supply, consumed over 70,000 gallons per year.
According to the American Water Works Association, less than 16% of the clean, drinkable ("potable") water we use inside our homes is used for cooking or drinking.
26.7% of potable water consumed is used to flush toilets.
21.7% of potable water is used to wash clothes.
16.8% of potable water is used for showers.
13.7% of potable water is lost to leaks inside the home.
A leaking toilet wastes up to 200 gallons per day.
A dripping faucet wastes about 2 gallons per day.
A seven minute shower with an older 5 gallon per minute shower head uses 35 gallons of water; the same shower with an efficient 1.75 gpm shower head uses just 12.25 gallons.
Over the course of a year, if you take one seven minute shower every day, replacing a 5 gpm shower head with a 1.75 gpm shower head saves over 8,000 gallons of hot water.
Conserving hot water saves energy as well as water.
Toilets made since 1993 use 1.6 gallons or less per flush.
Toilets made in the 1980s use 3.5 gallons per flush.
Toilets made in the 1960s and 1970s use 5.5 gallons per flush.
Toilets made in the 1950s and earlier use up to 7 gallons per flush.
Assuming four flushes per day, replacing a 1950s-vintage toilet with a modern 1.6 gpf toilet would save 7,884 gallons per year.
Putting a few inches of sand in a one gallon plastic milk jug (so it sinks) and placing the milk jug in an older toilet tank will save one gallon per flush, or 1,460 gallons per year assuming four flushes per day.
If you are on a well and the power fails, you probably lose pressure and can't flush your toilets. Keep some water in 5 gallon containers for power outages and other emergencies. A good opportunity to fill up your emergency water containers is when waiting for your shower to warm up in the morning. Any time you run water waiting for it to get hot is a chance to restock your emergency water supply.
Five gallon containers like the ones that our bulk cleaning supplies come in make great emergency water containers for storage in a basement or a pantry area. They have handles, close tightly, and have spigots for easy dispensing.
Besides having some room-temperature water on hand, it's also a good idea to keep ice for emergencies. Keeping some frozen water gallons in your freezer actually helps your freezer be more efficient (ice keeps its temperature better than air) and will help keep food from spoiling if you lose power.

Environmental Happenings

noreply@blogger.com (Fred Horch) — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 21:56:00 +0000

F.W. Horch summer hours (starting June 22)

Store hours: Mon by appointment, Tue-Sat 9:30-6, Sun Closed.

Events in Maine

Wednesday, June 10 - Starting with the Soil: Sustainable Soil Management, 5 pm, Crystal Spring Farm, Brunswick. MOFGA staff and organic farmers teach about rotation, composting, green manures, cover crops, and tillage strategies to build organic matter and enhance the health and productivity of farm soil. Free and open to the public. For more information call 568-4142.

Thursday, June 11 - No Water, No Septic, No Problem!, 7 pm, F.W. Horch, 56 Maine Street, Brunswick. Learn how to save water, eliminate the need for septic or sewer, and protect our environment by installing an NSF-certified waterless composting toilet. For more information, please call 729-4050. Free and open to the public.

Friday, June 19 - ReVision Energy Grand Opening, 4-8 pm, ReVision Energy, 142 Presumpscot Street, Portland. ReVision Energy is hosting a Grand Opening for their new Portland location. View the showroom, learn about renewable energy systems, and enjoy free food, drink, and live entertainment. For more information, call Jen at 221-6342.

Sunday, June 21 - How and Why To Keep Bees in Top Bar Beehives, Noon-2 pm, Whiskeag Road, North Bath. Top Bar beekeeping is a simple, bee-friendly, beekeeper-friendly, planet-friendly, and sustainable way of stewarding one of our most important pollinators. Christy Hemenway, founder of Gold Star Honeybees, will discuss the simplicity of working a Top Bar Beehive and the advantages of this method of beekeeping. For directions and to RSVP, call Christy at 449-1121 or email christy@goldstarhoneybees.com

Friday, June 26 - EarthJams! with Matt Loosigian, 10:30 am, Morrell Meeting Room, Curtis Memorial Library, Brunswick. Join Matt for a lively session of singing, movement, and fun!

Saturday & Sunday, June 27 & 28 - Flannel Shirt Festival, downtown Waldoboro. A celebration of community & the land, in honor of Joel Larsen Cartwright (1984-2008). The Festival is a fundraiser for the Flannel Shirt Fund, which connects farms to schools in Maine. The Fund has given out almost $8,000 in grants since last June. Come support kids in gardens! For more information, contact Chelsea Cartwright at 607-342-2026 or email her at joyfulbodies@gmail.com

Featured Products for June

noreply@blogger.com (Fred Horch) — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 21:54:00 +0000

Maine Float Rope Down East Doormat

Float-rope is used by lobstermen to tether multiple traps together on the ocean floor. The problem with float-rope is that it can entangle whales, which sometimes leads to their injury or death. The Gulf of Maine Lobster Foundation purchases turned-in float-rope from Maine lobstermen. Then the Maine Float Rope Company collects and recycles the rope and turns it into terrific, colorful and virtually indestructible doormats. It’s a win-win – a safer habitat for whales, some financial relief for the lobstermen, and a cleaner environment.!

Medium (18"x30") $49.95

Large (24"x36") $79.95

Learn more »

Bamboo Reusable Utensil Set

Child set $15

Adult set $20

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Stainless Steel Lunch Tin

6" x 4.5" x 2" $14.95

Learn more »

Composting Toilet Clinic

noreply@blogger.com (Fred Horch) — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 11:21:00 +0000

F.W. Horch Sustainable Goods and Supplies, 56 Maine St., Brunswick, will host a composting toilet clinic titled "No water, no septic, no problem!", on Thursday, June 11, at 7:00 pm. The clinic is free and open to the public.

"Conventional flush toilets waste between ten and 30 gallons of water every day when working properly -- and 200 gallons a day when leaking. You can save water, eliminate the need for septic or sewer, and protect our environment by installing an NSF-certified waterless composting toilet," says Fred Horch, founder of F.W. Horch. "Composting toilets meet code everywhere in Maine, and in most locations are the most cost-effective way to provide sanitary facilities."

Thursday's clinic will provide an overview of modern composting toilet technology, explaining how "dry" composting accomplishes the same results as a septic system or wastewater treatment plant, but on a much smaller scale, at a much faster rate, and at a much lower overall cost. Composting will be compared to other alternative toilet technologies, including outhouses, cess pools, incinerating toilets and chemical toilets. Participants will also learn how to install and maintain a composting toilet.

Maine code allows composting toilets to be installed in any residential or commercial building, as long as the system is certified to treat waste effectively. Several brands of composting toilets have been certified by the National Sanitation Foundation and meet code in Maine.

"Under the Maine Internal Plumbing Code, a homeowner is permitted to install a composting toilet provided it is listed for residential use by the National Sanitation Foundation, installed properly pursuant to the manufacturer's specifications and instructions, and approved by the Local Plumbing Inspector," says Anne Head, Commissioner of the State of Maine Department of Professional and Financial Regulation.

Those attending the clinic will have the opportunity to examine a disassembled composting toilet to see how waste is broken down inside the unit without the need for plumbing. Owners of composting toilets with questions or advice to share are particularly encouraged to attend.

Space is limited, so those interested in attending should call the F.W. Horch store at 729-4050 to reserve a seat. There is no charge for the clinic.

This clinic is part of the F.W. Horch series on sustainable living. Each monthly talk is held at the F.W. Horch Sustainable Goods & Supplies store, 56 Maine Street, Brunswick on the second Thursday of the month.

Balanced Compost

noreply@blogger.com (Fred Horch) — Tue, 05 May 2009 15:23:00 +0000

May's Sustainable Living Tip

Keep a bucket of dry leaves, shredded paper, sawdust, wood chips or coconut coir next to your composter so you can easily add the "browns" you need to promote fast, odor-free, and thorough decomposition of organic waste.

More Facts About "Browns" for Composting

Composting works best when you have a balanced ratio of carbon to nitrogen in the mix of materials you are composting.
Materials with a low carbon to nitrogen ratio are called "greens."
Materials with a high carbon to nitrogen ratio are called "browns."
Fresh yard cuttings and kitchen scraps are "greens."
Dried leaves, shredded paper and cardboard, sawdust, wood chips, peat moss, and coconut coir are "browns."
If you have too many "greens," your compost will likely smell bad, get slimy, ball up, and take more than six weeks to finish.
If you have too many "browns," pieces won't break down, your compost will never heat up and will take months or years to finish.
If you need to add lime to your pile, that's an indication that 1) you have too many greens, or 2) you aren't turning your pile often enough. Add more browns and turn your pile to ensure good mixing and air flow; you'll probably find you get better results with no need for lime.
Compost "activators" give a shot of "greens" to your pile. These are the perfect solution for compost piles that are heavy on the browns and aren't getting up to temperature. Mix the activator into your pile and add water; your pile should quickly heat up and start decomposing. If it doesn't, add more water and mix again, or wait for warmer weather. Getting a compost pile going is a lot like lighting a fire: you need to have the right fuel and it may take a few tries to get it started.
"Digester" style composters are stationary designs that sit on the ground, digesting scraps from the bottom up. Too many "greens" in this type of composter can become densely packed and odorous. Too many browns can also become tightly packed and biologically inactive. A good strategy is to always toss in a layer of greens and then a layer of browns on top. If necessary, you can also use a compost aerator to poke holes down through the layers to help water and air get to the microbes doing the work of decomposing.
"Tumbling" composters are a great way to make compost fast, but they also are prone to creating "compost balls" with uncomposted food waste in the middle of the ball. Try adding coarse browns like wood chips or coconut coir to keep clumps from forming. Also, a "poking stick" is handy to have on hand to break up any clumps that do form.
Your compost pile should never smell like a cesspool. If odors are a concern, it's better to err on the side of too many browns. Your compost will take a little longer to finish, but you'll avoid nasty smells.
If I have just one piece of advice to give to novices when it comes to composting, it is that "browns" are NOT optional! Especially in the spring, you really do need to have a plan for adding browns to your compost. Putting nothing but kitchen scraps in your composter is a recipe for a stinky disaster. Think of it like baking bread without the flour: you may end up with something edible, but it's a lot easier to follow the recipe. The good news is that whether it's leaves from your yard, or junk mail from advertisers, almost everyone has a convenient source of browns at hand.
Whenever you're diagnosing a composting problem, always remember what you W-A-N-T:
W = Water
A = Air
N = Nutrients (greens and browns)
T = Temperature
Keep your compost in mind as you clean up your yard throughout the year. If you can store some dried leaves, sawdust or wood chips over the winter, you'll be all set for next spring's composting season!