New England Organics Article Feed

2011 Earthlife Product Spreading Event- Newfield, Maine

hsaginario — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 18:37:57 +0000

Article Type:

News

In 2011, New England Organics (NEO) reinvented the way we sell our Earthlife Products. We wanted to harness the full strength of our product sales staff by offering our entire product line through each Product Specialist. This transition away from our traditional focus of each Product Specialist offering only a limited number of products was meant to expand the breadth of knowledge of our people as well as offer our customers the greatest variety of products.

To facilitate this transition, on October 14, 2011 we hosted an event meant to reach out to our stakeholders including our Product Specialists, agricultural and landscape customers, local industry associations and regional municipal agencies. Our goal was to enjoy the beautiful fall colors in southern Maine while educating interested parties about our people, our products, spreading equipment and product application options.

The event was organized by NEO Product Specialist Gene Barker and hosted by Chellis Brook Farm in picturesque Newfield, Maine. NEO staff from Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island attended to gain exposure to a number of products not traditionally offered throughout our entire operating footprint and to respond to inquiries generated from attendees. Joining the NEO team were about twenty farmers, members of the York County Farmers Network and the Maine Grass Growers Network, local extension agents, and municipal representatives. Earthlife products including Hawk Ridge Compost, Mill Lime, Granulated Fertilizer Pellets, Wood Ash and Erosion Control Mix were provided and used at the Chellis Brook Farm in a demonstration of product use and value. Refreshments and a light lunch were provided as participants watched various products being spread throughout the farm.

Hawk Ridge Energy Efficiency Efforts = Real Savings

jmcdonnell — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 18:46:17 +0000

Article Type:

News

As part of our continuous improvement program at the Hawk Ridge Compost Facility (HRCF), we committed to the implementation of a comprehensive Environmental Management System. In January of 2009 HRCF received third party Environmental Management System Certification for these efforts. Under this certification, HRCF made energy efficiency one of its goals for continuous improvement.

When diesel fuel prices went above $4.00/gallon in 2008, it became clear that the best long term strategy for sustainability would be for HRCF to invest in three phase power, with a connection 5 miles away, rather than use the diesel generators on site. The $290K investment was coupled with "Maine Made Incentives" of over $50k to complete the upgrade. The payback on the program was projected to be two to three years with an annual savings reaching over $200K per year.

In February of 2009 HRCF stopped generating its own power and went live on the grid. As we were realizing savings after the flickof the switch, we immediately started looking for other ways to reduce energy consumption. HRCF implemented several operating process changes that directly impacted energy usage; such changes included monitoring blower operating flow rates, raising the scrubber temperature set point, standardizing the practice of ordering replacement motors at premium efficiency, combining compressed air systems and placing timers on all equipment block heaters.

In April of 2010, through the Efficiency Maine Business Program, HRCF replaced all of the old lighting in the facility with new premium efficient lighting. These changes, along with the changes in 2009, resulted in a reduction in energy usage of 4.3% and 8.9% respectively over 2008. Later in 2010, HRCF had an engineer design an "all green" heating and cooling system for its new on-site office. The system utilizes geothermal ground temperature to cool the office during the summer months and process water from the composting operation to heat the building during winter months and includes a heat exchanger and underground piping to make the heat transfer. In June of 2011 HRCF moved into its new office and we expect to see further energy efficiency from this upgrade.

In April of 2011, HRCF went a step further and had a design completed to tie its maintenance shop into the same geothermal application. This should be operational by the end of October 2011 and at today’s price of propane, we expect to yield approximately $10K in savings annually for this $40K investment.

Spending the time and money on these initiatives was not only the “right” thing to do to become more energy efficient; it was also economically a good decision for our facility. We expect to reap the benefits for many years to come.

List of attached galleries:

Hawk Ridge Compost Facility

Jordan Farm Anaerobic Digester

jmcdonnell — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 21:59:12 +0000

Article Type:

Press

Video overview of the Agreen Energy-Jordan Dairy Farm project courtesy of the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center. www.masscec.com

List of attached galleries:

AGreen Anaerobic Digester

New England Organics Salutes America Recycles Day

jmcdonnell — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 14:04:52 +0000

Article Type:

News

New England Organics is proud to be an active contributor to recycling in America. Our programs reuse or recycle upwards of 350,000 tons of material each year, providing valuable nutrients and building healthy soils.

List of attached galleries:

Operations in Action

Earthlife Compost Grows 2011 Champion Giant Pumpkin

jmcdonnell — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 12:28:42 +0000

Article Type:

News

Elroy Morgan, of Bradford, ME, started his pumpkin season by filling his truck with Earthlife compost at Hawk Ridge in Unity. He grew Maine's largest pumpkin this year, weighing 1,375 lbs. It was the grand pumpkin on display at Damariscotta Pumpkinfest .His record growth was 37 lbs gained one day in August (measured by a girth tape and referencing a growth chart). Earthlife compost once again delivers superior growth results!

Rutland, MA digester to host waste water training course Oct. 26, 2011

jmcdonnell — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 20:49:45 +0000

Article Type:

Event

Practical Applications, Inc. invites you to a TCH course on Renewable Energy in Wastewater followed by a tour of the Jordan Dairy Farm in Rutland, MA on WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26 from 8:30am - 3:15pm. Lectures and sessions will be held at Tavern On The Common

Earn 5.5 TCHs while you discover with us how intelligent environmental solutions can make the most out of biogas and organic waste by producing electricity and heat. Find out how an entire farm can be energy self-sufficient and even make a profit from selling electricity back to the utility grid.

Be among the first ten people to register the class, before September 30th, and save 15%!

Join us by calling 617-423-5639 x505 or register online at www.paiH2O.com.

Rutland, MA AGreen digester is live and generating power

jmcdonnell — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 17:56:51 +0000

Article Type:

News

In partnership with National Grid and AGreen we're excited to announce the generator is officially online and electricity is being made on the Jordan Farm. For more background on the benefits of on farm digesters check out this story from boston.com

List of attached galleries:

AGreen Anaerobic Digester

Jordan Farm AGreen Grand Opening

jmcdonnell — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 16:37:21 +0000

Article Type:

Event

We had a gorgeous day for the ribbon cutting at Jordan Farm on Tuesday, May 31, 2011. With the farming community and all the project partners coming together to celebrate this historic accomplishment of on-farm renewable energy and organics recycling it was an exciting event! A special visit from Governor Deval Patrick and Representative McGovern as well as sixth graders from a local school added to the pride and enthusiasm of this ground breaking project.

But you don't have to take our word for it - check out the coverage from around the web:

List of attached galleries:

AGreen Anaerobic Digester

Community work day at the Presumpscot St. School

jmcdonnell — Fri, 27 May 2011 16:09:59 +0000

Article Type:

Community

A team from our Portland office was delighted to be able to help put our product to use at a work day held at our neighbors, the Presumpscot Street elementary school, on May 24, 2011. The school has access to a great walking trail and natural space on their property and we were able to help them in their efforts to transform this resource into an outdoor classroom and recreation site for the community. We aided in clearing brush from trails, constructing bridges over marshy areas, and lining a section of the onsite Portland Trail with a load of superhumus that we donated. The weather finally broke after what seemed like weeks of clouds to provide us the opportunity to get a lot done and have a great time too! Many thanks to Laura Newman Portland Trails and Phyllis Hey at the School District who helped pull it all together.

List of attached galleries:

Presumpscot St School Workday May 2011

Sign up for Zero-Sort Recycling, get a free bag of our Earthlife Fertilizer Pellets

jmcdonnell — Mon, 23 May 2011 17:19:13 +0000

Article Type:

News

Just in time for a spring feeding of your lawn or garden, we're running a special promotion for residents of the Burlington, Montpelier, Rutland, and Manchester Vermont. If you sign up for Zero-Sort recycling through Casella you'll get a coupon for a free bag of Earthlife Fertilizer.

Click here for more details!

List of attached galleries:

Earthlife Fertilizer Pellets