Green Baby Update: Summer 2009

As you may remember, we are taking steps to try and limit Bodhi's environmental footprint from the get-go. It's hard to believe that he's 10 weeks old already, but even in that time, our eco-motivations are paying off:

• Recycled Clothes -- Bodhi is growing at a tremendous rate. Since coming out at a whopping 10 lbs. 6 oz. and 21.5 inches, he's put on over three pounds and two inches. Needless to say, we've had to dig into Brother Will's old stuff sooner than we thought. Thank goodness we kept so much of his clothing. That's really helped save some money and eliminate the need to buy more stuff.
  
  
• Eliminating Waste -- We're using the gDiaper system. This enables us to compost Bodhi's pee-only diapers (flushing is also an option but we're giving our septic tank a break on this one). On average, we're tossing about 5 lbs. of pee-pee diapers (that's about 6-8 individual diapers) into the compost pile each 1.5 days. That works out to 100 lbs. of used diapers being kept out of the landfill per month. (30 days/1.5 * 5 lbs.). Not too shabby.

Of course, we could be doing other things. Cloth diapers always comes up as a topic, but for us, it wasn't a good fit. I think this is a good example of finding the balance between saving the planet and saving our sanity. With two other kids to take care of, cloth diapers could not fit into our daily routines.

So what's next for Bodhi? Hopefully, our garden escapes the stranglehold the weather has on it, finds it groove and can start producing some veggies that we can use to supplement our solid food expenditures come the fall. Beyond that, it's a boatload of recycled toys that will start to make their way from the basement into our living room and a bunch of new handmade outfits that Sara plans to make for him in the coming months.

Anybody have any other green baby tips worth sharing?

Saving Suburbia (Part II): Transition Towns

Way back in December, I wrote a post on “saving suburbia” spurred on by the announcement of a proposed 650-acre Eco-Village development here in town. My intent was to follow that up periodically with other thought-provoking ideas out there on how to transform the inherent design failures of modern suburbia into something more promising and sustainable. (Clearly things – work, school, baby – got in the way of that well-intentioned plan.)

During my research I happened upon a UK-based movement knows as “transition towns”. I squirreled away my notes and there they sat until one day, fellow Sustainable Sakonnet reader Jeremy happened to forward a note about a NY Times Magazine article chronicling transition town efforts here in the U.S. I just love when things come full circle like that!

In a nutshell, the transition town premise is that Peak Oil and Climate Change will negatively impact life as we know it in the not-so-distant future. The solution: Start preparing now by figuring out how to solve these pending dilemmas at the community level.

To that end, the Transition Town (TT) movement offers community members a literal game plan and playbook for recruiting and organizing their fellow neighbors, then developing solutions for everything from energy to transportation to food. TT doesn’t provide communities with the answers; it merely supplies the tools for you to figure that out on your own.

It appears to be working with – according to the article – over 150 TTs in existence across the globe. Closer to home, a national arm of the grassroots organization has formed (Transition United States) to provide guidance and resources to communities through hands-on training and ongoing support. One by one, a network of Transition initiatives is taking root across the county: Los Angeles, Boulder County, Colorado, Sandpoint, Idaho (the feature location for the Times Magazine article).

Now, I read something like that and say, “Let’s rock! This is something that we could do right here!” Then, the reality of community organizing hits me upside the head and retorts, “Sakonnet could never get something like this off the ground. Too polarizing. Too tree-hugger. You’ll get kind words of support but little action. People are too pre-occupied with other things…” The list of excuses goes on.

But could we?

I know from professional experience that if you involve others in the solution, they are more apt to support it, give it a try, and less apt to shoot it down. From that angle, the TT concept makes sense. But do enough people in our community feel this passionate about the potential life-altering consequences of the post-carbon crash and climate catastrophe to do something of this scale?

Please, someone, take me off of this pessimistic ledge I’m holding on to...

More TT resources:

• Official TT Wiki
• TTs in action (Ashland, Ireland)
• TT coverage on TreeHugger.com
• Rob Hopkins (TT Founder) YouTube interview

Getting Your Farmers Markets On

T-minus one week and counting until the 2009 season of our Sakonnet Growers Market. Local food starts flowing next Saturday at Pardon Gray Preserve on Main Road. Market hours are 9:00am - 1:00pm each Saturday.

If Saturdays don't fit your schedule and you haven't signed up for a CSA program, not to worry. There are plenty of other market locations and hours in and around the area. Here is Farm Fresh Rhode Island's list of the ten closest markets to zip code 02878.

I've seen more in my travels though: The Green Grocer in Portsmouth has local fare on Friday afternoons (2:00 - 6:00, if I remember the sign correctly). And yesterday, I saw Wishing Stone Farm of Little Compton had a stand set up in North Tiverton by Sakonnet Bay Mannor. According to the sign posted and their website, they are there each Saturday from 3:00 - 6:00.

Bottom line: 'Tis the season to get out there and support our local farmers and food artisans. Fresh, local food makes sense no matter how you slice it. And the more we patronize them, the stronger our local food economy roots grow. (Check out these cool stats from Farm Fresh Rhode Island on the growth of farmers markets across the state.)

Hope to see you out and about!

Delusions of (Homesteading) Grandeur

It’s happening again. That feeling. That grandiose notion that somehow I could pull off some crazy homesteading “experiment” out here in the middle of suburbia.

Every once in a while (OK, a few times a year, especially during the summer) I get caught up with thoughts of our family surviving in a low-impact, provide-everything-we-need-ourselves kind of way. You can see some of the evidence flowing over at the Gerlach Garden. Perhaps it’s my incessant desire to find that equilibrium with nature; that sense of eco-stasis where I know we are not taking more than we can give back. Maybe it’s homesteading or off-grid or whatever you want to call it.

The reality is: We’re nowhere close to that. Yes, we (or maybe just me; I don’t want to speak for Sara and the kids) try to live a simple, peaceful existence amid the hustle and complexity of this world we call home. The latest book I’m perusing – “Back to Basics: A Complete Guide to Traditional Skills” by Abigail R. Gehring – would have me secure a couple dozen acre parcel, fell my own timber and build a house, become astute in animal husbandry, and till acres of fields storing my wares for the long, cold winter. Not going to happen any time soon. But there are things I’d love to try my hand at:

• Having a much larger garden to drive a robust canning and freezing operation
• Building a root cellar
• Rebuilding our chicken coop and getting some new chicks
• Try our hand at goats (for the milk and cheese)
• Bee keeping (for honey and wax to make candles)
• Getting set up with a solar array for energy and hot water
• Making our own soaps and cleaners
• …and the list could go on…

Now, clearly I don’t need to be 100% homesteading to do any or all of this. But it’s the image, the throwback, the nostalgia of that homesteading lifestyle that enamors me.

Increasing your self-sufficiency is a growing movement though – whether it’s in the Outback, suburbia, or the urban jungle. I am inspired by it all.

I have to imagine that here in the Sakonnet area we are steeped in people and experience in many of those tried and true “homesteading” skills. Wouldn’t it be amazing to connect all of these people and bring them together to share and learn? Pretty cool. Let me put it on that ever-growing To-Do list…

(Image Source: National Archives)

Weetamoo Wanderings

What a beautiful day today – in every sense of the word. Quiet, relaxing, engaging in the moment.

Waking up to the sun and symphony of birds, we got going early. The kids were barely out of the pajamas before they were outside playing. Taking advantage of the warm breeze, I had clothes out on the clothesline early aiming to get a few loads dried sans electricity.

With the line strung, we headed into the garden to see how things were going. It’s been a bit of a late start (with everything going on) but we’re getting into the swing. Planted some more onions, radish; transplanted broccoli and lettuce; weeded the raspberries and blueberries.

But by far, the best part of the day came after lunch, when we headed down the road to Weetamoo Woods for a hike -- our first with Bodhi. The east entrance (Lake Road) is right around the corner from us, so we try to get out as much as we can for hikes. Today’s destination: The old mill “ruins” along the Red Trail. Here are some pics from our walk in the woods.


We keep working on teaching the kids how to "read" the map and follow trail blazes.


The "Water Tree" -- a favorite spot to rest, even early in the hike. This tree has a cavity at its base that collects water. The kids love to poke around on Critter Patrol.

Some quiet shots by Sara as she let us blaze ahead:



Now, I’ve lived in Tiverton for a good part of my life and spent many an hour in Weetamoo growing up (watching meteor showers off of High Rock), but this jewel (the Mill ruins) never came across my path until Sara and the kids took me there for the first time a few months back. Will and Millie just love exploring all around, climbing rocks, and seeing what might be along the water's edge. I need to do some research and learn more about when it was in operation, who ran it, etc. Does anyone know?


I am always in awe of this kind of stone work. What I wouldn't give to be able to lay stone like that!

With all the recent rain, the water was flowing nicely.


Many thanks to all those volunteers who help maintain the trails. We’re so thankful we have this get-away in our backyard. Want to ramble yourself? Check out the most current trail map and get out there.

Cape Wind Gets Green Light

Great news for the Cape Wind project. They’ve been given the “super-permit” to develop their 130-turbine wind farm – what would be the first offshore wind farm in the U.S.

What’s staggering is the potential energy that would come out of this farm: Average electricity production would power 200,000 homes; when at max capacity, the number of homes is double that. Check out the Cape Wind website to learn more.

The article also gives a brief but less-than-detailed update on the two proposed off-shore projects here in R.I., stating that the permit process is underway and that the smaller of the two eyes completion sometime in 2012.

Closer to home, each time I drive through Portsmouth and see those turbines spinning it puts a smile on my face. Why? The simplicity and logic of renewable energy. And the technology is getting better -- and for the bean counters, more price competitive -- each and every day. Carbon-based energy is on the down-and-out. Granted, there is a LOT of work to do before we awaken to this Renewable Nirvana, but projects like Cape Wind are definitely putting us on the path.

Curious -- would you support economically viable renewable energy projects here in town? What do you think the general public's position in on these sorts of things?

What’s another foot or two?

In terms of sea levels around coastal New England – and the Sakonnet area in particular -- it could mean a lot.

Imagine our little coastline redefined in significant ways by 2100: The loss of our beaches and other waterfront properties where the land slope is small; the potential need to re-route Main Road down by Grinnell’s Beach; living history being swallowed by the sea. Imagine our own little bit of environmental refugee action as people and families need to abandon their “ships” for higher ground.

This New York Times article is a quick synopsis of new research coming out of the National Center for Atmospheric Research warning that an accelerated melting of Greenland’s ice sheet could have a more profound effect on the sea levels of the northeast U.S. and Maritime Canada. Of course, while these climate models are based on current and historical data, they are just models. That means they could be wrong. Or right. Or somewhere in the middle.

While it’s just one of many possible scenarios based on a plethora of variables, it would behoove us not to care, not to pause and consider those worse case scenarios and use them to light that fire of action; of caring about what such impacts might have on us or our families in our later years. The first step in figuring out how to solve a problem is acknowledging that both the problem AND the potential impacts exist. From there it’s about working together to find solutions – big and small -- and putting them into action.

I’m on board. How about you? Each one of us continues to have a roll to play in our everyday lives to help our little neck of the woods stay vibrant and inviting not only in the short-term but that seemingly far off (but not really) future.

Call me crazy, but I like to think that my great-grandchildren might some day stroll along Fogland Beach and hold one of the same small, round, smooth stones that I might have held and tossed into the river myself, throwing it back to the water to ride the waves and tides once again.

[Photo Credit: Sara Gerlach]