Green Tidings:
A Monthly Newsletter from F.W. Horch Sustainable Goods & Supplies in Brunswick, Maine
Issue 16 ~ August 24, 2006
In this issue...
- Products to Help You Save Energy
- Welcome Energyworks Customers!
- Summer at Energyworks LLC
- Composting Clinic at Crystal Spring Farm in Brunswick this Saturday
- "Building a LEED Home", Sustainable Living Talk, Thursday, Sep 14
- Local environmental news and events
Products to Help You Save Energy
We recently expanded our selection of products to help you save energy. We now carry Kill-A-Watt electricity usage monitors, available for sale at $29.75 or for rent at $5 per day or $10 for three days. These nifty little devices plug into the wall between the outlet and the appliance you want to measure. The knowledge you gain can save you thousands of dollars!
Thanks to a good buying opportunity, we've lowered the price of our compact fluorescent bulbs to start at just $2.25 per bulb (after rebate). According to the EPA, if every household in the U.S. replaced just one light bulb with an ENERGY STAR qualified compact fluorescent light bulb (CFL), it would prevent enough pollution to equal removing one million cars from the road.
Welcome Energyworks Customers
Starting this month, we are pleased to include a message from Energyworks, our renewable energy partner. And we are delighted that our newsletter will now be reaching a larger audience, including those of you who signed up via Energyworks.
Summer at Energyworks LLC
Judy at Energyworks writes,
"We are thrilled with the continued surge of interest in Renewable Energy. We've been out to Bar Harbor and all the way down to Freeport this summer. We have now installed nearly 70 systems all over the state. The scale of our projects continues to grow as we move into more commercial installations. We recently put a Solar Thermal system on a restaurant, a B&B and we've done a solar pool heating project. We have had reports of a $7 electrical bill after a recent grid tie installation!"
"We continue to hire, train and license our staff and we are especially excited to announce a new southern chapter of Energyworks this fall. We'll have more details on that next month."
"As we head into Fall, we are gearing up for the Common Ground Fair next month and in October we will be part of the 2006 Solar Home Tour. More details on those events next time, or visit us online at www.enworks.net."
Composting Clinic at Crystal Spring Farm
Join me this Saturday between 10 am and noon at Crystal Spring Farm in Brunswick for a backyard composting clinic. I'll be there to demonstrate how to use our tumbling composter and promote the cause of turning kitchen and yard waste into an enriching soil amendment. Can't make it this weekend? I'll be holding the clinic again on Saturday, September 16.
Building a LEED Home, Sustainable Living Talk September 14
Join us at 7 pm on Thursday, September 14, at our new store location at 56 Maine Street in Brunswick, for September's Sustainable Living Talk. The topic will be "Building a LEED Home" by Ian Parlin of Richard Renner Architects. The Cranberry Ridge - LEED Pilot Home being built in Freeport by Wright-Ryan Construction is the case study for the talk. Ian will explain how the house is designed to meet the highest levels of the U.S. Green Buildling Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System for residential construction.
If you have attended past talks at The Green Store, please note the new time (7:00 pm) and location (56 Maine Street) for this talk.
What's Happening in the Local Environmental Scene
On Saturday, August 26, Friends of Merrymeeting Bay will be leading a Rare Plant Walk. Location TBA. Free and open to the public; pre-registration required. Trip Leader: Barbara Vickery. To register and for directions, call Sarah Wolpow at 721-0941.
On Saturday, September 9, join Friends of Merrymeeting Bay for an Historic Merrymeeting Park Walk. Brunswick, 10 AM, with Friends of Merrymeeting Bay. Free and open to the public; pre-registration required. To register and for directions call Trip Leader Chris Gutscher at 725-6426.
The Common Ground Country Fair will be held in Unity, Maine, on September 22, 23 and 24. For more information, visit http://www.mofga.org/fb01.html
If you have news you'd like me to share, please call or email.
About this Newsletter
This newsletter is free. To subscribe or unsubscribe, simply reply via email or give me a call at (207) 729-4050. I send out the newsletter from my own email account, so all replies come right to me.
Thanks for reading!
Fred Horch, Owner
F.W. Horch Sustainable Goods & Supplies
56 Maine Street
Brunswick, ME 04011
(207) 729-4050
www.FWHorch.com
