Hello and greetings from Maine once again! It is a cool 70 degrees this evening as I type away at my laptop, by which some miracle is picking up a wireless connection from my bedroom. Imagine that…I didn’t have to try to sneak to the library during working hours (the only time it’s open…er…when I am working of course) to try to return emails from ‘real life’ and keep abreast with new opportunities and such niceties as writing this chronicle. So, I digress…I am feeling blessed to have this slice of opportunity to share! We are a week and a half out from July 4th when I suppose this place really gets rocking. The summer folk swoop in from their ‘winter lives’ in places like Florida, Texas, the Carolinas and so on (plenty of Pennsylvanians and New England folk too of course), and fill the streets with cars and people and fill the shops that have been quiet and quite stark if open at all for the past 8 or so months. I believe I am going to go through more produce than I can comprehend right now. I am going to try my darnedest to get all of my greens (of course the mesclun…people get PISSED when there is no mesclun i.e. Martha Stewart who I hear has a place nearby) locally so that will take some sort of new procuring skills that I am developing.

I had to skip town from my new summer home to complete my certification in health counseling last week and have been back in town for 3 days now. Adjusting to these different lives I am leading is interesting. I find myself in my head a lot trying to identify with something in the ever-changing myriad of surrounding that has been my life for the past 8 years. I do this only to find that it is unfruitful to try to ‘identify’ and that I need to drop the ego thing and just BE…that will likely be my biggest challenge this summer. I attended a guided group meditation tonight after work so I believe i am on the right path. The right opportunities for me to keep learning about myself seem to pop up at exactly the right moment. Next week I will visit one of the bigger organic co-ops here that is run by the College of the Atlantic. Their stuff (right now ie ‘in season’: arugula, mesclun, garlic scapes, scallions, white turnips, chard, kale ect.) is delish and for a great price. We are also getting these amazing local strawberries from Machias, ME from an adorable old man (I can only call him old because he told me he is old!) named Fulton who I think is just amazing.

For now folks…keep it natural, keep it lovely, keep it real!
-Julie

As a car-nut and an eco-freak, what’s a guy to do? Petroleum burning internal combustion engines plus speed and power don’t equal green driving, but Lotus has been working on greener fuels and more efficient cars including the Tri-Fuel Exige 270E which can run on ethanol, gasoline, or methanol. Besides that, their cars are also lightweight with small engines that run on a fraction of the fuel used by other exotics like Lamborghini and Ferrari makes. As far as sports car companies go, Lotus is arguably the greenest of them all. Now with the upcoming Eco Elise, Lotus seems to be making a car for me… and other eco nuts of course.

Read more…

Philippe Starck of the Alessi Citrus Juicer fame recently said he was going to leave the design world because he felt like the products he made were useless and wasteful. He was right in a way, his designs though beautiful, weren’t always the most functional.

It seems he’s figured out a much more constructive solution, design ecological solutions. His newest design is a slick and beautiful wind turbine called Democratic Ecology. Working with Pramac, Starck developed this aesthetically pleasing design and introduced it at Milan’s Greenenergy Design show.

The turbine can apparently generate 20-60% of the energy needed for a single home and should cost around 400 Euros or $633. Compared to current consumer windmills that can cost upwards of $2,000, this is a significant break in cost for consumers, not to mention a beautiful and sustainable solution.

» Philippe-Starck.com
» Philippe Starck TED talk

Thanks jcbonbon

In many ways, you would think so. Locally grown food is supposed to be better for you, better tasting and use up far less “food miles” to get to your table. The Locavore movement has gained traction with more than just the environmental crowd, because of the range of products available, the appeal to supporting local economy, the fear of pesticides and preservatives, and even the joy of having your own garden. So why are Stephen Dubner’s findings so opposite? He starts with the argument:

I very much understand the locavore instinct. To eat locally grown food or, even better, food that you’ve grown yourself, seems as if it should be 1) more delicious; 2) more nutritious; 3) cheaper; and 4) better for the environment. But is it?

His conclusions point to several issues, including the products it takes to grow your own food, the efficiency of vegetable and cattle farms and the amount of transportation it takes to get to you. It’s not exactly fair to compare growing your own food to the overly efficient farmers who make this their life, but on the same token, nothing compares to the pride and joy you feel when you pick your first homegrown tomato. Nor does it compare to the feeling of knowing exactly what has been put on or in your fruits and vegetables. So does this still equal a larger carbon footprint than going to your local grocery store?

Here’s his logic:

1. No one can grow all the things he or she would like to eat. While this is true, even substituting some of your produce for homegrown helps. Not to mention, you don’t really have to grow it all yourself if you take a trip to your local farmer’s market.

2. Since you can’t grow everything you need, there’s sure to be nutritional gaps in your diet. Sure, this makes total sense, but no one’s saying you need to grow your own wheat, corn, lettuce and everything in between. That would surely be incredibly inefficient and frankly, overkill. Again, a short trip to your local farmer’s market or vegetable stand can help that.

3. Is it cheaper? What if you factor in all the miles you would have to drive and all the products you need, the seeds, fertilizer, tools, etc? What if 1,000 of your neighbors did the same? This isn’t exactly a fair comparison. Some people don’t have the space to grow their produce in the ground, so they would need to buy pots and soil, but even so, many of those products you don’t need or don’t need to buy. Sprout cups? Unnecessary when you can make them out of newspaper or even egg cartons. Fertilizer? Forget about it! Either start a small composting setup or buy stuff from Terracycle, which I can attest to being great. Tools? you don’t need to buy a slew of tools to make your garden grow, you can improvise. Plus, even if you do choose to buy them, it’s a one-time cost for products you can use year after year. The transportation part is a valid point, but if you make a solid list of what you need and make one trip, it’s a small price to pay.

Now here’s the kicker:
4. (quoted directly) Keeping in mind the transportation inefficiencies mentioned above, consider the “food miles” argument: We find that although food is transported long distances in general…the GHG emissions associated with food are dominated by the production phase, contributing 83% of the average U.S. household’s 8.1 t CO2e/yr footprint for food consumption. Transportation as a whole represents only 11% of life-cycle GHG emissions, and final delivery from producer to retail contributes only 4%. Different food groups exhibit a large range in GHG-intensity; on average, red meat is around 150% more GHG-intensive than chicken or fish. Thus, we suggest that dietary shift can be a more effective means of lowering an average household’s food-related climate footprint than “buying local.” This is a compelling argument, and if only 4% is from retailer to retail, then it makes sense. If 83% of the carbon footprint of getting food to your table is concentrated in the production phase, doesn’t that sound a little inefficient, and perhaps the local growers would contribute a little less? Not to mention, I refuse to believe that only 4% of the CO2 emissions of avocados from Chile in our Florida grocery stores are from that long trip.

The jury’s still out, and for me, I’ll stick to my locally grown produce, thank you.

» Via PSFK and the Freakonomics blog on NYTimes Online

If you’ve been noticing a slew of alternative based fuel posts lately on Swye, you’ve noticed our excitement over the possibilities of weening the US, and effectively the rest of the world, off fossil fuels forever! One of the problems with some of these processes is the processing the “crude” oil requires before it can go in our tanks. LS9 is a company that might be able to shorten the processing time it takes from production to our cars.

Using genetically modified single-cell organisms including industrial yeast and nonpathogenic strains of E. Coli to break down raw material such as wood chips, wheat straw, or even corn (they’re avoiding the need to use food as fuel and focusing on using agricultural waste according to the area and climate) into a by-product that’s nearly pump-ready.

There are several advantages to this over food-based ethanol including the lack of a need to use food like corn. Using agricultural waste solves two problems, the disposal of that waste by agricultural companies, as well as the need to transport it. Since the little guys create something that’s molecularly similar to oil, there’s also no need to distill the product like you have to with ethanol. This greatly reduces the time it takes to create product and get it to market.

So far, they have no production ready space, nor are they sure if the technology could work on a nationwide or global scale, but they machine they’re testing on already can produce about a barrel a week and only takes up 40 square feet of floor space. If that’s any indication of what they can do, bring it on!

» Via TimesOnline

Green funerals are catching on in a big way as an alternative to the chemical-laden processes way we’ve been presented with for decades. Many companies have offered natural pine caskets and even ones made of cardboard, but the SpiriTree is an all natural, carbon negative way to honor your loved ones with “a living, growing monument.”

Here’s the basic concept: you spread the ashes on the biodegradable bottom portion, place the ceramic top on top and place a seed or a small tree in the hole. You do all this where you want the tree to grow, of course. Once the piece is “planted” the tree will grow, the bottom of the unit will deteriorate allowing the roots access to the soil underneath. The ceramic top is built to break once the trunk outgrows the size of the hole.

The Spiritree is a beautiful piece and a great concept. The only downfall is though you’re planting a tree and you’re helping to offset your carbon footprint, the cremation process is energy intensive and spits out carbon and other chemicals too. That said, I’ve always said I wanted to be buried under a tree and now I think I know how.

Currently there are several companies pioneering algae-based diesel technology, Sapphire Energy, PetroSun, and Solena to name a few. Now that Solazyme’s algae-based diesel, Soladiesel has passed tests for the US standards and proven it will run in our vehicles without damage, the race is on to bring it to the public. In order to be deemed suitable for consumption in vehicles, Soladiesel had to pass both the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) D-975 specifications and ASTM ultra low sulfur diesel (ULSD) standards.

This is good news not only for Solazyme and algae-based diesel in general, but also for the public for whom the possibility of a more sustainable fuel is looming on the horizon.

There is one problem with Solazyme’s process: they’ve figured out how to grow the algae without the sun, but it relies on feeding the algae sugar. We all know the dangers of creating fuel from food, and this just seems like a diversion from the true innovation of algae. I have to admit, it’s pretty disappointing to hear of a company making such strides in the field only to learn their process might be flawed. I hope they can figure out how to commercialize their product and process without having to resort to the pitfalls of food-based fuel we’ve fallen into already.

» Via Gas 2.0

No one can deny the benefits of composting, but most people can’t stomach the thought of it nor do they want an ugly green or brown smelly plastic bin laying around in the space they already don’t have.

Daily Dump makes decorative clay composting pots that either come painted with one of their designs or custom painted, or plain so you can paint them at home. They are a relatively new start-up in Bangalore, India boasting an impressive list of products and some great information on their website on how to use their system and the benefits of composting.

They have a range of products that can handle any amount of composting kitchen material. Their market is mainly focused on India, Africa and Asia, though we hope they start selling here.

» Daily Dump

Thanks MontanaRaven

Having a green, well manicured lawn is an American pride, right up there with our flag and our pickup trucks. Truth is though, to keep them looking good they need an incredible amount of water and require phosphate heavy fertilizers that leak into our ground water and create algae blooms and dead spots in the oceans. It’s an incredible inefficient way to landscape our property but it’s the American way. Xeriscaping is the practice of landscaping with local and drought resistant plants and shrubs that don’t require the excess water and fertilizers that grass does. Not only is it practical, especially in areas with drought, but it’s also beautiful and looks really unique.

Lose The Lawn
LoseTheLawn.com is an advocacy and outreach program to teach people about the detrimental effects of caring for a lawn and the benefits and practicality of xeriscaping for homeowners. The site is full of great information and useful statistics and facts, like:

- You can reduce your water use by 80%

- And best of all, it saves you money!! About 80% over a ten-year period in maintenance costs!

» LoseTheLawn.com

So I am here on Day #3 in a little town on the coast of Maine where I am shedding layers of my old self to become more of who I want to be…am meant to be. So far, things have been going really well.

A little background…I left the corporate world this past January unexpectedly (due to our GREAT economy) and decided not to go back! I have been studying holistic health counseling in New York City at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition and have begun to settle into the fact that I am on this earth to spread a message of how humans can live in sync with the earth. It’s the foods we put into our bodies, the products we take from the earth and the reverence we hold for all things living…once we can find harmony within all of these we can find peace within ourselves. I am looking for this myself and want to share with everyone the process of letting go of our mechanistic world in favor for a world without illusions.

OK, back to Maine…so with this blog, I will chronicle the experience of a gal (myself) who has been living the suburban/city life for TOO LONG and is delving into the simple life head first. Now, I will have things like electricity and running water but I will not have TV and since my job will be to buy local produce and foods, I will be eating almost all local foods. I hope you all enjoy and learn something too. My first three days have been filled with learning about the local farms and their order and delivery times and dates, organic gardening on Islesford (aka Little Cranberry Island, where while I was weeding the author and illustrator Ashley Bryan was leading a group of school children on a nature walk reciting Langston Hughes…where am I? A dream!), and meeting lots of new people who are all incredibly kind and incredibly real…an authenticity one hardly ever encounters in the cities I have dwelled within these past years. Things are looking good! Until next time…