Hello and Welcome to the Forum! A BIG thanks to Richard Hill for his help, and expediency!
Here are the minutes from the first meeting for the Islesford Sustainability Initiative.
The meeting was primarily a brainstorm of what the Islesford community can do to become more sustainable.
I encourage anyone who didn't make the meeting to share their ideas here on this forum. What does sustainability mean to you? What are ways that we can make ourselves more sustainable, as individuals, households and as a community?
Please share your ideas and come back often to see what others have written.
ISLESFORD SUSTAINABILITY INITIATIVE
Tuesday, October 16, 2007 1st Meeting
MAKE A COMMITMENT – Do As Hugh!
Make a personal pledge of something that you can do, like walking more, picking up trash, or changing your energy provider. Share your commitment with others and post it on this forum! Congratulate friends on their pledges!
IDEAS: large and small, for individuals and the community
* Switch to new compact florescent light bulbs
* Pick up trash - don't wait for island-wide clean up
* Expand the recycling center
* Buy in bulk – share [Associated buyers, Curtis Farms Meats]
* Eliminate plastic which is not recyclable
* Use cloth bags – not plastic – when bringing groceries to the island
* Ask markets to rewrap meat and poultry in paper eliminating Styrofoam
* Use public transportation
¸ Island Explorer
¸ Ferry Service instead of private boats
* Improve community communication to share ideas
¸ Message board near town office
¸ Page on Islesford.com
¸ Postings on ferries to inform visitors
* Sign up for 'green power' with Bangor Hydro (Dan Lief will post details on how this is done)
* When buying a new washing machine, make it a front loader
* Use a clothes line (drying rack in winter)
* Fix engines on island cars to reduce pollution
* Find someone who can do energy audits on island homes
* Forest management
* Use of 'blow downs'
¸ Burn
¸ Chip
¸ Compost
¸ Mill
THOUGHTS ON SUSTAINABILITY
* We need to change our way of thinking ('sustainable psychology').
* There is value in looking to and learning from the past.
* Sustainability is meeting the needs of the present generation without sacrificing future generations.
RESOURCES
* COA
* Prince Edward Island
* Lindsay's father – home windmills
* Common Ground Fair
* 'Tree Growth' – Maine state program
More to come soon...
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2 comments:
Here are all of the comments left on Richard Hill's Islesford site...
Name: Marya Spurling
Email:marya.spurling@gordon.edu
Location:Gordon College, Wenham, MA
Date:November 5, 2007
Comments:
Any thoughts on making our own biodiesel? Especially in the summer we could use the fry grease from the restaurant and the store, and the processor itself would soon pay for its own start up costs. Restaurants usually have to pay to get rid of leftover grease, and we could just take it off their hands for free or offer a lower price. It could fuel lobster boats or diesel cars on the island, tractors, whatever, either with 100% biodiesel or a mixture of bio- and regular diesel. We make it at Gordon with the leftover grease from the dining hall and it fuels all our diesel engines, so I could look into how it's done here and get some tips.
Name:Hannah Folsom
Email:
Location:Somesville Maine
Date:October 18, 2007
Comments:
I am glad the ball is rolling with this program and I hope it stays this way. Looking foward too it! Hannah
Name:Eric
Email:e_w_dyer@yahoo.com
Location:Islesford
Date:October 18, 2007
Comments:
As we discussed at the first meeting, sustainability can mean many things. I'd like to re-focus on sustaining the local economy through local production, buying, and trade. Last year I was able to buy most of my Christmas gifts locally, but not all. This year I'm going for 100%.
Usual suspects aside (or maybe not), does anyone have any gift-type items they want to sell or trade?
To start, I have about a dozen quarts of tasty 'Islesford' apple sauce and about a dozen jars of delicious 'Islesford' apple jelly I made this fall. All fruit came from trees on the island! I could just hand these out to my family and friends, but... I'd love to trade for other local jellies, crafts, oddities, etc.
What've you got?
How many of you are tired of power outages on the island? You can do something about it and, at the same time, increase the sustainability of the island, reduce global warming, and save money.
Seven years ago, I built my first zero energy home, and for six and a half years I averaged energy costs for my home in Virginia of only $30.00 per month. This was a reduction in energy costs of nearly 90% through the use of solar and energy efficiency. Although, I sold my house last year, when we moved to Georgia, I plan to build another one.
You don't have to reinvent the wheel, I have posted my experience in an eleven chapter book. Fell free to download and contact me if you have questions. www.ert.net/solarhome
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