Blog : November 2009
A family classic goes green
By Nick White
Young’s Restaurant, a Durham staple has been around for 89 years; owned by only two families for nearly a century. This classic New England restaurant is a local hot spot frequented by students and locals alike. Although this diner may invoke that old-fashioned, home-town feel, owners Ken Young and his wife Cathy run a business that is also on the cutting edge of green, in constant movement forward to make their restaurant more sustainable.
Over the last 40 years Young’s has been implementing sustainable business practices, learning and improving as time goes on. “We have been thinking green since 1980. At that time these things were just smart business practices but we’ve always had a passion for sustainability and now we’re really wrapping ourselves around it,” says Ken.
More discounts for Green Card holders on GREEN MONDAY!
Forget Black Friday – Say hello to Green Monday! Just in time for the second phase of your Holiday shopping, a number of GA Businesses are rolling out exclusive discounts for GA Green Card holders, now through January 1st. Here’s a list of the discounts:
Acorn Organics: Stop in for any haircut, manicure, or pedicure, and be eligible to buy a $10 haircut or pedicure voucher for someone else. Save $30 for a friend with the purchase of a $10 voucher! (Voucher is redeemable only after January 1st).
Just Us Chickens: Save an additional 5% on their amazing line of Red Maple alpaca socks and sweaters (GA Green Card holders now save 15% with their standard 10% discount!)
Pixels & Pulp: Save 20% off all design services (through the end of February).
Serendipity (Exeter): Save 20% off everything in the store!
Energy Audits Unlimited: Save $100 on a residential energy audit!
Arbonne: Receive a free aromatherapy hand lotion with the purchase of any Holiday item!
GES Solar Store (Concord): Save an extra 5% off the standard 15% GA Discount on off anything in the store up to $500, or receive a free Kill-A-Watt EZ electricity monitor with any purchase of $500 or more (a $45 value!)
Affordable Weatherization Solutions: Save 20% on a series of pre-paid gift certificates (a certificate good for $500 in services costs only $400! A card good for $350 costs only $280!)
Organic Bonita: $10 off all manicures and pedicures and $25 off all cut and colors!
Also don’t forget that, now through January 1st, the GA is offering two Green Cards – normally $35 a piece – for only $50. They not only make great stocking stuffers, but with all the new sales, they’ll make great discount machines for a friend or loved one who may have missed out on last Friday’s madness.
Guest Blog: Did You Know You Can Save on Energy Costs?
By Steven Borne and Carol Ann Mastro who participated in the Sustainable Portsmouth Kickoff.
Phantom Power Tips
Computer, Internet Modems, TVs, Microwave ovens, Stereos start right up since they are kept in a “Warm mode” that draws electricity. If you put them on a power strip with an on/off switch you can stop paying for electricity when you are not using it.
Unplug cell phone chargers, clocks and radios and small appliances such as coffee makers and or put on power strips and turn on when you need to use them. Anything with an LED is using power, so shut it off or unplug it.
Shut off computer screensavers and adjust power management settings to sleep after a few minutes of inactivity
Lighting Tips
Clay Hill Farm Gives White Wedding with Green Agenda
Traditional white weddings may be giving way to green weddings in the years to come. Clay Hill Farm, an award winning restaurant and wedding venue in Maine, is holding a green wedding giveaway for the second year in a row now. The contest, which opened in late October, will yield to the winning couple of a.jpg)
July wedding for up to 100 guests, free of charge. Most of the components of the wedding will be locally obtained such as the flowers, cake, music, invitations and even the honeymoon. The Clay Hill Farm Green Wedding Giveaway was the first contest of its kind that draws a parallel between devotion to a spouse and devotion to the environment.
Guest Blog: Roberts Community Suppers to Host Kittery PTA
By Nicholas White
Roberts Community Suppers will be hosting the Kittery PTA on December 1st and December 8th. A three course meal will be provided for $12 per person, kids menu’s available, with 5% of the proceeds going to the Kittery PTA. This is the first time a school group will be using the Community Suppers to help raise money and this is a great opportunity to come enjoy great food while supporting a great group. Robert’s provides local groups to hold dinners at the restaurant in order to build community closeness. The PTA community dinner offers the community a chance to come hear a little bit about what the PTA is doing and how the money raised from the dinner will be used to benefit the children.
AWS Offers New Holiday Special
Introducing the AWS Gift Certificate
Give the Gift of Warmth this Holiday season....
Prepaid Gift Certificate Increase Discount by 33%
Save $100 or more...
Hurry! Offer Expires December 31, 2009
Looking for the perfect gift for your grandparents, parents, new home owner, or even yourself this Holiday season? An Energy Audit gift certificate is the answer.
Many of us have parents that are living in an older home or even a new home that for some mysterious reason uses more fuel than the budget allows. And maybe the answer is to lower the thermostat to make up the difference. Not a pretty picture especially for the elderly.
Then there are the first time home owners on a tight budget that really don’t know what it will cost to heat their new home. Think about yourself. Is there is a room that is always cold? Are you in a position to afford your heating bills if the price suddenly increases as happened in 2008?
Guest Blog: SEA Solar Store Host's Successful Clean Energy Roundtable!
By Ashley Obara
On Wednesday evening November the 18th from 7 to 9 p.m., Repower America, the Green Alliance and several seacoast business members met for a Clean Energy Roundtable meeting. Owner, and GA member, Jack Bingham kindly hosted a packed room at his Seacoast Energy Alternatives Store located in Dover, New Hampshire.
Sarah opened the meeting with an enthusiastic introduction about her creation of the GA and her own 
views on energy conservation relating to clean energy. Her introduction was an excellent segway to the following nights speakers.
Jane Pendlebury from Pew Charitable Trust spoke first about her research in clean energy, and its relation to providing numerous jobs for New Hampshire and the nation. Jane was followed by interesting and informative presentations by Melissa from Ultra Geothermal and Jeff from Waterline Alternative Energies, who are both active GA business partners.
Seacoast Local Urges Citizens to Change the Way They Shop for the Holidays
‘Tis the season for holiday shopping and if you are looking for a gift to give to your community you may not have to look further than your local businesses. To stimulate the economies of local communities Seacoast Local is organizing a holiday shopping campaign for the third consecutive year. The initiative is called Buy Local Week and will take place November 30th through December 6th in 24 towns across the seacoast. Seacoast Buy Local will be challenging citizens to nurture their communities by doing most or all of their holiday spending at local venues.
Keep ME Warm Program Seeks Volunteers
Winter is coming and many Mainers will be struggling to keep warm when the temperatures go down and the snow starts to fly. Are .jpg)
you interested in helping those who are unable to winterize their homes this winter? The Keep ME Warm Program will provide winterization materials to community volunteers to help winterize homes of eligible residents.
The KMW 09 program is different from last years and is intended to move the program toward a sustainable model and provide a broader energy savings impact for Maine homes long term. One important example of this is direct volunteer team access to a list of weatherization items through a contracted vendor and customized window inserts designed by Charlie Wing, nationally renowned author and energy expert, and produced through a collaborative effort with the Maine Department of Health and Human Services, the Maine Department of Corrections, Habitat for Humanity/7 Rivers Maine, and the Maine State Housing Authority.
Two Portsmouth Artists Interpret an Environmental Message During Holiday Arts Tour
Through photographs, glass and community participation, two different Portsmouth artists are using their artistic mediums to present environmental themes in new ways. Tim Gaudreau has a history of creating thought provoking eco-art in photographic images and interactive installations, and Dyanna Smith is just beginning to translate her work in conservation into sculptural works of glass. And both artists are opening the doors to their studi
os during the Portsmouth Holiday Arts Tour this weekend.
Gaudreau’s creations reveal the human relationship with the environment through varied media, including photographic and sculptural installations that shift an observer’s perspective on their daily lives.
Green Alliance Offers Super Holiday Membership Specials!
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For a limited time only we are now offering membership in the Green Alliance at a special discounted rate. Join the GA today and get yourself a Green Card and a second one to give as a Gift for only $50 total. Thats two memberships for $50! The Green Card is already a great deal at $35 a year; giving you access to discounts at 71 local green businesses -- savings that can translate into thousands of dollars! Now you can get yourself a membership card and get a second one for essentially $15 dollars! The Green Card makes a fabulous gift -- a chance for friends and family to enjoy SUPER SAVINGS for an entire year at the greenest businesses in our region. So put your environmental values to work with Green Alliance membership now while we are offering this discounted rate. Perhaps you know a friend that has been wanting to join the GA? Pool your money together and purchase 2 memberships online for $25 a piece. You each will save $10! Or purchase 2 memberships to give as gifts -- they make fabulous stocking stuffers!
GA Green Shopping Pocket Guides are out -- pick one up today!
Today was an exciting day for the Green Alliance. Not only did we get to lunch at Beach Pea (if you haven’t tried their amazing soups and sandwiches, make it your holiday resolution!); we also began distribution of our long-awaited Green Shopping Pocket Guide – a foldable reference that gives you the rundown on all the GA’s Business Partners by industry, along with their Report Card scores and other helpful information.
We placed the first batch at the Beach Pea counter, so be sure to pick one up the next time you stop in for a morning coffee or a lunchtime special. It makes a great stocking stuffer and fits right in your wallet.
The Pocket Guides will soon be available at all GA Business Partner locations, so be on the lookout!
Engineering both art and science for Petersen
James Petersen began his career in engineering in 1986, and founded Petersen Engineering, Inc. six years later. Passionate about energy and the environment, James has expanded his expertise from his roots in HVAC and plumbing design to include building science, enclosure design and integrated design. A broad view of buildings, energy, and the environment has significantly changed James’ practice, and the success of the sustainable design movement has created new opportunities and has elevated his role on projects as the mechanical engineer.
Petersen Engineering looks at buildings holistically. “Any project we do we approach as an educated advocate for the owner, asking how can we design systems that will use as little energy as possible, as efficiently as possible and how can this be done while maintaining maximum durability, maximum adaptability, and as comfortable and healthy as possible,” explains Petersen.
Their engineers are building experts with a specialty and focus on the mechanical systems for buildings. The first thing Petersen analyzes is how to reduce the energy needs of a building. “Most buildings are drafty and under-insulated with grossly over-sized heating and cooling systems, creating an incredible amount of energy waste,” says Petersen. “With good design a reasonable target for buildings, new or renovated, is to use 50% to 70% less energy.”
Guest Blog: Have You Taken The NE Carbon Challenge?
By Nicholas White
Are you someone that enjoys a challenge? How about saving money? Ever dream of saving the world while saving money
? University of New Hampshire and Clean Air-Cool Planet joined up to give you that very chance! Enter the New England Carbon Challenge. This unique challenge was created in order to educate, inspire and support reductions in residential carbon emissions. The New England Carbon challenge was originally the New Hampshire Carbon challenge but other states wanted a piece of the action and joined in during the summer of 2009. Homes that have joined the challenge have been saving an average of $750 a year on fuel and electrical costs which is roughly a 20% decrease in energy consumption!
Slow Food Seacoast's "50-Mile-Thanksgiving" closer to home
This year, Slow Food Seacoast's popular Thanksgiving event comes closer to home. The "100-Mile Thanksgiving" of past years is being updated to reflect our community's progress in finding and developing more of our own local food resources. In recognition of these positive changes, this year's Thanksgiving celebration of regional foods is titled "50-Mile Thanksgiving: Closer to Home."
The event takes place at South Church, the Unitarian Universalist Church of Portsmouth, and is cosponsored by Slow Food Seacoast and the Churcn's Green Sanctuary Team, with support from RiverRun Bookstore. This year the event takes an exciting new format, featuring a 7:00 PM talk on urban farming by Novella Carpenter, author of the book "Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer."
Carpenter's account describes the way she integrated rural knowhow with more familiar elements of life in a modern American city life, including downtown nightlife and socializing as well as encounters with local homeless people and street-corner drug dealers. "When you have a rural process going on in the city, it opens up all these different things to happen," Carpenter told the Boston Globe in an interview. "It brings you into a different relationship with your neighborhood."
Become a Green Alliance member today and START SAVING on local, green goods and services! JOIN NOW
