Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Wellfleet Bay Mass Audubon Society!

Last week I took a visit to the Wellfleet Bay Mass Audubon Society. If you love the environment, they are definitely an organization worth checking out!! The main building is 100% green, and they have massive solar panels outside of it. The building comes with composting toilets, solar power, thermal energy heating, and a greywater system. The floors are even made from recycled tires!!! For more information on this amazing building visit their Green Building Blog.

FYI:

Thermal Heating --
The ground below us maintains a relatively constant temperature. The thermal heating that is used by the Wellfleet Bay Mass Audubon Society comes from holes dug in the ground underneath the building. In the winter, this constant temperature from the ground helps to keep the building warmer, which means less heat will be needed to warm the building. And less heat means less energy being used! Then in the summer, the cooler air is brought up from the ground and keeps the building from getting scorching hot! :D

Greywater System --
The greywater system recycles the water used in a facility so that it can be used again. For example, dishwater, laundry and bath water will be used, proceed into a filtering system, and then used again to water your garden! The Wellfleet Bay Mass Audubon uses recycled water for their many gardens, and they also collect rain water on the roof to aid this process. The use of grey water lowers the amount of fresh water used and is great for plants! For more information visit Greywater Central.


As for composting toilets . . .
This concept still bewilders me a bit and I'll have to get back to you with more information.

Here is a picture of the solar panels at the Wellfleet Bay Mass Audubon:


ciao :)

Monday, July 30, 2007

California here we come.

San Francisco is where it's at. They passed the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, they no longer spend city funds on bottled water (very wasteful), they encourage the use of reusable shopping bags instead of plastic, and very recently CA has taken the lead in passing The Clean Alternative Fuel and Clean Vehicle Act of 2007 and the Low Carbon Fuel Standard. According to Environmentcalifornia.org,"Together, the two bills would require by 2020 that 50 percent of new cars run on clean, alternative fuels, and that fuel providers reduce the carbon intensity of fuel in California by at least 10 percent." We need to follow this example!

Another thing I have noticed is that many earth-friendly clothing lines come from California as well. Two young girls from CA have started a clothing line called Velvet Leaf (they also have a website). Velvet Leaf is a clothing company that uses organic, earth-friendly materials to make high fashion clothing. Could that be any more awesome? When looking at their myspace you'll find links to lots of other small, organic clothing companies, most of which are ALSO in California. The Global Environmental Trade Show is also something worth checking out. Retailers that sell environmental products come to these ECO shows in New York and California to sell their green products and to buy from other green companies. When I discovered all of this I thought, "I should just move to California!" But then I realized that what would be even better is to help bring this green way of life to Boston . . . and everywhere else!

sayoonara :)