EcoMovement helps NH Race for the Cure go green

On May 11, the Vermont-New Hampshire Affliliate of Susan G. Komen will be holding NH’s second annual Race for the Cure, a 5k run or walk and Kids Fun Run at Portsmouth’s Strawberry Banke. 

This year, EcoMovement Consulting and Hauling, a proud GA business partner, is donating its services to help make this usually pink-dominated event incorporate some green into its activities.

EcoMovement, based in Dover and owned by Rian Bedard, provides residential pick-up services of compostable organic materials to the greater Seacoast of New Hampshire and Maine; its mission being to bring the region closer to becoming a zero waste community.

“This is our first year working with EcoMovement and we are super excited about it” says Allison Brownell, who co-chairs the year’s race with Val Wawrin-Stanton. “Being green speaks a lot to the local community and we are proud that we can say our race is really considering how we are impacting our environment.”

At the event, EcoMovement will outfit the tent area of the race with stations for composting, recycling, and trash. Volunteers will be there to help participants identify which bin to place their materials in.

To learn more about the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure or to register for the race, please visit www.komenvtnh.org. Join the Green Alliance team by clicking “Join an Existing Team” and typing in “The Green Alliance”!

To learn more about EcoMovement, check out www.zerowastenow.com.

Green Card holders: Remember residents get one FREE month of compost pickup with their Green Card! GA Businesses receive a FREE consultation and staff training!

Sailing Volunteers Needed in City

Volunteers are needed on the gundalow Piscataqua (a replica sailing barge) for a variety of positions including: educators, deckhands and greeters. These volunteer positions are available from May through October.

Volunteer training will be held Thursday, April 18th with a 4pm orientation at the gundalow office in Portsmouth followed by a 4:30 dockside session at Prescott Park. The training will be repeated Wednesday April 24th at the office at 6pm. An addition session is also scheduled for May 7th at 10am for volunteers who would like to help with education services.
 

To volunteer call 603-433-9505 or email education@gundalow.org or visit www.gundalow.org

Local architecture firm serves sustainability locally and globally

Think globally, act locally.

For as well worn and bumper sticker-ready as it’s become, the mantra implies an unintentional duality counter to its very meaning: You can do one or the other, but attempting both would amount to tilting at windmills.

Not if you’re Paul Fowler and Bob Cook, that is.

Despite having only recently launched their Portsmouth architecture firm, adaptDESIGN, Fowler and Cook’s involvement in two high-profile projects – one local, the other half a world away – is proof positive that giving back knows neither boundaries nor borders.

Back in October, Fowler received a call from a Cornell University representative seeking a green-minded design and architecture firm to help sponsor student efforts to construct a prototype for a new kind of sustainable housing unit in Nicaragua. The Cornell representative had gotten wind of adaptDESIGN by way of Green Alliance, the Portsmouth-based “green business union” that adaptDESIGN joined a little less than a year ago.

According to Sustainable Neighborhoods Nicaragua’s (SNN) website, Nicaragua is currently facing one of the most acute housing crises in the world, with nearly two out of every three citizens experiencing impediments of one kind or another in finding adequate housing. The goal of SNN is to construct long-term housing units that are affordable, sturdy, and sustainable as possible.

“They won’t be the fanciest houses in the world, but they will be replacing substandard housing and – in some cases – nothing at all,” explains adaptDESIGN’s Paul Fowler. “The hope is that they can serve as a sustainable and financially feasible model, not just in Central America, but all over the world.”

Drew Obston: The New Guy

Hello to all Green Alliance partners and followers! My name is Drew Obston and I'm one the new additions to the Green Alliance team this semester, I will be working with many of the Green Alliance's impressive clients writing pieces for the GA blog and creating videos for the webpage.  

I'm a junior at the University of New Hampshire pursuing my degree in English/Journalism and Economics.  Over the past several years, I have written many client features and pieces for blogs for various communications and advertising agencies.  I've also created numerous multimedia short films for classes and clients.  I got in contact with the Green Alliance last semester through an English class and I enjoyed working with everyone so much I knew I wanted to be a part of the team.

The Green Alliance's commitment to promoting local businesses as well as encouraging green practices is something I think is pretty awesome.  I look forward to learning not only how to promote sustainable businesses, but also what it really means to be a sustainable business and the various creative ways in which many of the local seacoast businesses are working everyday to become more and more "Green".  Can't wait to get down to business and start posting stuff, see everyone soon!

-Drew

GUEST BLOG: Pedaling for Affordable Housing

Tessa Mandra, a former Green Allaince colleague, is preparing for a 3,800 mile cross-country bicycle trip to support affordable housing through Bike and Build.

To find out more about Bike and Build, Click Here!

To find out more about Tessa, or to donate to her trip, Click Here!

By: Tessa Mandra

Formerly working with the Green Alliance, I am a strong advocate for the cause of building sustainable communities. I believe that through supporting and providing the foundation of well being to those in need, we foster happier, healthier, and more productive communities.

That is why this summer, I am leading a bicycle tour across the great United States with the incredibly cool and zealous organization, Bike and Build. This past summer, I completed a bike tour across Europe with my Dad, and I found that although the experience was unmatched and always interesting, I wanted to pedal for a cause. “Pedaling for affordable housing,” Bike and Build’s mantra, really hit a chord, and I was immediately committed.

Little Green Homes builds tree house, helps leave legacy

When we think of tree houses, chances are the images conjured are ones that belie the term itself – a haphazard, vaguely hollow collection of medium-sized sticks arranged on the ground by delicate hands, a skillfully rendered but still Spartan five-sided box nestled between sturdy branches, and very little in between.

They’re typically not what you would call works of art, nor even remotely fancy.

Then again, this isn’t your typical tree house.

Situated where their back yard meets a patch of Stratham woodland, the Acorn School’s recently-completed “outdoor classroom” reflects the best of both tree house worlds: The size, space and ambiance of a state-of-the-art tree-bound playroom; with the safety and convenience of ground-mounted access.

The structure – replete with a prominent Acorn emblazoned above its stair entryway – was designed and built by Little Green Homes, a Greenland-based company renowned for their eco-conscious practices.

Though it was completed just before Thanksgiving, the Acorn staff wasted little time turning the wooden wonder into a full-fledged outdoor classroom – the perfect place for students to learn to appreciate the wonders of the natural world.

“We’re out there all the time,” says Sue Bendroth, Acorn’s Director since 1987, the same year the 40-year-old school officially became a nonprofit organization. “We decorated a small tree for the tree house in December, making decorative paper links to wrap around it – the children have really enjoyed it.”

But beyond its imagination-culling features – and there are plenty – Bendroth says the tree house serves another, equally important purpose: A tribute to a lost loved one.

For Green Lotus, giving a part of the practice

Two weeks ago, a swell of over 200 yoga students filled the old wood-lined floors of The River Mill at Dover Landing for the Fifth Annual Yoga Mala. The goal: To complete 108 sun salutations – a foundational sequence of postures common in most traditional forms of yoga – in a little over two hours.

Some were novices; others had been practitioners for decades. But all of them came with a common purpose: to help raise money for two local nonprofits committed to helping families in need find warmth and nourishment in trying times.

This year’s Mala is expected to net in excess of $20,000 for H(EAT) – which looks to donate 10,000 gallons of heating oil and 10,000 meals annually – and SNAP (Supported Nutritional Agriculture Program), an organization seeking to make locally-grown produce and farmer’s markets eligible for various state and federal food voucher programs.

For the past five years, a contingent of local yoga studio owners have helped broaden Yoga Mala to include more participants, more studios, and – as evidenced by their having doubled last year’s donation total – more help for people who truly need it.

One of them is Lona Kovacs, owner of Green Lotus Yoga Studio in Dover, just a stone’s throw from the site of this year’s Mala. Kovacs has long been at the forefront of the annual winter fundraiser, marshaling her students to the cause (20 of them came for this year’s installment) and even leading her own series of 10 salutations as part of the day’s program.

For Kovacs, Yoga Mala is not only a physical test of strength and endurance, but test of collective, spiritual will as well.

“The passion of the yoga studios I think is what’s helped make this such a huge success the last five years,” says Kovacs, who recently celebrated her third anniversary in her new downtown studio space. “I think all the studios make it a point to convey to their students how important the issue of hunger and heat are, especially here in New England, where I think most of us probably know someone struggling with how to afford them.”

Local Green Kitchen Designer Needs Help Getting Her Champion Dogsled Team to Alaska

After passionately giving back to the Seacoast community since its 2010 founding, supporting Lakota organizations, the Blue Ocean Society, and area veterans, Hampton-based Visions Kitchens needs help supporting the passions of one of its town. One of their kitchen designers, Lis Bailey of Strafford, needs help raising money for the traveling expenses to send her K-Teris dog sled team, one of the world’s fastest, to Alaska for the North American and World dogsledding championships.

If you didn’t realize a world-class dogsledding team called the Seacoast home, you’d be forgiven; while the dogsledding scene in New England is a quiet community compared with those in Alaska and Scandinavia, Bailey’s passion for dogs and racing, which began when she convinced her parents to let her get her first dogsled pup at ten years old, has turned into a family affair that has stood up to teams around the world and now breeds top-shelf racing dogs. Since showing an early talent for the sport at 11, when she went undefeated in local races in the three-dog category, Lis’ homeschooling schedule and self-imposed discipline afforded her the chance to train “like a full time job:” going on six-mile training runs in the summer, having the dogs gain strength in the fall by hauling an ATV around local trails, and then transferring to light, nimble carbon fiber sleds for the winter race season.

But after 15 years training dogs, Lis’ focus has had to shift to motherhood after giving birth to her first child last year. So her younger sister Grace, who started racing dogs in 100-yard sprint races at the tender age of 5, will be taking the K-Teris Kennel team to Alaska herself as a captain of Team USA, starting with a cross-country drive to the Rockies to get some warm-up races in. They’re currently looking for $3,000 in donations to cover part of the $7,000 overall budget for the trip, and have started an online campaign on FundRazr to do so.

Shawnee Peak to host fundraiser for Kittery schools through discounted tickets, rentals

Sunday, January 27th will be a special day on the slopes for Kittery families thanks to a partnership between Bridgton’s Shawnee Peak and the Portsmouth-based green business coalition, the Green Alliance. The Ski Extravaganza Fundraiser will offer Kittery families coupons valid for $20 off an adult lift ticket, bringing the day ticket price from $59 to $39, and $10 off a rental package, bringing the cost of that down from $35 to $25. Ten percent of the proceeds from the Kittery PTA Extavaganza’s ticket and rental sales will go back into the Kittery school system.

“School districts are really struggling,” says Green Alliance Director and Kittery parent Sarah Brown, who proposed the event to help raise money for what have unfortunately become “fringe costs,” like literacy programs, projectors, field trips, sports uniforms and even some textbooks. On the other side of the coin, ski areas like Shawnee are always looking to introduce new people to the sport and their mountain, and charitable programs like these are an inventive way to get exposure to new markets.

Spreading the wealth has long been part of Shawnee Peak owner Chet Homer and his wife Shirley’s philosophy, as the pair have raised over a quarter of a million dollars for a nearby camp for terminally ill children, and have donated tens of thousands of dollars and more than one hundred season passed to the Maine Children’s Cancer Program. Families of active service members in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as local high school honor roll students get free passes, and the mountain hosts a large adaptive ski program that gets over 300 disabled skiers on the mountain each week.

Even regular ol’ families get deals, too, with weekend day Family Four Packs going for $186, compared with $311 for the equivalent package at the more well-known Maine ski hub of Sunday River. Similar deals extend through every day of the week.

(Click on the image above to see a larger, print-friendly version you can use to cut out your coupons!)

Save It For The Slopes: Shawnee Peak to host fundraiser for Kittery schools through discounted tickets, rentals

Sunday, January 27^th will be a special day on the slopes for Kittery families thanks to a partnership between Bridgton’s Shawnee Peak and the Portsmouth-based green business coalition, the Green Alliance. The Ski Extravaganza Fundraiser will offer Kittery families coupons valid for $20 off an adult lift ticket, bringing the day ticket price from $59 to $39, and $10 off a rental package, bringing the cost of that down from $35 to $25.  Ten percent of the proceeds from the Kittery PTA Extavaganza’s ticket and rental sales will go back into the Kittery school system.

“School districts are really struggling,” says Green Alliance Director and Kittery parent Sarah Brown, who proposed the event to help raise money for what have unfortunately become “fringe costs,” like literacy programs, projectors, field trips, sports uniforms and even some textbooks. On the other side of the coin, ski areas like Shawnee are always looking to introduce new people to the sport and their mountain, and charitable programs like these are an inventive way to get exposure to new markets.

Spreading the wealth has long been part of Shawnee Peak owner Chet Homer and his wife Shirley’s philosophy, as the pair have raised over a quarter of a million dollars for a nearby camp for terminally ill children, and have donated tens of thousands of dollars and more than one hundred season passed to the Maine Children’s Cancer Program. Families of active service members in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as local high school honor roll students get free passes, and the mountain hosts a large adaptive ski program that gets over 300 disabled skiers on the mountain each week. 

Ryan Dunfee Joins the Green Alliance Team

Hello Green Alliance business partners, members, and followers! Ryan Dunfee here. I just started volunteering some time on the GA team to help with communications and editorial projects and get to know the Seacoast green business community a little bit better. Up to this point I've been working mostly as a journalist and communications consultant in the outdoor industry, and have been covering progressively more and more environmental and sustainability news, from what exactly a "sustainable" ski area looks like to the resort industry's policy response to climate change.

I'm eager to get more involved in promoting sustainable business practices, highlighting the successes, opportunities, and benefits for those who are reimagining their business in the lens of sustainability. I'm also eager to learn what is hindering or helping area business operate more sustainably from a policy standpoint, and will be hoping to offer some lessons from my research as I get going here at the Green Alliance.

Great Works now accepting holiday donations

That the Holidays are a season of giving is nothing if not a human turism. Still, there are far too many families -- and far too many children -- forced by simple circumstance to worry more about their next meal than waking up to find their favorite toy. 

This Holiday season, the folks at Great Works Chiropractic will do their part to assure local families needn't have to worry. Dr. Seth LaFlamme, wife Bri, and the rest of the Great Works crew will be collecting donations for the South Berwick food pantry. 

Accepted items will include individually wrapped snacks for school, canned goods, paper goods and dry goods, and the like.  

Great Works will also be offering certificates for free initial examinations as well as books full of patient success stories and testimonials to anyone who donates an item.

If you'd like to help, please stop by the Great Works office at 235 Main Street in South Berwick, right next to the Asia Café.

For office hours, visit www.greatworkschiro.com, or give us a call at 207-704-0298. 

Happy Holidays to everyone from the Great Works staff!

Great Bay Stewards Need Volunteers

Our Green Alliance business partner, Great Bay Stewards, need some help so they can continue to protect Great Bay. While fundraisers, such as the Great Bay 5K, help quite a bit, they are not enough to enable them to succeed as the "friends' group" for the Great Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve and the Great Bay Discovery Center, and to continue their efforts to ensure that we all have a clean and healthy Great Bay to enjoy.

Some of the Great Bay Stewards accomplishments this year include completion of the "Grass-pave" zig-zag trail at the Great Bay Discovery Center, including the addition of plantings by the Piscataqua Garden Club. They also committed to an allocation of $29,000 between June 2012 and September 2014 to match a NRCS restoration grant on Reserve property, The project includes invasive species removal and the purchase and planting of native species plants,

The Great Bay Discovery Center relies on its volunteers to help implement the Estuary Exploration School Programs and summer Ambassador Programs, staff the Exhibit Room, work on events, and keep the grounds and gardens looking great. Volunteers range in age from teens to folks in their 80's and come with varied backgrounds and interests.

Volunteers needed at Green Lotus Yoga Studio

Interested in yoga but can’t afford the classes? Good news! Green Lotus Yoga Studio of Dover, NH is offering unlimited classes to those who would like to volunteer at the studio for 2 to 4 hours per week.

Specifically, Green Lotus is a school of Ashtanga Yoga, and offers workshops about the philosophy and ethics of yoga, along with Buddhist meditation and a number of seminars on health, diet, and the use of herbs. The hope at Green Lotus Yoga is that the practice of yoga will promote growth, happiness, and equanimity in the lives of all participants.

Green Lotus’s community-based volunteer program is open to all who are interested. To volunteer, email Lona at greenlotusyoga@comcast.net and set up an interview!

To learn more about what Green Lotus has to offer, click here!

Great Works’ Elita Galvin shows that music can be the best medicine

That music can be a source of healing has, over the centuries, become something of a truism, particularly when the wounds we seek to soothe are emotional or spiritual in nature.

Sometimes, however, music can end up having a tangible effect on those whose ills go beyond the mere ethereal.

That’s what Elita Galvin is hoping comes of Celebrate Hope, a benefit concert to help the families of two local children, each of whom suffer from a rare medical condition. Scheduled for this Saturday in downtown South Berwick, the concert was spearheaded by friends and family of the parents in an effort to help ease the burden of hospital bills, surgery, and treatment.

Galvin’s involvement began when childhood friend Lindsey Ravina – who had moved from her native York, ME to Washington to be closer to her mother – broke the news that her infant son Caleb had been diagnosed with Biliary Atresia, a rare condition that can cause liver failure.

Doctors told Lindsey that unless a new liver was found for a transplant, her son would be lucky to live to see his first birthday.

Thousands of miles away and with a family of her own, Galvin – who works as an assistant to Dr. Seth LaFlamme at Great Works Chiropractic in South Berwick – was at a loss for what to do. But it didn’t take long for her to find the will, and the way, to lend a helping hand.

“Being so far away, I couldn’t help her physically, and I couldn’t help her monetarily,” recalls Galvin. “Finally, my husband suggested we use what we had, in this case being music, to lend a hand. We came up with the idea of recording a song, and seeing if we could raise money that way.”

The song, “I Know You’re Good,” became a collaborative effort between Galvin and a group of mutual friends and acquaintances, with the plan being to eventually put the song up on iTunes. Still, Galvin says the work was far from complete.

Simply Green Biofuels Donates Fuel

Green Alliance Business Partner, Simply Green does more for the community than providing a sustainable biodiesel for their customers; they provide assistance to the members of their community. Simply Green Biofuels stepped forward to help those in Seacoast area with fuel assistance for their homes. The Seacoast Women’s Giving Circle was partnered with Simply Green Biofuels because they wanted ot make sure this fuel was going to families who were in real need. Tania Marino is a customer of Simply Green and a member of the Seacoast Women’s Giving Circle connected the two parties to create an amazing relationship.

“Knowing how involved Simply Green was in the community, the connection was practically obvious. Connecting the two organizations directly was a great way that we could multiply our impact,” says Marino.

Finding a group that was well established in the Seacoast area was key to making sure the fuel donation was going to the right place. There was 2,000 gallons of home heating oil donated to 13 different familes that were on the verge of crisis. Fuel assistance has declined rapidly in past years and the partnership between Simply Green and the Giving Circle is a perfect way to ensure local businesses are helping local people.

To learn more about Simply Green Biofuels, click here.

Hampton Beach Cleanup

In case you missed it, the Hampton Beach Cleanup this past Saturday was a whale of a time. At about 10 o'clock in the morning upwards of 30 people showed up to clean the trash that rested on Hampton's Beach. After a short talk about the plan for the day volunteers put on his or her disposable gloves, set out onto the sand, and got to work.

For over an hour the whole group searched the beach for any trash that was visible. Cigarette butts to old socks and everything in between were collected. In addition, to make the pickup more fun everyone made sure to write down on a piece of paper how many of each item had been gathered.

Once each person had done their share and the beach had been successfully scoured for waste, the group gathered up and the tallies were counted. Incredibly, over 1000 cigarette butts, 100 pieces of plastic, and a total of 18 pounds of trash were collected. For an hours work, that is quite impressive.

There are more beach cleanups on the horizon. The next one is on April 21st at Jenness Beach in Rye, NH so if you are interested in attending the dates and times of the upcoming cleanups can be seen on the events calendar on the GA Website. Go to April 21 and a list is available.

Acorn Organic Salon sponsors hockey benefit for local mom

Next Saturday, the girls from Acorn Organic Salon will be in attendance at the Rinks at Exeter to watch as Team Bosworth takes on a squad of Boston Bruins Alumni featuring Rick Middleton, Terry O’Reilly, Brad Park, Reggie Lemelin, Bob Sweeney, and Bruce Crowder.

While the event promises to offer a day of fun and reminiscing for hockey fans, it also touts a deeper, more important purpose: To benefit Keri Bosworth, a Newmarket mother of two and Bauer Hockey employee who suffered a severe injury last summer.

Acorn’s Laura McKay says the salon – who is helping sponsor the event – was first made aware of the campaign when client and benefit organizer, Mike O’Neil, told her about his friend’s tragic accident.

“Immediately we all said, ‘anything we can do to help, we’ll do it,’” recalls McKay.

For the first two benefits (held earlier this month) Acorn donated a bevy of materials and gift certificates for raffles. This time around, however, the team was eager to lend their name to the cause.

“We thoroughly believe in the idea of community – it’s a huge part of what we do,” says McKay. “Beyond the benefit just being in Exeter, we’ve just always prided ourselves in helping anyone who needs it, whether it’s donations, sponsorships – anything.”

Tickets for the benefit are $10 – they can be purchased either at the door, or at Acorn’s Exeter or Dover locations – with all proceeds going to the Positive Thoughts for Kerry Fund.

To make the donation feel even better, Acorn will be giving away a $10 gift certificate to their salons for every ticket purchased.

Talk about giving back.

“We felt like it was the least we could do for such a great cause,” exclaims McKay.

The event begins at 6pm, and will include a silent auction, raffle prizes, as well as a visit from Max, the mascot for the Manchester Monarchs.

Those interested in contributing directly to the fund can make checks out to "Positive Thoughts for Keri,” to be sent to: Positive Thoughts For Keri, 23 Second St., Amesbury, MA 01913.

Also be sure to check out the benefit’s Facebook page by clicking here.

Volunteering & The Green Alliance Holiday Bash 2011

Since enrolling in the full time one year MBA program at UNH, I’ve been looking for companies that are doing good things and headed in the right direction. Upon learning about the Green Alliance (GA), I recognized that not only are they “doing good things” and “headed in the right direction”, but also that they are a business with real growth potential.

Brookford Farm needs your support this weekend!

Tomorrow marks a crucial day for Brookford Farm, the popular Rollinsford-based purveyor of organic meats, breads, vegetables, and dairy products which is seeking to move its operations north to Canterbury for the spring.

Town citizens are slated to vote on whether or not to sell Brookford a large parcel of town land, which Brookford's owners have stated is by far the most viable space they've come across since launching their search for a new home. If, for whatever reason, the town votes not to grant Brookford the land, the family may have to move its operations out of state.

What can you do to help? If you're looking to take a little road trip, you're invited to attend an open town meeting at 10am tomorrow, and lend your support for Brookford, who will be on hand discussing why they believe the farm will prove a valuable asset to the town and community.

If you can't make it, please post this blog on Twitter, Facebook, or any other social media outlet you can think of. Urge your friends and family to cast their vote in favor of Brookford and their organic, grass-based farming efforts.

For more info, visit Brookford's website at www.brookfordfarm.com