Concentration of CO2 in the Atmosphere

Beyond Bad Eating …

Chemicals in everyday products are contributing to the obesity problem.

by Roddy Scheer and Doug Moss

Exposure to certain chemicals collectively known as “obesogens” may be contributing to the growing obesity epidemic, because exposure has been shown to interfere with the way we metabolize fat. Culprits include some pharmaceuticals, including antidepressants, as well […]

August First Bakery and Café

Bread on Wheels

By Alyvia Covert

“Bread for sale! Fresh bread!” rings through the air in downtown Burlington, VT, as goods from August First Bakery are sold along the streets. However, this delivery is a bit unconventional as the freshly baked goods arrive on bikes. It all started with cargo bikes, five years ago, on […]

Dining in the green…

at The Colatina Exit – Bradford, Vermont

By Alyvia Covert

“Mangia Bene, viva bene!” Translated, “Live Well, Eat Well” is not just a motto to refer to the menu at The Colatina Exit — it also applies to the environmentally friendly practices this restaurant carries out to ensure that living well and eating well includes […]

VT’s Changing Climate

“Climate is what you expect, weather is what you get.”

Projected Trends

Warming Temperatures: Vermont’s temperatures are projected to rise by another 2-3.6° F by 2050 and 5-5.4° F of warming by 2100 according to computer simulation models by the IPCC based on low to high global emissions of greenhouse gases (IPCC– Christensen et al. […]

Dorset School’s New Solar System

By George Harvey

The school board of the Dorset School, in Dorset, Vermont, began studying the possibility of powering the school with solar photovoltaics (PVs) in the spring of 2013. It was easy to see how the school could benefit from such a system. It was even easy to see a likely place to put […]

Energy Efficient Green Campus Rentals

By George Harvey

We have two good examples of green off-campus student housing in Plymouth, New Hampshire, courtesy of the Plymouth Area Renewable Energy Initiative (PAREI). Both have taken advantage of PAREI’s services to decrease their costs and carbon footprints and to increase comfort levels, and rated them highly.

Campus rental offered by […]

Emerging Frontiers in Bioenergy

Can consumers grow sunflowers for biodiesel?

By Sarah Galbraith, program manager of the Vermont Bioenergy Initiative

Farmers in Vermont are making their own biodiesel from sunflowers, and maybe you have wondered: Can I do that? (Check out the video “Growing Sunflowers for Biodiesel” at www.vermontbioenergy.com/oilseeds.) You may be interested in increasing self-sufficiency, replacing fossil fuel […]

Mid-season Seed Saving

Steps you can take now to save seeds for next season

Ripe tomatoes and their seeds ready for fermenting

Tomatoes have been very late to ripen this season, but they are just beginning to color up—either red, orange, yellow, pink, multi-colored, or the so-called “black” You have already made sure that you are […]

Oh Nuts!

Korean Nut Pine (left) and American chestnut (right) at Elmore Roots. All Photos: D. Fried 2014

By David Fried

I felt like someone was watching me, even though it was so quiet on our hill.

A wind brushed the hairs on my neck and then I saw him looking at me.

It was […]

How to Grow Garlic

Planting garlic. 4000 cloves took about two hours for two people. Photo by Dwight Sipler from Stowe, Massachusetts

Garlic is an excellent herb to grow in your garden. It is a relatively carefree plant and has few pests or diseases. Because the bulb is located so close to the surface, only shallow cultivation […]