Monday, September 28, 2009

iGo, uGo, we all go for eGo


The folks at eGo vehicles say they’re so much fun “you’ll be tempted to put cards in the spokes.”

That’s a smart statement that brings back childhood memories, describes the joy of the ride and at the same time clues you in to the quiet nature of the ride itself.

Launched in 2002 the eGo claims to be able to go up to 25 miles at 20 mph on a single charge – silently and pollution free.

”Ok,” so you say – “but then you have to recharge it.” Well, yes, but the eGO Cycle’s on-board charger allows "refueling" at any outlet for 10 cents worth of electricity.

"The eGO Cycle is the perfect product for the urban commuter, college student or gated community resident. It is dependable, fast, and emission free," said Andrew Kallfelz, President of eGO Vehicles. "We spent two years developing the eGO Cycle, and are now able to offer people the first street legal and safety compliant two-wheel personal electric vehicle."

The pedal-less cycle is unique, as its range is 36% greater than any other previously introduced electric scooter, bike or "transporter." The eGO Cycle gives anyone the opportunity to reconsider how they move around for fun or work," said Kallfelz.

The eGO Cycle can be ridden on any American street because it meets all National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) safety requirements, and with headlights, taillights, bicycle controls, large wheels and a low center of gravity it is safe and simple to operate for people of all ages.

Nearly 60 percent of all automobile trips are less than five miles, and 50% of trips are for personal (one passenger) transportation, according to the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics. "Today, Americans are thinking about new ways to get around. People want transportation convenience, young people want fun and everyone wants to find an alternative to oil and gas," said Kallfelz. In years to come the eGo, and other small personal transportation modalities may just be as commonplace as the automobile on local city and town streets.

eGO Vehicles, LLC
One Broadway, Suite 1400
Cambridge, MA 02142
USA
Phone: 800-979-4346 or 617-583-1379
Fax: 617-758-4101

Saturday, September 26, 2009

A Look Inside Bonnie Brae Deer Farm


by Sheila Oranch

It is fawn season at Bonnie Brae and I am greeted by a green Totem Pole and a well-kept vintage barn. Postcard companies would pay for pictures of this front yard. Bonnie Brae Farms is a classic New England farmscape, maintaining a beachhead against all kinds of commercial development along busy Route 3 between Plymouth and Ashland.

The heart of the story here is about sustainable agriculture, preserving open space, diversifying food sources and good, old fashioned, New Hampshire independence. Two brothers, Henry and Bruce Ahern, established Bonnie Brae Farms to revitalize the family farm and to establish an enterprise that will support them when they retire. Although Henry Ahern and Cindy Downing run the farm, Bruce joins them for special projects. Henry and Bruce both have other careers – Henry is an authorized Apple Computer dealer and technician and operates HDA Technical Services. Deer farming enables them to maintain those activities while building for the future in a way that keeps them close to the land they love. Now that the major infrastructure is installed (watering systems, paddocks, handling shed and lots of fencing), caring for the herds only takes a couple of hours a day most of the year. It’s a walk in the park, actually.

I am treated to a tour of the deer farm by Henry, complete with seeing the new fawns close up. Red Deer are beautiful animals with winsome faces and varied personalities. Larger than Whitetail Deer (actually a branch of the Elk family), they are gentler and less skittish. The yearlings are separated from the breeding hinds (females) and their fawns as well as the big stags. The young animals are curious and greedy for a treat. Henry handles them like a flock of geese and they show no fear of him. He works with all the herds every day to keep them cooperative.

The impressive stags can grow up to 550 lbs. Henry took me into their paddock and it was a slightly intimidating experience. Some have earned names like Hercules. One character, Garibaldi, seems to crave Henry’s attention. He is not the biggest stag, but he certainly makes himself known. Generally, the stags are respectful of their handler, but he says during the roar (breeding season) they can be aggressive. The stags are competitive and have huge antlers.



You may already know the difference between a horn and an antler, but just in case you don’t, animals that have antlers, like these red deer, lose them annually. An animal with horns, a cow for example, does not lose its horns. For Bonnie Brae farm, these antlers are a profitable product of deer farming. They are an important part of natural nutritional, medical and fertility treatments and a real renewable resource, as they grow back each year. A healthy stag can live for up to 20 years, and the antler growth peaks at 10-12 years!

Venison, which is the first product that comes to mind for a deer farm, is a tasty, nutritious, lean meat. By culling the herds of surplus males, and females who don’t have the right personalities, the stock improves at the same time that a locally grown food is made available. Unfortunately, there is a shortage of FDA-approved slaughter facilities. The animals may have to be trucked 100 miles to be processed. Yet New England does not have quite enough demand to open a new facility. Henry has some creative ideas to solve that issue, but the plan is still in development.
Meanwhile, Bonnie Brae Farms sports a great big walk-in freezer from which they will sell you venison in many forms. I couldn’t resist taking home some beautiful, lean burger patties. Yum!
“Bonnie Brae” means “beautiful hillside” in Scottish. Red Deer are native to Scotland, England, Wales, Northern and Central Europe, and Yugoslavia. Is it a coincidence that these lovely hillside pastures support herds of these gentle Scottish cousins of the giant elk?

Just past the Bridgewater Power wood to energy facility. State regulations prohibit the public from touring the farm as you might tour a dairy farm like Bonnie Brae’s bovine cousin Longview Farm on the other side of town, but the deer can be viewed from Rte 3 as well as from the area around the parking for Bonnie Brae.

Bonnie Brae Farms
601 Daniel Webster Highway
Plymouth, NH 03264-4314
Phone (603) 536-3880
Fax (603) 536-2649
Website



Cloudspire Plymouth, NH: Order cards, prints

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

The Challenges of Going Green with Your Business


“Finding products and components that are sustainably made is a combination of measuring “footprints” and exercising good judgment and common sense. Here are some things that you should understand when assessing the “ green creds” of any product.” - Wayne D. King


The term green is an unregulated term that can mean many things to many people, similar to "natural" with food products.

A products green credential can be measured in many ways because there are many steps in the manufacturing process. For example, one of our products MOP, Maximum Oil Pickup is – without a doubt – the most sustainable product on the market among oil absorbents. Yet there are a number of companies laying claim to the “green-space” in this multi-billion dollar industry. One competitor of MOP uses a very energy intensive mining process to mine a "natural" product which they label as a "green" product. Since the product itself is a naturally occurring item, it is fair to say that the raw material for manufacturing the sorbent (the term of an absorbent product) is green, but the manufacturing process is decidedly NOT green. Some customers who are looking to be able to claim that they are using a green product may find this sufficiently acceptable, particularly if they are seeking "window dressing" rather than a genuinely sustainable product. Customers who are sincerely seeking to reduce their carbon footprint will see through this immediately. Furthermore, organizations that make determinations about this will see immediately the shortcomings of products that are "greenwashing".

“Finding products and components that are sustainably made is a combination of measuring “footprints” and exercising good judgment and common sense. Here are some things that you should understand when assessing the “ green creds” of any product.”


Choosing a green product in today’s environment is a challenging task. It’s important for two major reasons:

1. If you are sincerely working to reduce your company’s carbon footprint, or working toward measuring your triple bottom line, you want to be able to choose a company that has a truly sustainable product and manufacturing process.
2. Consumers and watchdog organizations have an increasing level of sophistication when it comes to products that claim some level of green-ness and are savvy when it comes to companies that are employing greenwashing techniques to position themselves in the market, but not really achieving a level of sustainability that reflects well on people who use their products.

Having said this, it is important to say that some common sense and good judgement needs to be employed in this process as well. For example: Suburu of America is arguably the greenest automobile company in the US today, even though they do not manufacture a single hybrid vehicle. Why is this? Because the sum total of all their environmental efforts and products add up to an impressive environmental record. They have no hybrids but among companies building cars in the US they have one of the highest MPG ranking across their fleet. Add to this, just in time and regionalized manufacturing and inventory systems that reduce their shipping and the fact that every one of their facilities in the US has achieved a zero carbon footprint and you see a total picture emerge that is more sustainable than you might expect at first blush.

So how do you measure the sustainability profile of a company that you are considering as a vendor?

Products and Processes
To begin with, you want to examine both their products and their manufacturing processes. The degree of sustainability for any product can run the gamut from a product that is completely carbon intensive from start to finish to a cradle-to-cradle green product that is produced sustainably and is completely green itself - made from 100% recycled and natural products, organic or fully recyclable.

Furthermore, it is certainly worth considering other factors that are relevant. For example a quart of strawberries grown in your community may be grown using a carbon-based fertilizer making them ineligible for the claim of organic. However, their carbon footprint is surely smaller than the same quart of strawberries grown organically but shipped across the country.

Every product is going to have a different story to tell based on its component parts, its manufacturing process and its recycle-ability. The choices you make will need to be based on both the goals of your company and the profile of your clients/customers in the context of other obvious considerations such as price points for the products, shipping issues etc.

Returning to the MOP product addressed at the beginning of this article, we were attracted to the product from the beginning by its green power across the broad spectrum of product and production. Ultimately, MOP achieves the highest possible level of sustainability, a cradle-to-cradle level, by first utilizing only recycled and organic materials and employing a production process that uses green hydroelectric energy as its power source. Their claims regarding this can all be verified and validated allowing a business considering utilizing their product the confidence to know that they will not be subject to claims of greenwashing or individuals and advocates questioning the validity of the claims or splitting hairs over whether the sustainability of the product is counteracted by the production process. Assuming under these circumstances that you can make the other aspects work for your financial bottom line, a product like this covers the social and environmental bottom lines to achieve success in reaching goals in your triple bottom line.


Wayne King is a recovering politician, author and political commentator and President of Moosewood Communications in Rumney, NH. He blogs from his space in the Blogosphere, Greener Minds: GreenerMinds.Blogspot.com where he advocates for a sustainable planet; and from the Moosewood Communications Blog MoosewoodCommunications.blogspot.com.
King holds a BS Degree in Earth Sciences and a Masters Degree in Earth & Space Science Education from the University of New Hampshire, Durham.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Ten Tips for improving Your Company’s Sustainability Profile


Its all about the triple bottom line. Embracing the bottom line in terms of economics, environmental, and social values. Your Green offices will embrace all of these values and your boss will love you for it because in addition to making the company look good, it will save money too.

1. Work with a certified waste management company and ask them to provide you with advice for minimizing waste, and where possible gleaning some returns for your efforts. Many companies, notably Waste Management, Inc., have created special e-cycling programs for computers and electronic waste as well as

2. Buy post-consumer recycled content paper. Many of the big dogs in office supply are now offering recycled paper as an option including Staples, Office Depot, Quill, Target, as well as some of the specialty companies like Dolphin Blue, Monadnock Paper, The Green Office and others.

3. Use recyclable products in your bathrooms and kitchen areas.

4. Get an energy audit. In many cases the utility company that provides your electricity also provides programs for auditing your energy use. At the very least you can be sure that they can refer you to a professional in your area.

5. Institute programs to encourage carpooling among employees.

6. Institute programs to provide flex-time and telecommuting. Putting your company’s primary databases and working documents on the web using an intranet will allow your workers to work from any locale with broadband access. Several companies now provide low cost web-based intranet, conferencing and meeting software solutions: Webex, GoToMeeting, TalkPoint, Phase2 and others have some very affordable options.

7. Surge protectors do more than just preventing surges. If you have appliances plugged into surge protectors shutting off the surge protector or unplugging it entirely will prevent leakage that can really add up. At the very least, make it company policy to shut down computers, turn off lights and appliances after hours.

8. Look for EnergyStar rated appliances and office equipment.

9. Limit paper products in the kitchen and encourage employees to bring dishware from home.

10. Purchase renewable energy credits for your office, and offset your air travel, gas mileage and more.











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Monday, September 21, 2009

New Hampshire's Mountain Lion Mystery


by Peg Rosen
Images Courtesy Squam Lakes Natural Science Center

Imagine yourself driving a New Hampshire road at night, the winding pavement illuminated by the splay of the headlights. Suddenly, at the outer edges of your vision you glimpse an animal by the roadside, large and light in color with a long tail You stop to try and get a good look, but it’s gone. “I just saw a mountain lion!” you exclaim to yourself. But mountain lions disappeared from the forests and fields of New Hampshire long ago. Or did they? Do you believe your eyes? Or not?

You wouldn’t be alone in wondering. Numerous New Hampshire residents have encountered the mountain lion mystery Like all good mysteries, trying to discover whether mountain lions exist today in New Hampshire opens the door to a myriad of additional unanswered questions, intriguing clues and divided debate.

The Eastern Cougar (mountain lion), one of 15 subspecies of cougar living in North America, was native to our area at the time of settlement. Also called puma, cougar, catamount and panther, the eastern cougar roamed the landscape preying primarily on deer for food. Elusive and not often seen even in colonial times, its existence was threatened by land clearing for agriculture and logging. The deforestation resulted in habitat changes affecting the availability of prey and cover for protection. In addition, fearful pioneers hunted mountain lions relentlessly, adding to their decline. By the late 1800‚s, the cougar population had been hunted and displaced out of existence east of the Mississippi.

However, throughout the many years since the large, tawny cat was officially declared extirpated from the region, reports continued to trickle in from individuals claiming to have seen one. Today, apparent sightings occur regularly.. According to Mark Ellingwood, a wildlife biologist for the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department, several dozen sightings are reported each year in New Hampshire. In efforts to validate what may be credible reports, Fish and Game Department biologists ask observers the Who, Where, When and What of the incident and look for patterns of sightings, such as flurries or clusters of reports in a particular area. In order to confirm any sighting, the Department’s “greatest focus is on the existence of hard evidence, such as photos or videos, tracks, scat, hair samples”. On the official record to date, there has not been any piece of hard evidence available that can positively confirm a single sighting. But those who claim to have seen one of the big cats are often quite passionate about their belief in what they saw or found. For those who believe that the cougars have returned, each new sighting and testimony is a validation of that belief.

John Harrigan, a farmer and writer in Colebrook, has been keeping track of “sighting stories” since approximately 1978 and states that “the table is set” for these animals, with deer in abundance and the cougar’s willingness to feed on everything from mice to deer to young moose. With plenty of prey and still adequate forest cover, “there is no reason why there couldn”t be a viable cougar population in New Hampshire.” He applies his own version of questioning to the reports, designed to winnow out the least reliable: How far away was the viewer? What were the lighting weather, and forest cover conditions? How long was the animal in view? Mr. Harrigan declares that “although I am inherently skeptical, there is no doubt we have 2 or 3 cats, even denning females.” His conviction about the presence of reproducing cougars comes partly from several significant sighting reports that occurred in 1988-89 in broad daylight during summer months. He feels these indicate a denning female was taking chances, desperate to feed her young. Although Mr. Harrigan is one of the more vocal advocates of the mountain lion’s presence, there appear to be plenty of other proponents of the idea, as evidenced by the steady stream of reported sightings..

The opposing argument, however, can be quite persuasive when based on the premise that sightings are suspect unless validated by hard physical evidence. Dave Erler, Senior Naturalist at the Squam Lakes Natural Science Center in Holderness, New Hampshire, acknowledges that, although he would very much like to see the mountain lion return to this part of the country where it was an inhabitant before any of us, there is a decided lack of confirming evidence, especially tracks. “An animal that big and heavy couldn’t possibly travel through the snow in New Hampshire and not leave tracks.” Mr. Ellingwood also says that if they were here, we would have something more definitive by now to solve the mystery. “In talking with other biologists in Florida where they have confirmed the presence of the Florida Panther, we‚ve learned that wherever there are cougars, there is no lack of evidence.”

Mr. Harrigan refutes the lack of evidence theory with reasons for the missing elements of proof, explaining that scat, tracks, bits of hair and even deer carcass from a kill will not last long unless an effort is made by the finder to preserve them effectively. Some who hold the view that the cougar is extinct here argue that a cat and car collision would otherwise have occurred by now. But could a case for their presence be made on the idea that such a small number of cats might be able to avoid that type of human contact? What about the compelling stories of sightings told by, according to Harrigan, “keen individuals who have no reason to make something like that up”? Mark Ellingwood concedes that “the people registering reports are reasonable individuals who, even though we (Fish and Game) try to remain objective and respectful of their claim, seem perplexed when we tell them their evidence is not definitive enough for confirmation”.

If the reported sightings haven’t been substantiated by physical evidence and cougars aren’t here, what are people seeing that looks like a mountain lion? Some sightings have been determined to be a matter of mistaken identity, the creature later identified as a bobcat, housecat, or other animal. But in circumstances with good viewing conditions, it would seem difficult to not recognize the distinctive size, shape, color and cat-like movements of a mountain lion

And if the great cats are indeed back, where did they come from? Are they holdouts from the original natives who have remained in Maine or the Canadian Maritime Provinces and have migrated back to our state? Although a mountain lion’s territory range can be vast and migration of some western cougars seem to have occurred in the Midwest based on confirmed sightings there, Ellingwood states that “even though it’s not impossible, the dispersal distances seem too great„ to make migration a likely scenario”, while Harrigan observes that “animals don’t pay attention to borders” and seemingly credible sightings in eastern Canada put the mountain lion in range of our state. Or perhaps the sightings are of escaped or released exotic pets. Could a cougar kept in captivity make it‚s way as a wild creature and manage to survive? Some say “yes”, some say “no”. Cougar strength, agility and power is certainly evident in the physical appearance of the two captive mountain lions at the Squam Lakes Natural Science Center. Brought to the Center from Montana as orphaned two-week-old cubs, they could not have survived without their mother. But, now, as full-grown adults, they seem to possess the physical qualities needed to hunt in our wilderness. But would they know how or be able to learn quickly enough? Who can say if a sighting is of a native Eastern Cougar, an escaped cousin from captivity, or nothing related to a cougar at all?

As long as there are unconfirmed sightings, there will be a mountain lion mystery. “Are there mountain lions in New Hampshire?” Mr. Erler has created categories for the possible responses: Category #1. “Don't know, don't care”, Category #2 “Yep, they’re here”, Category #3. “Nope, they're not here”, and Category #4. “Not sure - wish I could believe they were, but not enough proof to support the notion”.

In what category would you place yourself?


I Believe T-Shirt from Moosewood Communications

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Sumac "Lemon"ade & Tea

No doubt you've seen them before. Sumac is a plant that grows wild all over much of North America. It will grow in places where it seems inhospitable to almost any plant. And it makes a great tea or lemonade from late fall right on through spring when the old clusters dry out and are replaced with new ones that will be tasteless until the end of summer.

There are several species of sumac but you want the Staghorn variety for your tea (pictured at left). Its upright cluster of red seeds and distinctive velvety feel on the newer growth is a sure sign that you are using the correct sumac.

If you are nervous about this because you may have heard of Poison Sumac, don't be. Poison Sumac is actually much more rare and has white berries that droop. It is impossible to mistake for the more common Staghorn variety.

Making Sumac-ade is quite easy. Gather a grocery size bag of the clusters. Take a large pot and fill it with fresh water and put the clusters right into the water. Using your hands, crush the clusters until they break apart in the water and allow them to steep for an hour or two. Drain the liquid through cheesecloth or some other clean, disposable cloth, toss the clusters in your compost pile, add sweetener to taste (for lemonade) and voila!.

If you like it as tea, you need not go through the process above but can steep a handfull of the seeds in hot water for just a few minutes and sweeten as you like it. You can also hang the pods to dry and store them for later.