Living Simply in an Affordable Green Home

We will host a talk by Ben Tipton titled "Living Simply in an Affordable Green Home," on Thursday, July 8, from 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm. The talk is free and open to the public.

In 2008 Ben Tipton and his family sold their large home in Vermont, gave away or donated most of their possessions and moved to Maine. They now live in a nearly carbon-free house, enjoying a simple life with more time to spend as a family.

"We wanted to build a solar home that the average person could afford," says Ben. "We have succeeded and now our utility costs are less than a dollar a day."

Ben's talk will explain their family's journey to "footprint reduction." In addition to building an affordable solar home, they are growing some of their own food, live locally and sustainably. They believe you don't have to have a lot of money to live small. There will be a short presentation followed by an open discussion on the theme "I cannot change my past carbon footprint, but I will do everything possible to limit my children's."

Ben is not a leading expert and holds no awards or degrees in sustainability. He does, however, try to live with low impact on the earth and to teach his children about being good stewards of the planet. Recently his family's near zero energy home, which is part of the Solar Homes Tour, was featured in Design New England. His common sense and down to earth view of sustainability recognizes that it all starts with each person's story. "I hope you are inspired by my story," he says, "and I hope one day your story can inspire me."

This talk is part of the F.W. Horch series on sustainable living. Each monthly talk is held on the second Thursday of the month at the F.W. Horch Sustainable Goods & Supplies store, 56 Maine Street, Brunswick. Space is limited, so if you're interested in attending please call the store at 729-4050 to reserve a seat.