March 2007 Green Tidings

Mark your calendars for "Design and Build Your Own Super-Efficient Home," our next Sustainable Living Talk at 7 pm on April 12. Learn the new techniques for energy efficiency, and discover what it makes sense to do yourself and what you're better off hiring a subcontractor to do.

Spring is finally here! We have a great selection of composting tools and supplies, as well as a growing assortment of planet-saving products for the home. Energyworks, our renewable energy partner, will be out and about giving talks and classes this spring on solar, wind and other clean energy topics. Read on for more about those events, and other things happening in the world of greener living.

Warmly,
Fred Horch, Owner

P.S. Our web site keeps growing! If downtown Brunswick is out of the way for you, why not swing by our store online at www.FWHorch.com.

Sustainable Living Talk, "Design and Build Your Own Super-Efficient Home"
Join us on Thursday, April 12, at 7:00 pm at F.W. Horch Sustainable Goods & Supplies for "Design and Build Your Own Super-Efficient Home".

We are delighted to have Al Heath give our next sustainable living talk. He writes,

"I was a carpenter, designer, and contractor for 12 years before changing careers in 1990. Three years ago when I wanted to build my family a new and much more energy efficient house, I found that not only was it prohibitively expensive, but most of the builders I spoke with didn't really know what "super-insulated, passive solar" meant. I decided to re-educated myself to the new reality and techniques of energy efficiency and build it myself.

My wife and I researched, designed, and built 80% of our new home while sub-contracting the rest. We now easily heat our beautiful 2000 square foot home on one cord of wood, 75 gallons of kerosene, and all the free/clean sunshine we can get. I have recently installed a solar hot water system that provides a majority of our domestic hot water needs and next, we hope to increase the size of the this system for space heating and further reduce our use of firewood and oil.

It is challenging, interesting, and important work but you don't have to be a rocket scientist! I will share everything time allows, including a list of helpful sources and contractors."

Free refreshments and informational handouts will also be available.

Our Sustainable Living Talks are on the second Thursday of each month at 7:00 pm at 56 Maine Street in Brunswick.

News from Energyworks

Here's the news from our renewable energy partner. Phil Coupe of Energyworks South writes,

Energyworks South is delighted to announce the launch of its first Skystream 3.7 wind turbine project in Cape Elizabeth. The Skystream (www.skystreamenergy.com) is a 'residential power appliance' designed for grid-connected homes. We like the Skystream because it is quiet, relatively inexpensive and it produces considerable electricity for its small footprint. With an average annual wind speed of 10 mph, the Skystream produces 230 kWh per month. At 14 mph, it produces 500 kWh/month. Maine's first Skystream was installed in Saco at the town's wastewater treatment plant.

Skystream recently installed at the Saco Wastewater Treatment Plant

If you'd like to learn more about the Skystream, please contact Phil Coupe at 207-221-6342.

And here's the news from Energyworks North in Liberty:

We will be out and about over the next few weeks at several events -- come and see us at the Waldo County Tech Center on March 31 for the Green Building Conference presented by NewForest Center for Sustainable Building and Design. On April 20 and 21 we will have a booth at the Midcoast Green Collaborative Expo in Damariscotta. In May, Pat Coon will hold several adult ed classes at the Camden Hills Regional High School: Wednesday, May 9 he'll talk about "Steps to Renewable Energy" on the 16th "Going Solar" and on May 23 Pat will talk about "Wind Power". Also we will be at Chewonki's Sustainable Energy Conference on Saturday May 12. In addition, Spring is in the air and we are starting to get busy, we are gearing up for several new Grid Tie PV projects coming up including an 8KW system for a farm in Knox County.

What's Happening in the Local Environmental Scene
Save the date! On Saturday, April 21, the day before Earth Day, F.W. Horch will sponsor a "Solutions Saturday" at the Frontier Cafe Cinema and Gallery in Fort Andross, here in Brunswick. This event will be part of an Earth Week series of films and discussions at Frontier Cafe. Join us on April 21 for an inspiring and practical discussion of environmental solutions available to us now.

The Midcoast Sustainable Energy Expo, at the Central Lincoln County YMCA, Damariscotta, on Friday, April 20, from 12:00 - 6:00 pm, and Saturday, April 21, 9:00 - 5:00 pm, will bring together building trades people, energy professionals, and the general public from a geographic area wider than the Damariscotta/ Newcastle region of Midcoast Maine. It will demonstrate affordable energy-efficient construction techniques, demonstrate working examples of renewable energy systems and technologies that local people can install in their homes and businesses.

Lots more is happening, leading up to Earth Day on April 22.

March 2007 Events

Our next Sustainable Living Talk is tomorrow! Please join us on Thursday, March 8, at 7:00 pm at F.W. Horch Sustainable Goods & Supplies in Brunswick for "Home and Garden Composting", a talk by Brett Thompson, Master Gardener Volunteer.

Brett will share tips and techniques for successful indoor and backyard composting. If you want to start composting, or want to improve your results, you won't want to miss this talk. Free refreshments and informational handouts will be available.

F.W. Horch Sustainable Goods & Supplies is located at 56 Maine Street in downtown Brunswick, Maine.

F.W. Horch Composting Goods & Supplies

If you're interested in this month's talk topic, you may be interested in these products.

• Home Composting Made Easy
  Easy-to-follow, step-by-step instructions for composting in your backyard. Instead of overburdening your local landfill, learn how to turn kitchen scraps, yard trimmings and paper scraps into "black gold" for your lawn and garden. 32 pages, paperback. $2.95

• Stainless Steel Compost Pail
  Use this stylish compost pail for storing kitchen scraps on their way to being composted. Features a carbon filter in the lid to eliminate odors. One gallon capacity. $33.29

• Kitchen Compost Carrier
  Make your home composting program easier to manage. Perfect for short-term storage of kitchen scraps, this kitchen compost carrier features an optional carbon filter to eliminate odors. Made from 25% recycled plastic. Small (5.8 quart) size, $17.95; Large (9.6 quart) size, $24.95

• Compost Maker Microbes
  Put billions of beneficial organisms to work for you! Dormant until you expose them to air, water and a food source, this blend of microbes will energize soils, composts, and decomposing organic matter. One pound. $10.95

• Envirocycle Composter
  Make batches of rich compost simply by taking this unit for a spin. This conveniently-sized tumbler is perfect for those who want an easy way to turn batches of kitchen scraps into nutrients for vegetables, flowers and houseplants. Featuring a base that collects liquid for "compost tea", the Envirocycle is a great addition to a deck or back yard for anyone who wants a no-hassle, proven system for composting. Available in black or green. $159

• Sun-Mar 200 Composter
  This innovative outdoor composter is based on a brilliant concept: put yard and kitchen waste in one opening, and remove finished compost from another. Inside the unit are two drums: new material enters the outer drum, fills it up, tumbles into the inner drum, then comes out the middle as finished compost. So well-designed it makes you wonder why all composters aren't built his way! $299

• Sun-Mar 400 Composter
  Suitable for handling large volumes of yard waste, the 400 is the larger cousin of the Sun-Mar 200 Garden Composter. Same great features as the Sun-Mar 200, plus a crank to help turn it. $399

• Sunleaves Wormtopia
  Turn your kitchen scraps and yard waste into high quality worm castings with the help of up to 15,000 redworms (sold separately). Worms convert scraps and wastes to castings as they migrate upward to the next tray, while producing nutrient-rich "worm tea" that can be drawn from a spigot mounted on the bottom. $109.50; one pint of Maine-raised red worms, $6.00

• Sun-Mar Composting Toilets
  Choose a Sun-Mar composting toilet when you need to conserve water, minimize your environmental impact, upgrade your outhouse, extend the life of your septic system, or provide sanitary facilities where there is no plumbing. Perfect for seasonal camps; these toilets can freeze solid with no risk of pipes bursting. Composting toilets harness aerobic microbes to oxidize waste, resulting in carbon dioxide, water, and essential plant nutrients and minerals. 95% of the starting material evaporates, and the remainder is an NSF-certified safe soil amendment. Self-contained units start at $1345; we also stock the full line of Sun-Mar supplies.