December's Sustainable Living Tip: Gift Ideas

Still looking for the perfect gift? Sustain your relationships, your community, and your planet with these ideas for the holidays or any occasion.

1. Help make the world a better place by making a gift of a charitable donation. Changing The Present is one organization that makes it easy to find the perfect charity and personalize your gift with a greeting card. You can even create a wishlist or a gift registry to help your friends and family give you the perfect gift in return.
2. Share your love of our country by giving a National Park annual pass. This $80 pass is the ticket to more than 2,000 federal recreation sites: national parks, wildlife refuges, forests, and grasslands. Maine State park passes are also available online.
3. Support your local businesses with a gift certificate to your local downtown merchants. For example, the city of Bath, Maine, offers the "Gift of Bath Certificates" accepted at over 70 local restaurants, shops & entertainment venues. If your downtown doesn't offer a similar option, put them in touch with Main Street Bath to learn how to make it happen in your community.
4. Help bring an end to world hunger with a gift from Heifer international. A child or family will receive training and an animal to help them become self-reliant, and your loved one will receive a personalized card in honor of your gift.
5. Adopt a sea creature through Oceana.org. Your donation will support marine conservation, and you can choose to send a plush animal toy or cookie cutter that represents your favorite creature.
6. Support your local farmers with a farmers market gift certificate. For a list of winter farmers markets in Maine, see this article from last year's MOFGA newsletter or search LocalHarvest.org for farms and markets in your area.
7. Give a free lunch (or dinner). Buy the ingredients for a healthy, organic meal, and give them along with directions to your loved one. For some ideas of good meals to give, check out the Make-Ahead Meals blog.
8. For close friends or family, offer to give a cooking class. This might be the year to share the secret recipe from your Aunt Marge. Or maybe it's time to try some new recipes on your own and share what works best. For some ideas, visit the world's largest collection of vegetarian recipes.
9. Ever commiserated about the time it takes to clean house? That's a perfect excuse to give a green house cleaning without casting aspersions. Who wouldn't appreciate a "One Time Deep Clean" from a company like Green Clean Maine?
10. Give a guided walking tour to a place you love. Whether you call it a date or a micro-vacation, your gift will be memorable and unique.
11. Spend some time to consider an important person in your life and write a poem just for them. To help get you started, read these tidbits of advice on writing poetry from poet Charles Simic.
12. Share the Earth's bounty by sharing seeds. When you include stories from your own experience gardening, or even a small sample of preserves, you make your gift extra meaningful.
13. Give an empty mailbox with the gift of less junk mail from 41pounds.org.

Environmental Organizations

Here are more gift ideas for you. How about a gift membership to one of the following environmental organizations?

• The Appalachian Mountain Club works to promote the protection, enjoyment, and understanding of the mountains, forests, waters, and trails of the Appalachian region.
• The Bicycle Coalition of Maine works to make Maine a better place to bicycle. By joining, you can help improve bicycle safety, create more bicycle-friendly communities, and advocate for better laws affecting bicyclists.
• The Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust works to conserve the remarkable diversity of the natural heritage of Brunswick, Topsham and Bowdoin. The Land Trust has conserved hundreds of acres of critical open space through easements, gifts, and purchase.
• The Cathance River Education Alliance works to use the natural resources of the Cathance River Preserve to promote ecological awareness and nature-based learning among students, educators, and the public.
• Chewonki works to help people grow by providing educational experiences that foster an understanding, appreciation, and stewardship of the natural world and that emphasize the power of focused, collective effort.
• The Environmental Health Strategy Center works to promote human health and safer chemicals in a sustainable economy.
• The Friends of Casco Bay work to improve and protect the environmental health of Casco Bay. By joining, you help monitor water quality, organizate coastal cleanups, and collaborate with partners to protect the Bay from pollution.
• The Friends of Merrymeeting Bay work to preserve, protect, and improve the unique ecosystems of Merrymeeting Bay through advocacy, education, conservation and research.
• The Island Institute works to support the island and coastal communities of the Gulf of Maine: recognizing that everything in the region – human and environmental – is connected.
• The Maine Appalachian Trail Club works to manage, maintain and protect of the Appalachian Trail in Maine. It is responsible for all Trail structure design, construction, and maintenance; for monitoring activities in the AT corridor; and for basic public information and education regarding the Trail in Maine.
• Maine Audubon works to conserve Maine’s wildlife and wildlife habitat by engaging people of all ages in education, conservation and action. Maine Audubon connects people with nature.
• The Maine Coast Heritage Trust works to conserve and steward Maine’s coastal lands and islands for their renowned scenic beauty, outdoor recreational opportunities, ecological diversity and working landscapes.
• Maine Conservation Voters works to ensure that the protection of our water, air, forests, wildlife, landscapes and natural heritage is a political priority in Maine.
• The Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association works to help farmers and gardeners: grow organic food, fiber and other crops; protect the environment; recycle natural resources; increase local food production; support rural communities; and illuminate for consumers the connection between healthful food and environmentally sound farming practices.
• Maine Rivers works to protect, restore and enhance the ecological health of Maine's river systems.
• The Maine Solar Energy Association works to promote public awareness and use of solar energy and other renewable and nonpolluting energy sources, energy conservation, and green building practices.
• The Natural Resources Council of Maine works to improve the quality of Maine's rivers; to reduce toxic chemicals threatening the health of Maine families and wildlife; to decrease air and global warming pollution, and to conserve Maine lands.
• The Nature Conservancy works to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. The Nature Conservancy protects more than 119 million acres of land and 5,000 miles of rivers worldwide -- and operates more than 100 marine conservation projects globally.
• Physicians for Social Responsibility work to build a healthy environment and promote sensible security policies.
• The Maine Chapter of the Sierra Club works to protect Maine’s wilderness heritage, fight global warming & promote smart growth, safeguard Maine’s clean water and coastline, promote clean air and energy efficiency, hold public officials accountable, and support pro-environment candidates for public office.
• Wolfe's Neck Farm works to continue and improve Wolfe's Neck Farm's long tradition of sustainable agriculture, recreation and education while preserving its open space.
• The Center for Biological Diversity works to secure a future for all species, great and small, hovering on the brink of extinction. They do so through science, law and creative media, with a focus on protecting the lands, waters and climate that species need to survive.
• The Conservation Law Foundation works to protect all parts of New England’s environment, using the law, science, and the market to develop innovative, pragmatic solutions.
• Greenpeace International works to change attitudes and behaviour, to protect and conserve the environment and to promote peace.
• LightHawk works to provide donated flights to conservation groups as a tool to accelerate conservation efforts.
• The Natural Resources Defense Council works to use law, science and the support of 1.3 million members and online activists to protect the planet's wildlife and wild places and to ensure a safe and healthy environment for all living things.
• The Ocean Conservancy works to create concrete solutions that lead to lasting change -- so we can all experience a healthy ocean for generations to come.
• The Toxics Action Center works to clean up hazardous waste sites, reduce industrial pollution, curb pesticide use, ensure healthy land use, replace dangerous chemicals with safer alternatives, and oppose dangerous waste, energy, and industrial facilities.
• The Union of Concerned Scientists works to combine independent scientific research and citizen action to develop innovative, practical solutions and to secure responsible changes in government policy, corporate practices, and consumer choices.
• The Wilderness Society works to protect our nation’s public lands, the 635 million acres collectively owned by the American people and managed by our government.
• The Worldwatch Institute works to deliver the insights and ideas that empower decision makers to create an environmentally sustainable society that meets human needs.

Environmental Happenings

Environmental Happenings

Saturdays, 11/12 to 4/30 - Brunswick Winter Farmers Market, Fort Andross Building, Brunswick. Locally grown and produced vegetables, meat, cheese, eggs, fish, plants, bread, yogurt, kefir, soap, maple syrup and treats, wool, baked goods, artisan crafts, prepared foods, wood products, locally roasted coffee, musicians and more. For more information, visit http://www.brunswickwintermarket.com/.

Saturdays, 12/10 to 4/21 - Portland Winter Farmers Market, 9 am - 1 pm, Maine Irish Heritage Center, State Street between Gray & Danforth, two blocks from Mercy Hospital, Portland. Root and greenhouse vegetables, storage crops, dairy products, eggs, tempeh, grains and breads, flour, meats, honey, jams and preserves, and much more. For more information, visit http://www.portlandmainewintermarket.com/.

Mon 12/19 - Rally for Clean Air in Maine, 11:30 am - 12:30 pm, Monument Square, Portland. Join the Natural Resources Council of Maine for a holiday-themed rally and fun street theatre performance to tell Maine's federal Senators, “Don’t put coal in our stockings! Support the EPA’s new mercury air toxics rule and give Mainers the gift of clean, healthy air this holiday season.” Take your picture with Santa Claus and the Grinch under the Christmas tree in Monument Square.

Fri 12/23 - Belfast Winter Farmers Market, 9 am - 1 pm, Aubuchon Hardware, Rt 1, Belfast. Quality products from people you know. For more information, visit http://www.belfastfarmersmarket.org/.

Sat 12/31 - NRCM's Polar Bear Dip and Dash, 10:30 am, Back Cove parking lot (across from Hannaford’s parking lot), Portland. Join the Natural Resources Council of Maine for a 5k walk/run and their 4th annual polar plunge into the Atlantic Ocean (at East End Beach on Cutter Street) to support their work to curb global warming. Register at http://supporters.nrcm.org/register. The cost is $30. NRCM encourage you to collect pledges to support their work to reduce global warming pollution.

Tue 1/3 - Permaculture (Not-to-be-Missed) Movie Night: Gasland, 6:30 pm, University of New England Blewett Hall room 006, 716 Stevens Avenue, Portland. Join the Portland Permaculture group for a potluck supper (bring a dish to share and your own potluck kit!), movie, and discussion. For more information, visit the Portland Permaculture meetup page.

Thursdays 1/5 to 6/7 - Guided Trekking at Beaver Park, 7 - 8 am, Beaver Park, Cotton Road, Lisbon. Join the park ranger along Beaver Park trails for a brisk guided morning walk.

Sat 1/7 - Writing Workshop on the Penobscot River, 1 pm, Eddington Salmon Club, Route # 9, Brewer. Exercise your mind and your body with a writing workshop paired with a nature walk. Explore what river restoration will mean to fish, wildlife, and human communities through writing exercises and field observations. Cheryl Daigle is the community liason and outreach coordinator for the Penobscot River Restoration Trust, and her writing appears in Orion magazine and elsewhere. Holly Twining, a Maine Audubon naturalist, will lead the walk. Advance registration necessary. For more information, email htwining@maineaudubon.org call 989-2591.

Tue 1/10 - Renewable Energy on the Farm at the Ag Trades Show, 9 am - 5 pm, Augusta Civic Center. Sponsored by the Farm Energy Parters Network, this day of presentations provides a unique opportunity to learn from the experts about renewable energy options for the farm: solar heating, small wind for electricity, biomass for heating, geothermal heating, and solar photovoltaic. For more information contact Claudia Lowd, Maine Rural Partners Energy Innovation Coordinator at claudia@mainerural.org or 581-4523.

Wed 1/11 - Book signing of "What's Gotten Into Us," noon, Portland Public Library. Author McKay Jenkins will be giving a talk on toxic chemicals, health and the environment, and signing copies of his book "What's Gotten Into Us: Staying Healthy in a Toxic World." For more information, visit http://mckayjenkins.com.

Wed 1/11 - Making Financial Sense of Small and Medium Community Wind Projects, 8:30 am - 2 pm, Hilton Garden Inn, Freeport. Join Windependence, Maine's Community Wind Resource, for a practical, hands-on workshop focused on the financial incentives and policies that can assist the development of community wind projects up to 660 kw nameplate capacity. For more information, email sue@mainewindependence.org or call 751-0749.

Wed 1/11 - Notes on a Lost Flute, 6 pm, Cram Alumni House, Bowdoin College, Brunswick. Join Friends of Merrymeeting Bay for their annual meeting and potluck, and a presentation by ecologist, linguist, eco-historian, and activist Kerry Hardy, author of "Notes on a Lost Flute: A Field Guide to the Wabanaki." The public is welcome.

Thu 1/12 - Keeping Foundations Warm and Dry, 7:30 - 11:30 am, Ramada Inn, 352 North Street, Saco. Learn how to avoid mistakes in site drainage and foundation construction. Designed to educate residential building professionals on construction practices that minimize the risk of indoor air quality problems in new homes, this presentation includes complete coverage of the energy provisions contained in both the building and energy codes. Registration fee $10; register by contacting Donna Mottola at Deering Lumber, 283-3621 or dmottola@deeringlumber.com.

Thu 1/19 - By Land and By Sea: Leveraging Co-ops for Business Success, 9 am - 5:30 pm, Common Ground Education Center in Unity. A one-day conference for all Maine farmers and fishermen on the co-operative model of doing business. Snow Date: Friday, January 20, 2012 same time, same place. Cost: $25. Space is limited; register online.

Thu 1/26 - The Building Shell, 7:30 am - 3 pm, Ramada Inn, 352 North Street, Saco. Learn how to provide healthy indoor air quality while achieving all of the goals of a new home's building shell: protect occupants from rain, wind and snow; control the flow of energy, air and moisture between indoors and outdoors; provide light and a mechanism to enter and exit; exhaust pollutants out of the building; and create a comfortable indoor environment. Designed to educate residential building professionals on construction practices that minimize the risk of indoor air quality problems in new homes, this presentation includes complete coverage of the energy provisions contained in both the building and energy codes. Registration fee $10; register by contacting Donna Mottola at Deering Lumber, 283-3621 or dmottola@deeringlumber.com.

October's Sustainable Living Tip: Weatherization and Beyond

[I forgot to post this article from our October newsletter to this blog. Better late than never! -Fred]

Weatherization has gotten swept up into the maelstrom of partisan politics. A recent article in Newsweek magazine called the federal weatherization program "Obama's Big Green Mess" and prompted comedians like Jon Stewart to ridicule the effort as "Weather Blunderground." Earlier this year the Maine legislature ordered a probe into how a federal weatherization grant was spent (the probe discovered no malfeasance).

Whether you agree with the criticism of how $5 billion in federal money has been invested, at least the press is paying attention to the issue of how we're weatherizing our homes. As Oscar Wilde said, "The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about."

So let's talk about weatherization. In this month's tip I want to share some ideas about how we should go about weatherizing our homes, and what needs to happen once everyone is living in a weatherized home.

1. Weatherizing our homes and buildings is a great idea (especially in Maine) because it saves money, conserves resources, and protects public health, if done right. The wasted money and horror stories reported by the media are due to poor training and incompetent workers.
2. The first step is to examine your structure. It would be a good idea for  a competent weatherization technician to conduct a simple walk-through inspection of every home every year to check for obvious moisture, ventilation, and heating equipment problems. Carbon monoxide from malfunctioning oil and gas burning appliances can kill you whether or not your home is weatherized.
3. Before embarking on a major renovation, a competent professional should conduct a thorough energy audit, including a blower-door test and an infra-red scan. This examination will reveal how air and energy flow through the building. Work should be performed according to the recommendations in the audit. Once work has been completed, an energy auditor should check the quality of the work done. No weatherization job is complete without a check out audit.
4. Weatherized buildings stay comfortably cool in the summer and warm in the winter by controlling the flow of air and energy. It is essential to prevent unwanted moisture from entering the building, to vent the moisture that is introduced into the building (such as in the kitchen and bathrooms), and to eliminate or vent sources of indoor air pollution. Before you start sealing up cracks and adding insulation, make sure you understand how moisture and air enter and leave your structure.
5. Once you have an energy audit in hand, you can do a lot of the work yourself. If you want to develop your skills before trying your hand at caulking or installing insulation, contact your local community college. Many now offer weatherization training that you can complete in just a few days or evenings.
6. At a minimum, your weatherization goal should be to ensure that your home can survive an extended loss of power during winter without the risk of frozen pipes or property damage. Once your home has been properly weatherized, you should be able to turn down (or even shut off) your heating system and go on vacation for a week in February without worrying about frozen pipes.
7. If you own an older home, you'll likely discover that you must compromise energy performance in order to retain your existing structure. For example, there is only so much room in existing walls or ceiling to add insulation. In this case, it's even more important to have a complete energy audit so you can make an informed decision whether to attempt a weatherization project or build a new structure.
8. Improving the physical structure of your home is just one step in bringing your energy efficiency up to a sustainable level. The next step is getting control over how much, how long and how intensely you heat and cool.
9. Along with weatherizing our homes, each of us should create heating and cooling zones inside them. Think about how you use your living space, and make a long-term plan for your heating and cooling needs. Are you wasting money to heat rooms you rarely use? Do you like to keep different rooms different temperatures at different times of the day? Even if you currently have an inflexible central heating system without any zones, it's still worthwhile to develop a zone plan for the day when you upgrade your heating system. The better you can identify the areas you need to heat or cool, the more efficient you can be with your energy.
10. Once you have your zones, controlling them is the next step. With a manual thermostat, you can turn down the heat when you don't need it, then turn it back up when you do. If you find yourself forgetting to do this (or you just like gadgets), you can invest in a programmable thermostat to do it for you. A new company has even announced a "smart thermostat" that learns how you use your home and doesn't have to be programmed. Check out the Nest Learning Thermostat.
11. So you've done everything you can to improve your energy efficiency for heating and cooling your home. What next? Now you are in good shape to go to a sustainable energy source.
12. The easiest sustainable energy system for most homeowners is one that converts the sunlight hitting your roof into electricity. In particular, the most trouble-free, long-lasting configuration is a photovoltaic solar array that is connected to the grid. This mean that panels are installed on your roof, an inverter is installed in your home, and when the sun shines, if you start generating more electricity than you can use, the extra goes onto the grid for your neighbors to use. Except for the fact that your electric bill goes way down, you'd never know you were using solar electricity. All of your existing appliances (including space heaters) work just fine with solar electricity, and unlike an "off-grid" solar system, you don't need any batteries to store the electricity your solar panels are generating. They just cleanly and quietly create power for the electricity grid, with you being first in line to use it. Best of all, in Maine, you can "net meter" all the electricity you send to the grid, which means if you send a kilowatt hour to the grid when it's sunny, you get to use a kilowatt hour of grid power when it's not. At the end of the year, you net what you sent and what you took, and pay the difference. Since you'll be producing most of your electricity in the summer, but need it in the winter, "net metering" is a great feature of solar electricity that makes the finances work out in your favor.
13. If you decide to install a solar electric system, take a careful look at how you are heating your home. If you have really done a good job weatherizing, you may discover that electric space heating is a viable option. If electric heat isn't a complete solution, it may still be appropriate as part of a zoning plan for rooms that are seldom used or that need an additional heating source (such as rooms on the north side of your house). When planning the size of a solar electric array, be sure to include a scenario in which some or all of your water heating and space heating needs are met by your solar electricity, just to compare how much you'd pay for clean energy you generate yourself versus other forms of energy.
14. Although electric space heaters are just about 100% efficient (i.e., they convert all of the electrical energy they consume into useful heat, unlike combustion heaters which always waste some fuel without converting it to useful heat and must vent hot combustion gases as outdoor air pollution), you can do even better. Heat pumps move heat from one place to another; each unit of electricity used to pump this heat can deliver more than one unit of heat. In other words, instead of sending your electricity into a resistor inside a space heater, you can send that electricity to a pump to move heat around. The typical way to move heat around is to put a fluid in a tube, depressurize it in an area where you want to absorb heat, then circulate and pressurize it where you want to release heat. A ground-source heat pump, or geothermal system, takes heat from the ground and moves it into your home. An air source heat pump takes heat from outdoor air and brings it inside (just like a freezer in reverse -- your freezer takes energy out of the cold air inside it and moves that heat into your kitchen). Although heat pumps are more complicated and expensive than electric space heaters, you may discover that your heating load is high enough that the extra expense is worth it.
15. What else can we do with the solar energy being freely delivered to every address in the country? A second way to harness your share is a solar hot water collector. These systems are almost as easy as a solar electric system. Solar collectors outside get hot in the sun. A liquid (usually anti-freeze) is pumped in a loop to bring that heat inside, where it warms a hot water tank. The hot water can then be used for domestic purposes (sinks, showers, washing machines, etc.) as well as space heating. A big advantage of solar hot water collectors is that they are between three and four times more efficient than solar PV panels at capturing the energy in sunlight. A big disadvantage is that it is hard to share that energy with your neighbors. Also, there is no net metering program for hot water: use it or lose it. Unfortunately, you get the most hot water during the summer, and no one has figured out a clever way to "bank it" for use in the winter when you really need it.
16. Even though solar hot water systems don't have the flexibility and net metering that is possible with solar electricity, many people are using them to heat their homes. It just takes a lot more planning and work to make use of solar hot water as an energy source compared to solar electricity. You should start with a comprehensive energy audit including time-of-day energy use calculations to get the most return on investment.
17. A third way to harness solar energy for space heating is a solar space heater. Like a solar hot water heater, this is an efficient way to collect solar energy. But unlike a solar hot water collector, a solar space heater uses air (a simple fan) to move the heat from the collector to inside. As with solar hot water systems, extra heat from solar space heaters can't be shared with neighbors or net metered. Nonetheless, solar space heaters work just fine in Maine's climate and per unit of energy are the most afforable way to collect solar energy.
18. Other forms of renewable energy besides sunlight get progessively more difficult to maintain. Wind power, for example, is usually not a good solution for individual home owners for two reasons. First, few sites have consistent wind of sufficient force to generate much electricity. Second, wind turbines break down. Whereas solar electric panels have no moving parts, wind turbines by definition move. Those moving parts break, and diagnosing and fixing problems becomes a significant challenge for owners of small-scale wind turbines. In general, properties along the coast and along ridge lines might be suitable for wind installations, but you should do careful research before erecting a tower and turbine. If you do have a good location, you can grid connect and net meter your wind-generated electricity just like solar electricity.

Environmental Organizations in Maine

The former F.W. Horch retail store in Brunswick is now under capable new management; my next venture is an online F.W. Horch Sustainable Living Handbook. While that's under development, you can still get my Green Tidings newsletter.

Each month I consult many organizations and web sites to put together Green Tiding's calendar of environmental news and events. I look for anything happening that looks fun or interesting, directly related to saving the planet. While I have some ideas about how to make this calendar easier to produce, easier to use, and easier to expand to cover more communities in Maine and beyond, I thought I'd start by posting my list of sources.

Environmental / Nonprofit Groups

Maine

• Bicycle Coalition of Maine
• Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust
• Cathance River Education Alliance
• Chewonki
• Environment Maine
• Environmental Health Strategy Center
• Friends of Casco Bay
• Friends of Merrymeeting Bay
• Habitat for Humanity / 7 Rivers Maine
• Island Institute
• Maine Appalachian Trail Club
• Maine Audubon
• Maine Coast Heritage Trust
• Maine Conservation Voters
• Maine Interfaith Power & Light
• Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association
• Maine Rivers
• Maine Solar Energy Association
• Midcoast Green Collaborative
• Natural Resources Council of Maine
• The Nature Conservancy, Maine Chapter
• Physicians for Social Responsibility, Maine Chapter
• Portland Green Drinks
• Sierra Club, Maine Chapter
• Western Foothills Land Trust
• Wolfe's Neck Farm

Regional / National / International

• 350.org
• Center for Biological Diversity
• Conservation Law Foundation
• Earth Day Network
• Greenpeace
• LightHawk
• Natural Resources Defense Council
• Ocean Conservancy
• Toxics Action Center
• Union of Concerned Scientists
• The Wilderness Society
• Worldwatch Institute

Educational Institutions

• Bowdoin College
• Colby College
• College of the Atlantic
• Long Branch School of Maine
• Unity College
• University of Maine Cooperative Extension

Governmental Agencies

Local

• Town of Brunswick
• Brunswick Public Works Department
• Portland Water District

Maine

• Department of Environmental Protection
• Efficiency Maine
• Maine Public Utilities Commission

United States

• Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
• Environmental Protection Agency
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
• National Snow and Ice Data Center

United Nations

• Food and Agriculture Organization
• Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
• UN Energy
• UN Habitat
• UN Water
• United Nations Environment Programme
• World Health Organization

Web Sites / Media / Blogs

• Maine Environmental News
• Maine Public Broadcasting Network
• Mother Earth News
• Environmental Health News
• New York Times Green Blog
• TED
• Green Tech Media
• The Green Guide
• treehugger
• Grist
• Yes Magazine
• It Starts With Me
• The Environmental Magazine
• Environmental News Network
• The Times Record
• The Forecaster
• The Portland Press Herald
• Bangor Daily News
• Sun Journal

Business Groups

• Brunswick Downtown Association
• E2Tech
• Maine Association of Building Efficiency Professionals
• Maine Businesses for Sustainability
• Midcoast Maine Chamber of Commerce
• U.S. Green Building Council, Maine Chapter

People and Businesses / Organizations

• Colin Beavan, No Impact Man
• Lester Brown, Earth Policy Institute
• Heather Chandler, The Sunrise Guide
• Lisa Fernandes, Maine Permaculture
• Gil Gilroy, Frontier Cafe + Cinema + Gallery
• Al Gore, The Climate Reality Project
• Al Heath, Cold Climate Home
• Christy Hemenway, Gold Star Honeybees
• Bill Lord, Maine Solar House
• Kay Mann, Green Energy Maine
• Bill McKibben, Bill McKibben
• Jason Peacock, Green Homes of Maine
• Gary Reysa, BuildItSolar
• Brett Thompson, The Worm Wiz

If you know of other people or groups that organize interesting events or consistently make environmental news, please let me know! (And my sincere apologies to anyone I inadvertently left off my list of sources.)

September's Tip: Take a Solar Tour

Plan to take part in the the world's largest grassroots solar event on Saturday, October 1. The National Solar Tour lets you see how you can use solar energy, energy efficiency, and other sustainable technologies in your home.

According to the American Solar Energy Society, in conjunction with the National Energy Awareness Month,

"an increasing focus of the tour is on energy-saving techniques and sustainability through green building design, energy efficient appliances, and use of green materials during remodeling. Tours also provide helpful, real-world examples of costs and how to save money with federal, state, and local incentives."

The Maine Solar Tour

Saturday, October 1, 2011

Part of ASES National Solar Home Tour and NESEA Green Building Open House

~ All tours are free of charge. 

~ Sites are open 9 AM to 5 PM unless otherwise noted. 

~ All phone numbers are the 207 area code, unless noted.

~ Terms used:

• PV = photovoltaic (i.e. turning sunlight into electricity)
• kW = 1,000 watts (a measure of power)
• kWh = 1,000 watt-hours (a measure of energy)
• grid tied = connected to the public electricity grid
• AC = alternating current (e.g. electricity on the grid)
• DC = direct current (e.g. electricity from solar panels)
• inverter = a device to convert DC to AC power
• ICE = internal combustion engine
• thermal = converting sunlight into heat
• domestic hot water = hot water for sinks, showers, etc.
• LEED = Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design

Tour I: Acadia Region 

Organizer: Frank John, 185 Flye Point Rd., Brooklin, ME 04616

Phone: 359-8968, E-mail: maine.johns@gmail.com 

Site I-1. Brooklin, 185 Flye Point Road.

Owners: Frank and Shari John, 359-8968

Frank and Shari have two PV systems: the first is 1.92 kW grid-tied system with a battery bank. A second grid-tied array was added in early 2010, a 3.68 kW nominal feeding a 4 kW Fronius inverter. They use a Tarm wood gasification boiler to heat their house and provide domestic hot water year 'round. They will also have electric vehicles on display (Toyota Pickup, Suzuki motorcycle and a bicycle!).

Site I-2. East Blue Hill, 45 Clayfield Road.

Owner: Arnold Greenberg, 374-5170

This off-grid home uses energy efficient appliances and a 1500 watt photovoltaic array. Arnold has lived off-grid since 2000.  Clayfield Road is off Jay Carter Road. 

Site I-3. Blue Hill, 219 Kingdom Road.

Owner: Dick Bartlett 374-3230 (Kingdom Bikes)

This home has a 2 kW grid-tied system with backup and evacuated tubes to heat domestic hot water. It is a very efficient home.

Site I-4. Hancock, Three Pines Bed & Breakfast 274 East Side Road.

Owners: Ed and Karen Curtis, 460-7595

We live in an off-grid, 1.7 kW solar electric, passive solar timberframe home, with battery storage and generator backup. We operate a year-round bed & breakfast, have an organic vegetable garden and fruit orchard, and raise rare-breed sheep and chickens. http://www.threepinesbandb.com

Site I-5. Little Deer Isle, Coveside Lane.

Owners: Kimball Petty / Deb Marshall, 348-2648

This grid-tied system has a 900 W wind generator, a 1.3 kW grid-tie PV system with battery back up and a new 4.7 kW direct grid tie system. All small ICE on lawn mowers etc. have been replaced with electric . There are 3 vintage GE Electrak electric tractors and attachments to see as well a solar electric 16' converted electric outboard boat and an electric launch. There 

is a 1985 VW vanagon being converted to electric that can be seen.

Site I-6. Sedgwick, 91 Bayview Ave.

Owners: Ann Logan & Chris Eckels

Ann and Chris have a lovely new 3-story home using a 90 evacuated tube array to provide domestic hot water and to assist with their radiant heating system. More info at: www.downeastsolarhome.com

Site I-7. Salisbury Cove, 43 Bay View Dr.

Owner: ?ue Turner

This is a rammed earth home with 5.06 kW of photovoltaics and a 60-tube solar hot water array with a SuperStor storage tank and an electric boiler. 

Site I-8. Penobscot, 150 Pierces Pond Road.

Owners: Carsten & Joanne Steenberg, 266-0225

This lovely home has a 20-panel PV system. More info at: http://dragonflycovehomes.com/pierce_pond_home.htm and

http://www.vrbo.com/293346

Tour II: Central Maine 

Organizer: Claudia Lowd, Orono, ME

Phone: 949-5106, Email: claudia@mainerural.org

Site II-1. Brooks, 75 Hall Hill Road.

Owner: Peter Baldwin, 722-3654 

Peter's off-grid passive solar home has a 600-watt PV array assembled over the years, a 256 sq. ft. solar water heater and a large wind generator. Peter is always experimenting with new ways to use renewable energy in his life.

Site II-2. Hampden, 188 Emerson Mill Rd.

Owner: Lee Landry, 589-4171 or 570-4222

9:00 am to 12:00 PM ONLY thanks! 

Part Owner/Solid Fuel Projects Supervisor ReVision Energy LLC (1.5 m. from Dysart's) 60-tube Apricus evacuated tube solar thermal array on a 105 gallon storage tank.

Site II-3. Orono, Main View Apartments, 95 Main St.

Owner: Richard Pare, 866-5651 or Claudia Lowd 949-5106

Tour Hours 12-3:00 PM ONLY thanks! 

This 24-unit commercial apartment building has an active 48-panel evacuated tube solar thermal array installed in 1988 which creates all the domestic hot water for all 24 apartments all year round and pre-heats the water being used in the forced hot-water baseboard heating system. 

Site II-4. Orono, 22 Mill Street.

Owners: Roberta/John Bradson, 866-4110 

The Store-Ampersand A commercial bakery and coffee shop with a large passive solar entrance. It works so well that the entire first floor of the store needs no heat all winter. 

Site II-5. Orono, 29 Gilbert Street

Owner: Cindy Carusi, 866-0608

The collector on the roof is a 40-tube evacuated tube solar thermal array. The tank in the cellar is an 80-gallon Steibel-Eltron storage tank and pumping station. It's all connected to the furnace, which kicks in when there isn't enough solar heating.

Tour III: Downeast

Organizer: Richard Komp, 17 Rockwell Rd SE, Jonesport ME 04649.

Phone: 497- 2204, Email: sunwatt@juno.com, Web: www.mainesolar.org

Site III-1. Harrington, 44 Heron Cove Rd.

Owners: Leonore Hildebrandt / Robert Froese, 610-2929

This 2500 sq.ft. home was designed and built in 1990 by the owners. It is off-grid with a 900 watt PV system and heated by passive solar energy backed by a wood stove. Robert and Leonore, both writers (www.flatbaycollective.org), have practiced sustainable living for over 20 years -- harvesting firewood, caring for fruit trees, and growing a vegetable garden.

Site III-2. Jonesboro, 262 Looks Point Road.

Owners: Lee and Jody Rose, 434-5444

This home features flat plate solar hot water collectors for domestic hot water and to heat an indoor heated pool. This home also uses a high-efficiency gasification wood boiler to provide most of the home’s heat and back-up domestic hot water usage. 1/4 mile gravel drive. May have to use pull-off. Look out for walkers in the area. 

Site III-3. Jonesport, 17 Rockwell Road SE.

Owner: Richard Komp, 497-2204

Home self-designed and built in 1988 with 500 watt off-grid PV, passive solar heating and 4 TAP air heaters, 'Hypocaust' under-floor thermal mass, wood backup, and PV/thermal hybrid for hot water. Featured in the May-June 1997 Solar Today. Look for signs. 

Site III-4. Kennebec (Machias), 35 Cross Road (Bobcat Pass) 

Owner: Gillian Gatto, 255-4515

This is an owner-built passive solar home with a large solar dome studio for Gillian's woodprints and other art work. The indoor bathroom has a composting toilet and thermosyphon water heating system from the wood cookstove. A 200 watt off-grid PV system with inverter.

Site III-5. East Machias, Downeast Salmon Foundation, East Machias Aquatic Research Center, 13 Willow Street.

483-4336, dsf@panax.com, www.mainesalmonrivers.org

This building was the powerhouse for a hydroelectric dam that was removed to make it possible for atlantic salmon to swim up the east branch of the Machias river. A large 240 volt AC grid intertie PV system plus a vertical axis wind generator furnish almost all the electric power and passive solar south windows aid with winter heating. 

Site III-6. Stuben, 62 Sunset Bay Drive.

Owner: Tom Hitchins

Type of Building: This superinsulated residence is constructed with an Insulated Concrete Form basement and a Structural Insulated Panel shell. Green materials were used where reasonable. House is heated by high efficiency condensing boiler using propane, and a soapstone Rais woodstove. Hot water is solar with propane back-up.

Tour IV: Kennebec Valley

Organizer: MeSEA 497-2204 Tour Hours: 10 am – 4 pm.

Site IV-1. Hallowell, 11 Inn Road.

Owner: Scott Cowger, Call 800-622-2708 or visit www.maplebb.com for directions.

Maple Hill Farm Bed & Breakfast: A full-service inn and conference center with a heavy demand for energy. The innkeeper is a former State Representative. Maple Hill Farm was the first DEP certified 'Environmental Leader' green lodging establishment in Maine, meeting such criteria as energy efficient upgrades, the usage of non toxic cleaning products and reduced energy usage. 

In 2003 the owners decided to decrease energy costs as well as their carbon footprint by installing a large 10 kW Bergey wind turbine atop a 100 foot tubular steel tower on the high point of their land, 1000 feet from the buildings. In 2006, they added extensive solar electric and solar hot water systems to the property.

The largest solar power array in the state, it has 15 kW of electrical generating capacity, and 202 vacuum tubes for domestic hot water production with 320 gallons of hot water storage in the basement, saving more than $20,000 in power costs over the past two years. Their system saves a tremendous amount of fuel oil (for hot water production) and offsets about half the electrical needs of the facility. You can monitor the output of the solar electric system, as well as view details of all the system components and get directions on their web site at www.maplebb.com. 

Site IV-2. Palermo, 401 Marden Hill.

Owner: Paul Armstrong, 993-2803

Contemporary 3,000 sq ft house, built in stages since 1994 as time & money allowed. Hillside site allows enjoyment of outrageous views & good breezes. CMP wanted the cost of a house mortgage to bring power, prodding us to alternatives. Starting with a generator we have added photovoltaics & a wind turbine for our current 'tri-bred' system. Recycled lumber used in construction.

Site IV-3. Starks, Maine Solar Energy, 535 Sawyers Mills Road.

Owner: Floyd Severn, 491-3461, info@mainesolar.com

With 43 yrs in solar business, 35 in Maine, Floyd has extensive experience with Off-Grid applications of solar PV and thermal systems. Here is the off-grid, thermal-mass design home. Including 5, flat-plate solar thermal collectors, using non-toxic anti-freeze, and 540 gal. stainless steel tank for pre-heated water.  Attached green-house and 35, 130W PV modules, (4.6 kW array), and 48 V battery bank, 24, 2 V deep-cycle batteries. http://www.mainesolar.com

Tour VI: Midcoast

Organizer: Jennifer Hatch ReVision Energy LLC, 109 Fox St., Portland, 04101

Phone: 221-6342, Email: jen@revisionenergy.com

Site VI-1. Belfast, 83 Crocker Road.

The GO passive house has reduced energy loads with an annual heating bill of only $300! The team from GO Logic designed this home to bring energy performance in line with affordability. Besides being Passive House Certified this home is also Net Zero, making the same amount of energy it uses over the course of a year and is LEED Platinum rated.

Site VI-2. Biddeford Pool, 32 Sea Spray Drive.

Owners: Bill & Renate Riggs

This home has both a solar domestic and solar space heating system. The Riggs wanted to cover as much of their heat load as they could with solar so utilized the entire south facing roof on their Sea Spray Drive home. There are five 30 tube Apricus collector arrays which totals 150 tubes. This systems provides the domestic hot water for this house as well as supplements the heating supply. When the solar is not able to keep up with the heat load a high efficiency propane boiler turns on to provide seamless heat and hot water. The boiler installed is a Triangle Tube Excellence 110 modulating, condensing gas boiler. 

Site VI-3. East Waterboro, 62 Townhouse Road.

Owner:  Terry McIlveen

This home features a solar hot water space heating system. There are 90 evacuated tubes heating a 160 gallon solar storage tank. Terry incorporated solar space heating to reduce his oil consumption and loves the savings he is seeing! This system is designed to provide 100% of the domestic hot water load and a portion of the heat load.

Site VI-4. Falmouth, 160 Woodville Rd.

Owners: Claudia King & Lindsey Tweed

The house was originally built in 1975, using passive solar features & a wide variety of salvaged materials, including posts & beams from a 1800's mill building. Low indoor comfort, due to poor shell insulation & high air infiltration, led to the current renovation, a deep energy retrofit to drastically reduce energy needs, with Net Zero as the goal. The current renovation includes new exterior rigid foam insulation, new windows, & new cladding, while reusing or keeping the original salvaged materials used when the house was built. 

Site VI-5. Freeport, 12 Merganser Way.

Owners: Fiona & Rob Wilson

The owners of a coastal property sought to build a new home that would sit well with their existing cottage which they had enjoyed for many years, while living as a true modern companion to their eclectic oceanfront neighborhood. Generous porches present a welcoming entry towards the street in harmony with the neighboring structures. A simple compact form rises dramatically and opens towards the ocean. Corner windows are carefully placed to capture spectacular coastal views and ensure privacy. Deep set windows and slatted exterior sunshades 

prevent overheating in summer while maximizing winter sunlight. The 1,800 square foot 3 bedroom home is on track to receive LEED Certification. 

Site VI-6. Freeport, 10 Cranberry Ridge Road.

Owners:  Melissa & Eric Coleman

Built in 2006 by Wright-Ryan Construction and designed by Richard Renner (both of Portland), this home was designed with careful consideration to utilize non-toxic, environmental, recycled and local building materials wherever possible. Passive solar design, good insulation, and energy efficient appliances keep this home’s energy loads to a minimum.

This home features include: solar power, radiant heat, local birch, granite and slate, custom millwork, triple pane glass windows and heat recovery ventilation to circulate fresh air through this well insulated home. There is a solar thermal system covering the domestic hot water load of the house with excess heat circulating through the radiant heat distribution and a 2 kW solar electric system that produces over 200 kWh of clean electricity each month. Located within the beautiful Wolfe Neck area of Freeport, this LEED Platinum home is not one to miss! 

Site VI-7. Gray, 4 Pennel Lane.

Owners:  Tim & Lydia Jilek

View how a pellet boiler works to heat a home by visiting the Gray residence of ReVision Energy staff Tim Jilek. The Jileks installed a boiler that run up to 90% efficiency and a solar hot water heating system covering the domestic hot water load and a solar electric system producing over 400 kWh of clean electricity each month! Tim installs solar systems for a living, so he knows how they work!

Site VI-8. Rockport 181 Mill Street.

The Bright Built Barn, is a 700 square foot single level space which takes a barn form and contains a studio, a workshop and an office for a couple on their Rockport, ME property. The project is the practical outcome of an in-depth collaboration between Kaplan Thompson Architects, Bensonwood Woodworking Company, a team of green engineers, and a visionary client to create a super green, offsite fabricated net-zero building that can be adapted and replicated over time. Designers, building fabricators, high performance building experts and solar energy professionals from all over the northeast participated in the project.

Site VI-9. Sanford, 65 Sand Pond Road.

Owner: Cliff Babkirk

The Babkirks recently installed twenty-three 235 Conergy P solar electric panels to their roof, to total 5,405 Watts. The systems utilizes twenty-three Enphase micro inverters, one under each panel. This system is expected to produce 7,388 kWh of clean, renewable electricity each year! See how their system works online; the Babkirks can pull up that information from their data monitoring system reading what the panels are doing in real time!

Site VI-10. Scarborough, 6 Minuteman Drive.

Owners: Deb & Jim McDonough

This family home features 60 evacuated solar hot water collector tubes heating a 105 gallon dual coil solar storage tank. This system is designed to cover most of the domestic hot water used with back up coming from an oil boiler. This is a retrofit installation on a standard construction house. This house also has retrofit radiant heat, and cellulose re-insulation. The solar hot water was installed in 2007. Solar electricity was installed in 2009. If you’ve never been to this house it is a wonderful place to stop. Deb & Jim are excellent hosts and explain the systems beautifully. 

Site VI-11. Woolwich, 231 Murphy’s Corner Road.

Owners: Ben & Michelle Tipton

The Tiptons moved from Vermont to Maine and built their home to provide their family both with comfort and reduced energy so to be less reliant on energy expenditures, allowing that money to be spent on other matters. They built a timber frame home with help of the Shelter Institute in Woolwich. The building is just over 1,000 square feet. There is no basement in this home. It is well insulated with heat coming from a centralized wood stove and radiant floor distribution.

The energy loads are low as the Tiptons considered every appliance, its purpose and estimated usage. They live comfortably but also conservatively. There is solar hot water heating the domestic hot water and also part of their radiant space heat. Solar electric panels act as an awning to also provide shade in the summer months. The home is passive solar by design. They recently added a pool which also acts as the heat dump for the solar collectors. 

Site VI-12. Boothbay Harbor, Heliotropic Technologies, 60 Campbell Street.

Owner: Michael Mayhew, Tour Hours: 10 am - 3 pm

This was an existing seasonal cottage that was situated with very good southern exposure and elevated ocean views, that has been retrofitted into a super-efficient cool place. It was cost-effectively improved and is now a local landmark. Latest tower/dormer addition has R-80 ceiling & R-45 walls insulated with urethane foam and reflective barrier. Deep energy retrofit, Energy Star Appliances, Grid Tied PV, Local Materials, Passive solar, Radiant floor heating, Solar domestic hot water, Solar Heated, Sunspace, Super Insulated Walls/ Roof, Single Family 

Residence.

Site VI-13. Kennebunkport, Cape Porpoise, 189 Mills Rd.

Owners: Bill & Debbi Lord, 967-1295

Photovoltaic roof with utility interfaced photovoltaic system. There is a 1000 gallon storage active solar heating radiant floor system. The installations on this home have been featured in many national magazines. This home is not to miss if you are in the Kennebunkport area. This Cape Porpoise home has its own web site, www.solarhouse.com. Architect: Solar Design 

Associates, Builder: Tim Spang.

Site VI-14. Camden, 82 Annis Road.

Owners:  Eric and Laura Evans

This single family residence features: grid tied PV, Solar domestic hot water, wood heat, night window covers, and solar powered hot water and grid-tied solar electricity.

Site VI-15. Falmouth, 34 Hartford Avenue.

Owner: Stew MacLehose

Building Features: Daylighting, Energy Star Appliances, Energy Star rated, Passive solar, Solar domestic hot water. This is a module home designed to meet net zero energy status. There is solar hot water collectors heating a 160 gallon storage tank preheating tank for the radiant floor. An electric boiler serves as the back up.

Site VI-16. Georgetown, Williams Farm, 133 Williams Road.

Tour Hours: 10:00 am - 4:00 pm

Building Features: Alt Fuel Vehicle, Radiant floor heating, Solar domestic hot water This tour showcases a 60-tube photovoltaicpowered solar hot water system that provides 100% of the domestic hot water for Williams Farm from May to October and radiant heat for a 180 square foot attached greenhouse. The tour will emphasize the key elements of efficient system design for producing solar hot water in northern latitudes and will also demonstrate how to set up a web enabled logger that can monitor over 100 sensors at a fraction of the cost of commercial loggers. Also on display will be a battery powered riding lawn mower and a Toyota Prius.

Site VI-17. Woolwich, 61 Delano Road.

Owner: Guy Marsden

Building Features: Energy Star Appliances, Grid Tied PV, Heat recovery ventilation, Instantaneous hot water, Passive solar, Radiant floor heating, Rain Barrels, Solar domestic hot water, Solar Heated, Super Insulated Walls/ Roof. Self-installed micro inverter based grid-tied 4 kW solar array on workshop powers 53% of the power for home, and 2 home based businesses on an annual basis. Solar building heat in super insulated workshop uses 4 4' X 8' collectors and an 80 gallon storage tank backed up by propane and wood stove. Heat recovery ventilator used in winter months. Solar DHW in house feeds propane on-demand water heater. Solar charged electric lawn mower conversion started with a 22" Craftsman gas mower.

Site VI-18. Washington, 722 Old County Rd.

Owner: Sasha Kutsy

This small, owner-built off-grid solar home features: Energy Star Appliances, Instantaneous Hot Water, Local Materials, Non-Toxic Products, Off Grid PV, Passive Solar, Rain Barrels, Recycled Materials, Single Family Residence, Sunspace, Super Insulated Walls/ Roof.

Site VI-19. Mt. Desert,  Bale Out, 126 Oak Hill Rd. 

This Straw Bale residence Features: Energy Star Appliances, Local Materials, Non-Toxic Products, Passive Solar, Radiant floor heating, Recycled Materials.

Site VI-20. Hartford, 275 Labrador Pond Road.

Owner: Lee Holman, 388-2510

100 year old cape. A pair of 80-watt PV panels make up this low-budget electrical system along with a propane refrigerator & kitchen range and wood heat. This system runs a laptop computer & printer, 12v SHURflo pump for water at the kitchen sink, some lights, a radio & a few other electrical devices.

Environmental Happenings

Fri, 9/30 - Wild Plants of Maine taste test, 5 pm, Shift Sustainable Home Goods, 56 Maine Street, Brunswick.  Interested in wild edibles? Join Tom Seymour, author of Wild Plants of Maine, for a free talk at Shift in Brunswick (formerly F.W. Horch).  Taste testing will be a part of the evening, too!  For more information, call 729-4050.

Fri, 9/30 - Multimedia Presentation of Alaska Wilderness, 7:30 pm, First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church, 100 Main Street, Kennebunk (next to the Kennebunk Public Library).  Emmy-award winning filmmaker Richard Kahn has spent the last twelve summers paddling through wilderness on rivers in the Brooks Mountain Range and North Slope of Northwestern Alaska.  On Friday, Richard will share a multimedia presentation of his travels in the wild, undeveloped, unprotected, and threatened wilderness of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska.  The presentation will be accompanied by music from composer John Luther Adams, and the record company, Cold Blue.

Fri, 9/30 & Sat, 10/1 - Volunteer for New England Cottontail Rabbits, 9 am - 12 pm, parking lot for Crescent Beach in Kittery, Maine, on Sea Point Road.  The Wildlife Volunteer Corps has teamed up with Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge to restore habitat for endangered New England cottontails for years.  Come help make sure these rare bunnies survive.  RSVP online at action.defenders.org.

Sat, 10/1 - 2011 National Solar Tour.  Homes and businesses throughout the nation will welcome visitors to tour their sites and see how they use solar energy. Many sites in Maine will participate on this national tour date -- see list under September's sustainable living tip.

Sat, 10/1 - Apple Day, 10 am - 2 pm, Gilsland Farm, Falmouth.  Join Maine Audubon for a day celebrating fall and Maine wildlife.  Enjoy cider pressing, children's activities, live music by folk musicians The Sea Slugs, delicious and healthy food, face painting, a wildlife exhibit table, and a nature scavenger hunt.  At 10:30 am, children's local author and illustrator Cathryn Falwell (author of Pond Babies, Splash, and Mystery Vine) will present a reading and activities from her new book Gobble, Gobble; and at 11:30am, Ed Morgan a.k.a. The Music Man from the Children's Garden will perform original and classic singlaongs for children ages 1-99.  For more information, visit habitat.maineaudubon.org

Sat, 10/1 - Paddle on the Sheepscot Bog, 10 am - 12:30 pm, Palermo.  Join the Sheepscot Valley Conservation Association and the Sheepscot Wellspring Land Alliance for a paddle on the Sheepscot Bog.  The bog, accessible from the southeast corner of Sheepscot Pond, is actually a mosaic of many diverse wetland types encompassing 1,300 acres; its exemplary peatland ecosystem is unique in the watershed. The group will paddle into the bog’s remote and quiet interior, which includes a large kettle pond, by way of Deadwater Slough.  This event is free to the public. Participants should bring their own kayak or canoe. For specific directions to the put-in site, contact SVCA at 586-5616, or email svca@sheepscot.org.

Tue, 10/4 - Maine Wind Industry Initiative Business Networking and Reception, 5:30 pm, Maine Maritime Museum, Bath.  A wine and cheese reception sponsored by Tetra Tech, followed by a wind industry update by Angus King and business to business networking.  Learn from Paul Williamson about recent activities to market Maine capabilities that are bringing opportunities and investment to Maine.  Also view the new Maine Maritime Museum exhibit Aloft!: Topsails to Turbines; August 19-November 27; an exhibit exploring the wind driven economy of Maine, past to future. Please RSVP to pw@mainewindindustry.com

Fri, 10/7 - The Fruits and Fruit Trees of Monticello, Thomas Jefferson and the Origins of American Horticulture, 4 pm, Woodlawn Museum, Route 172 (Surry Road), Ellsworth.  Peter Hatch, director of grounds and gardens at Thomas Jefferson's Monticello, will be present for a book signing at 4 pm, and a talk at 5 pm, followed by a question and answer session.  Hatch’s presentation is part of Downeast Heirloom Apple Week. From October 1-9, the Downeast Food Heritage Collaborative, a partnership between the College of the Atlantic, Woodlawn and Healthy Acadia, supported by a grant from the Hancock County Fund at the Maine Community Foundation,  will feature a series of activities aimed at educating people about Maine’s rich apple history including talks by national experts, school programs, a daylong apple festival on October 8, and an apple pie contest during the Woodlawn Farmers' Market on October 9.  For more information on Downeast Heirloom Apple Week, visit woodlawnmuseum.org or call 667-8671.

Fri, Sat and Sun, 10/7, 8 and 9 and/or 10/14, 15 and 16 - PV Workshop Series, 17 Rockwell Rd, SE, Jonesport.  Each weekend begins on Friday evening with a free lecture, from 7 to 9 pm, and includes hands-on workshops Saturday & Sunday from 9:30 am to 4:30 pm.  Program: PV and How to Start a PV "Cottage Industry", Friday, 7 pm, a free lecture by Dr. Richard Komp.  PV Assembly Workshop: participants will experience the complete PV assembly and encapsulation process. Saturday Oct. 15: Special Solar Air Heater Workshop. Rebuild two solar air heater collectors in a solar home; learn solar heater design principles.  Fees: one weekend for $150; both weekend sessions $275; one day  $80. For more information, call 207.546-1639, 516.669-2442, or 207.497-2204 by September 30.

Fri, 10/14 - Chemicals, Obesity and Diabetes: How Science Leads Us To Action, 8:30 am - 5 pm, Colby College, Waterville.  The Environmental Health Strategy Center, in partnership with the Goldfarb Center at Colby College, will bring together national and state scientific and public health scholars, practitioners, and advocates, as well as national and state policy-makers, faculty and students to explore two questions about chemical "obesogens": 1) What is the current state of the science that links chemical exposures to obesity, diabetes and other diseases? 2) What public health policy actions are appropriate based on the current  evidence? For more information, visit www.PreventHarm.org. Registration fee: $50 (includes lunch).

Mon, 10/17 - 2011 Fall Beginner Beekeeping School, 5 consecutive Monday evenings, 6:30 - 8:30 pm, UMaine Regional Learning Center, 75 Clearwater Drive, Falmouth. Over 500 new beekeepers have been trained in this course offered by UMaine Cooperative Extension since 1992.  For more information, please see the schedule and the registration form online at

http://umaine.edu/cumberland/programs/2011-fall-beginner-beekeeping-course/

If you are interested in participating in the course, please return the form with a check for $80.00 (made payable to CCEA). The fee is for an individual or couple and covers the cost of the textbook, a bee disease publication, beekeepers reference notebook and other materials. Please return the registration form before October 12, 2011. The course is limited to 46 registrants.  Enrollment is done on a first-come, first-serve basis.  This course always fills up fast.  Registrations may also be taken over the phone by calling 1-800-287-1471 and using a credit card.

Sun, 10/23 - The Great Maine Apple Day, noon to 4 pm rain or shine, Common Ground Education Center, 294 Crosby Brook Rd, Unity.  Celebrate the history, flavor and tradition of Maine apples.  Educational workshops and talks: apple art, cooking with old time apple recipes, Maine's rich apple history, wine and cider making, organic tree care, see & taste rare & heirloom apples, bring your own varieties to show and taste, identifying your mystery variety -- our Dream Team of Maine apple identifiers will help you identify your apples. Apples, apple products, home-made goodies, cheeses and other local products.  Apple pie contest: bring your apple pie to share! Tasting will be at 3:30 pm.  Sponsored by MOFGA, Fedco, and the University of Maine Cooperative Extension.  Admission $4, $2 for members of MOFGA & Maine Pomological Society.  For more information, visit www.mofga.org

Tue, 10/25 - Birds Lecture, 6:30 pm, Cathance River Nature Preserve, Topsham.  Find out about the birds we can expect to see this winter as Stantec biologists tell us about the migration of some of our favorite avian friends. Where do they go when they are not here, and what brings them back year after year. Learn about some truly amazing journeys and discover a new appreciation for the songbirds we take for granted in our own backyards.  For more information, contact the Cathance River Education Alliance at 798-1913 or crea@creamaine.org

Sun, 10/30 - The Art of Local Food, 4:30 to 6:30 pm, The Summit at Point Lookout, Northport.  Come savor the best that Maine has to offer: wonderful local foods and drinks, Maine-inspired artwork, live music, and a breathtaking view of Penobscot Bay at NRCM's 3rd annual Art of Local Food event.  Dozens of local restaurants, farms, bakeries, and other culinary professionals will be creating the finest appetizers, nibbles, and desserts. This year, NRCM will also hold an Art of Local Food Art Sale. 50 Maine artists have contributed artworks inspired by the beauty of Maine for sale the night of the event. A cash bar will feature an assorted of Maine beers, wines, and liquors. Enjoy live music provided by Tom Luther on piano and Justin Walton on guitar.  Tickets are $40 per person, all of which supports NRCM’s work to protect Maine’s environment ($20 of each ticket purchase is tax-deductible).  For more information, contact 

Joyce Gracie at (207) 430-0128 or jgracie@nrcm.org.