May 2007 Events

Please join us tomorrow, Thursday, May 10, at 7:00 pm at F.W. Horch Sustainable Goods & Supplies in Brunswick for "BayScaping: Landscaping to Protect Casco Bay in Your Own Backyard", a talk by Mary Cerullo of Friends of Casco Bay.

Mary will help you find practical ways to reduce dependence on lawn chemicals. BayScaping is a way for homeowners and yard care services to maintain a healthy landscape without depending on pesticides and fertilizers. You will receive a how-to guide, a soil test kit, and a worksheet for designing a low-maintenance, attractive yard that is healthy for families, pets, and Casco Bay.

This month we have a bonus talk. Join us on Thursday, May 24, at 7:00 pm for "Building Green by 'Function Form': How to Build an Environmentally Friendly Home on a Reasonable Budget" by John Whitworth and James Prentice of the Balsam Group LLC.

John and James will share the Balsom Group design philosophy of "Form Follows Function." They developed this alternative design process to address some of the shortfalls of the traditional builder/owner relationship, especially when applied to building high-performance "green" homes. They will explain how their unique approach can fully integrate the home owner's desires wants and needs into a satisfying design and construction process from start to finish.

News From Energyworks

Energyworks, our renewable energy partner, writes,
Spring is in the air and we are getting back on roofs all over the mid coast ! We've got two wind projects in the works as well as two large residential grid tied pv projects lined up for the spring. Remember that there is still a state rebate available for the installation of a Solar Hot Water system. For more info on the rebates and tax credits check out www.maine.gov/msep

We had a great time at the Green Expo in Damariscotta. A great turn out and lots of interest. It seems there is a great deal of interest in wind power these days, perhaps because of the recent storms. If you want to learn more about the potential of wind, Pat Coon will be doing two presentations in May ( Chewonki's sustainable energy conference may 12 - chewonki.org and a class in camden 5/23)

Energyworks South (the Portland office), writes,
Energyworks South is looking forward to MEBSR's (Maine Businesses for Social Responsibility) annual conference May 10 at the Hilton Garden Inn, Freeport. Please stop by our table to learn how your investment in a solar hot water system can dramatically reduce your household carbon footprint--with a system payback in the 5-7 year range. Too many homes in Maine are heating water year-round with inefficient oil burners. When that boiler kicks on in August to heat water for a shower, we calculate it is operating at roughly 10-15% percent efficiency. The solution? By converting a traditional 'hot start' oil boiler to a 'cold start' mode, in conjunction with solar hot water, we can effectively turn off the boiler from May to October and prevent hundreds of gallons of oil from going straight up the chimney! Call Phil Coupe at 221-6342 to see if your household is a good candidate for this upgrade, or send an e-mail to phil@energyworksllc.com.

F.W. Horch Composting Goods & Supplies

Feed your garden with home-grown compost! We have the information and equipment you need to be successful this season making natural fertilizer from your kitchen and yard waste.

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

All of our store events are now in Google Calendar.

• 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

• 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.