Dispatches from the Field & Project Summaries
Guyot Designs Summary II
August 31, 2009
Albeit that Guyot Designs
is now a four-person operation, the office furnishes a feeling openness that pairs nicely with the company attitude of environmental responsibility and integrated corporate ethics. The C-Minus program is a prime example of Guyot Designs’ intentions to reduce the company’s carbon footprint by actually making their products carbon negative. Customers can even track their C-Minus merchandise, such as MicroBites, on the website to find out the specific transactions that purchased and retired the product’s carbon offsets. In addition, Guyot Designs asks customers to send back their old merchandise instead of throwing it away, because the company will willingly recycle the used products.
Although Guyot Designs manufactures their products outside the country, they claim that they are always is looking for new ways to manufacture domestically. Furthermore, Guyot Designs is constantly seeking opportunities to begin incorporating local Deer Islanders into the company. In the future, Josh would like to hire interns from the local school so he can expose youth to a small business operation, sustainability, and product design.
Although still maturing into a comprehensive anatomy of green strategies, Guyot Designs is attempting to strike a balance between corporate practices and environmental preservation by creating enjoyable and practical items that can be used again and again.
Guyot Designs Summary I
August 31, 2009
The idea suddenly 
came to Josh Guyot in 2001 as he drove back from a trip to Lake Tahoe with his wife, Sloan. As Josh explains it, the couple was rounding a corner, or hitting a bump, and water effortlessly splashed out of his Nalgene bottle and landed in his lap. Trained in industrial design, Josh whipped out his notebook and sketched a solution to his liquid woes- the SplashGuard. After proposing the water bottle mouthpiece to several outdoor equipment retailers, Josh and Sloan had a bite- Eastern Mountain Sports wanted 40,000 SplashGuards as soon as possible. Thus Guyot Designs was born.
Similar to the simple style of the SplashGuard, Guyot Designs fashions sleek outdoors products that are reusable, durable, and can be incorporated into the household. Next came the Gription, a detachable handle/ spout control that fits most wide-mouthed bottles. Then the Fireflye, a device that serves as a lid and a LED light. And the latest products: Squishy Bowls, silicone based bowls that are easy to clean and compactable, and the TapGuard, an iodine filter that encourages consumers to use tap water instead of bottled water. Today, Guyot Designs’ products are sold nationally at several outdoor retail stores, such as REI, EMS, and Dick’s Sporting Goods.
As Guyot Designs’ mission statement reads, “Ideas are treated with dignity and enthusiasm while people and the environment are treated with reverence.” This ethic seeps deeply into the work atmosphere, as Melissa Raftery, Vice President of Logistics and Sales, described to me her other job. In light of her productivity during the year, each summer Melissa has been able to take a few weeks off to work with Pacific Discovery, a small group adventure tour company. Furthermore, Guyot Designs takes a total team approach to productivity by hiring only local staff who multitask and support one another’s efforts.
Island Institute Summary III: Fox Islands
August 31, 2009
As the precursor to 
Monhegan project, the Fox Islands Wind Project, serving the islands of Vinalhaven and Northhaven, has already begun construction. With a year round combined 1,800-person community and a 99% approval rating on the wind project, the Fox Islands are currently constructing three turbines on less than three acres of permanently disturbed land. These 1.5 megawatt General Electric turbines with 135 foot long blades are sized to supply what the community utilizes in a year, around 1,100 megawatts, and should be oscillating by November of 2009.Lucky for us, Green Living Project was able to witness the site in its preliminary stages the very day before the turbine construction began.
When completely erected, the turbines will be visible on a clear day at about 10-20 miles away. Some complain that wind turbines are visually obstructive, but for many they stand as pieces of working art, symbolic of community unification. As George Baker, CEO of Fox Island Wind, LLC, reflected, “ There really is nothing cutting edge about this project, except for the way it was designed for and by the community as a distributive and locally owned generation that will serve as a model for other communities…It is better to get the community excited instead of fighting.”
And its true, the Fox Island Wind Project has become a prototype for other communities like Blue Hill, who also sent a few representatives on our Fox Island tour. Being that the community forever owns and operates these self-sustaining turbines, alternative energy approaches have become an extremely attractive model.
One story best illustrates the collective energy and excitement surrounding the Fox Islands Wind Project. As the first barge loaded with turbine blades pulled up to the dock at Vinalhaven, locals were actually lined up along the wharf, cheering and routing on the driver. It was first time, the driver said astounded, that anyone has ever cheered for me.
From GLP’s short time 
in Maine, the enthusiasm around renewable energy became very tangible. In our several conversations with locals, Maine residents would often mention Fox Island Wind Project with much vigor and optimism. Similar to the Island Institute, GLP is also hopeful that the Fox Island Community Wind Project will rewrite the history of New England as an esteemed model for wind energy production.
Island Institute Summary I
August 31, 2009
To the citizens of Maine, 
familial ties are particularly important. If your family tree spans anything less than four generations of established in Mainers or your family married outside of the state boundaries, you are considered “from Away.” As the saying goes, “A cat can have kittens in the oven, but it doesn’t mean their biscuits!” GLP is still debating this phrase as possibly being relevant to almost any and every situation. But I digress…
So it makes sense that in order for any initiative to develop, communities in Maine must autonomously decide what is best for their vitality. Flourishing around this concept, the Island Institute, a non-profit organization headquartered in Rockland, seeks to establish partnerships with Maine’s year round island and working water front communities to help conserve the island and marine biodiversity for generations to come.
Instead of leading the communities into different projects, the Island Institute provides information as well as guides the communities to resources that can assist them in finding ecological solutions. The projects are entirely developed and owned by, and designed to benefit, the community. In other words, the Institute is not the decision maker but rather a technical information service. Thus, one of the Island Institute’s most current and successful projects has been the Community Wind program.
Two hundred years ago, over 300 island communities around the Gulf of Maine harnessed wind energy to power their vessels and transport several goods across the open ocean. Today due to several factors, including the use of combustible engines and interstates, only about 15 year-round island communities still exist.
Undeniably, island life is one of fragility, and the nature of the island ecosystems is finite. According to statistics provided by the Island Institute, on average the cost of electricity per kilowatt hour in 2008 was around 10 cents nationally, 14 cents in Maine, 28 cents on the Fox Islands, and a whopping 70 cents on Monhegan! With the recent revival of capturing and translating energy through wind turbines, different regions around Maine are reconsidering their most precious and abundant resource. So of course, the answer my friend is blowing in the wind…
Guyot Designs
August 31, 2009
While driving to Kamp Kiwani in 1996 with my fellow 
Brownies, I stumbled upon what I considered my most brilliant invention yet- a cd player that belonged in the car. No longer would I have to listen to the rewinding and fast forwarding of the tape deck in my leader’s mini-van. My cd player would be the gateway to the audio future, and I would be rich.
Unfortunately, the discovery went completely unnoticed (despite how many fellow girl scouts I evangelized on the perks of the automobile compact disc). Meanwhile, I remained steadily on my $10 per week allowance. To add insult to injury, a few years later cd players became standard in most vehicles. Nevertheless, I am sure that most of us have had a similar epiphany where innovation has struck abruptly. For Josh Guyot, it struck him right in the lap- cold, wet, and serendipitously.
While traveling back from a cross-country ski trip at Lake Tahoe with his wife, Sloan, Josh, like many outdoors enthusiasts before him, was exposed to the infamous round-the-corner-and-accelerate-Nalgene-slosh episode. Unlike other passive victims, Josh, with a background in industrial design, quickly sketched what would become later known and patented as the SplashGuard. As Josh joked with GLP, “ At the time, splashguards were mud flaps or something for toilets.” Thus with the genesis of the SplashGuard, Guyot Designs (http://www.guyotdesigns.com/) was born.
Following in creative suit, Guyot Designs has fashioned several reusable products that can be found at your local outdoors store: the Gription, a detachable handle/ spout control that fits most wide-mouthed bottles; the Fireflye, a device that serves as a lid and an LED light; Squishy Bowls, silicone based bowls that are easy to clean and compactable; and the TapGuard, an iodine filter that encourages consumers to drink tap water instead of bottled water. Like Josh, each of these items are quirky yet extremely resourceful.
In terms of environment, Guyot Designs’ 
C-Minus program is a prime example of the company’s effort to reduce their carbon footprint. Customers can even track their C-Minus merchandise on the website (http://www.guyotdesigns.com/C-Minus-SN-Lookup) to find out the specific sales transactions that purchased and retired the product’s carbon offsets. Furthermore, several items, like the squishy bowls, are made with silicon rather than petroleum and can be recycled or down-cycled.
Although most of the outdoor items are manufactured in Taiwan, Josh stated that the company is always looking for domestic partnerships and opportunities. Green Living Project anticipates and highly encourages Guyot Designs to go local and therefore green in their production endeavors. In addition, Josh has directed the company into the Deer Isle community by hiring only local folks and will be devising an internship opportunity for youth exposure to product design, small business ventures, and sustainability.
Much like their office, which has no truly enclosed space, the four-person staff at Guyot Designs is innovative, open, and unbelievable hospitable. After GLP’s documentation of the company, Josh, Melissa, and Megan treated us to a beach picnic of freshly-caught succulent lobster, butter dripping corn on the cob, and several ice chilled Geary Summer Ales.
As the tangerine sun dipped behind the vividly feathered sky, my expedition with Green Living Project began to feel more like a rosary of trips. The projects strung together as we hopped from one site to the next and the next. The team piously pressed onwards with cameras in hand towards our approaching end date, only to look up occasionally and submerge ourselves briefly in the surrounding exquisiteness of Maine and her congenial residents.
Island Institute: Fox Islands
August 31, 2009
After our first tumultuous trip to Monhegan 
(see the “Island Institute: Monhegan” dispatch http://www.greenlivingproject.com/island-institute-monhegan/), Green Living Project was reluctant to revisit the icy waters of the Atlantic. But thankfully on Monday we awoke to a bright and clear sunrise as we drove towards the Rockland docks.
Here, after coffee and greasy eggs, we met George Baker as he tethered up his modest vessel. George, serving as captain of the ship, van chauffeur, and site tour guide, welcomed us and five other passengers aboard. Glancing sideways, Amoris pointed to a dingy buoyed a few feet off, “Well, at least we’re not taking the ‘Last Chance.’” I nodded drowsily in agreement.
After a serene 45-minute boat ride, we loaded into a church-like van and received George’s fervent run down on the community wind project.
12 miles off the coast of Rockland, the Fox Islands, composed of Vinalhaven and North Haven, house around 1,800 year-around residents and twice this amount in the summer. Similar to Monhegan, Vinalhaven and North Haven experience: high electricity prices, seasonal fluctuations in electricity consumption, and the absolute fragility of island life.
In 2001, the Fox Islands’ residents began to ponder the possibility of a wind project as a sustainable source of island energy. The following year, the resident-owned and -operated Fox Islands Electricity Cooperative received a grant for a 3-year wind-resource study conducted by the University of Massachusetts Renewable Energy Research Lab. And by 2008, the Cooperative formally invited the Island Institute to assist the community in pursuing the wind-power project, now known as the Fox Islands Wind Project. Enter George Baker.
A faculty member at the Harvard Business School,
George took a leave from academia to help the Island Institute develop a feasibility analysis for the wind project and to assume the role of CEO of Fox Islands Wind, LLC (a for-profit company created to allow the project to access tax equity investment financing). George, a quick-firing spokesman, seemed almost untouchable in his vigor for the Fox Islands Wind Project.
As we hopped out of the van and into the construction site, George advised us to be fully clad in the proper goggle-hardhat-neon-orange-vest attire. As we walked down the gravel road, the site opened up to display a crane, a flat bed truck with a 150,000-pound GE generator, and several 135-foot blades. With only 3 acres of permanently disturbed land, the construction site houses three 263-foot tall, 1.5 megawatt turbines that will generate between 10 and 10.5 million kilowatt hours per year! According to research on Fox Islands’ electricity consumption in 2007, that is enough to comfortably outfit both islands year around.
However, many people are concerned with the wind turbines’ effect on bird populations. But as George belted out during his interview, previous studies have found that a turbine kills only two to four birds per year. “Just by way of comparison,” George asserted, “the average rural, domesticated house cat kills around five birds per year!” Pretty decent odds, especially considering the islands’ ecological delicacy.
Other objectors complain that the wind turbines could be visually obstructive and noisy, but for many, like Suzanne, they stand as pieces of working art, symbolic of community unification. Standing before the massive concrete base, George reflected, “There is nothing technologically cutting edge about this project. It’s using existing stable technology; well tried. What is cutting edge about this project is the way it has been designed for and by the community…So, what is new here is a kind of distributive and locally owned generation.” Notably, the other passengers who toured the Fox Islands Wind Project with GLP were representatives from other interested coastal and island communities, such as Blue Hill, who also desire an alternative energy initiative that is collectively steered.
Back inland at the Island Institute headquarters, President Philip Conkling discussed with GLP his take on island environs. According to Philip, islands literally exist on the edges of the world in a space where life intimately and immediately interconnects. Islanders, therefore, must have a certain tenacity and cohesiveness; one in which together they can achieve sustainability and cooperation with the external forces of nature. Like Suzanne and Matty, Philip reminded us, “Islanders are instinctive environmentalists who have to be environmentally conscious. Or else they would suffer complete collapse.”
Eerily enough, this narrative is not restricted to the residents of Monhegan, Vinalhaven, North Haven, or even Maine. It is humanity’s collective story. Therefore, we must all adopt a sustainable conscious. Seedlings of disturbance only begin with the islands’ intricate ecosystem; yet eventually everyone and everything will feel the reverberations from environmental mismanagement. However with the fused efforts of communities and environmentalists, organizations like the Island Institute may be able to set precedence in how, with a little guidance, the local populace- not private contractors- can create solutions that work from the bottom up and the inside out.
Primo Summary I
August 30, 2009
Rockland, Maine is 
historically known for its ideal shipping port and for its recreational boating. According to Lorain Francis, the Director of Rockland Main Street, the city has also recently made significant progress in revitalizing Main Street as well as creating an overall atmosphere of interdependency around the larger downtown area. Recently distinguished for its promotion of local, green initiatives, Primo restaurant, co-owned by Chef Melissa Kelly and Pastry Chef Price Kushner, effortlessly fuses the ideals of sustainability- recycle, reuse, reduce- with an array of palate savoring pleasures.
In the back of the restored Victorian house, the cuisine brilliance begins and ends on Primo’s extensive garden plot. Unlike other restaurants that use commercial distributors, such as Sysco, Primo’s gardeners decide each morning what seasonal produce from the two green houses and several patches are ripe for that evening’s delights. Pulsing with life, the garden also provides chickens, pigs, herbs, grapes, edible flowers, and even honey. Fluctuating according to season, the gardens bestow around 80% of the food served at Primo during the early fall.
In addition, Primo invites guests to explore the garden so they may come into contact with the elements that later arrive at their table. As Melissa remarked, chefs often put their ego on a plate; however, her philosophy is to wield her dishes so they teach about where food comes from and how it is grown.
Inside, Primo is restless with 
energy as the afternoon is followed by nightfall. In the back of the house, or kitchen area, the wood oven is being prepped while bread sticks are rolled out. Line cooks chop, dice, and slice while the pastry cooks blend and bake. Downstairs, wait staff is changing into their black attire while beer is brewing in the back. The chalkboard door at the top of the stairs lists the specials for the night as well as displays flyers on “How to Become Green”. Servers, bussers, and runners whirl by as they prepare for their evening performance.
In the front of the house, or the seating area, the décor is rustic with merlot and wood colored walls and complementing art that brings out the old house charm. Upstairs the rooms are funky in modern meets Maine fare motif complete with recycled materials, copper counter tops, and natural elements, save the private room that is adorned with pictures of Melissa’s Italian grandfather/restaurant namesake, Primo.
Primo also excels at energy efficiency and water conservation through their use of Maine produced biofuel, dual flush toilets, and waterless urinals. The garden practices crop rotation as well as uses the mobile chicken coop to help clean and prep the soil for the next crop.
After a long day of filming, GLP sat down for a succulent dinner. The cuisine not only exceeded our expectations, but also matched the wondrous beauty of Maine and Primo’s mission to sustainably landscape both the outside as well as the inside of every guest’s experience.
Primo
August 30, 2009
Like many students desperate for a quick 
financial fix, I have made my circulations in restaurants across the nation, often experiencing the same harrowing episodes: a chef with a large ego, quick hands to dump “waste” from plates, customers who lack an appreciation for the food and the service, piles of the same-ole, same-ole Sysco ingredients, and a sort of impassive, nightly performance by the wait staff. If you have ever worked in a restaurant, I am sure you can strongly relate. Several times I have sworn off my addiction to food service life. Yet after visiting Primo (www.primorestaurant.com/), I possess a newly sparked affection. Let me explain.
Practicality, the running theme in Maine, is especially authentic at Primo where Co-owner and Chef Melissa Kelly strives to implement her dishes as not only an expression of palatable art, but also as an interactive, educational tool for her customers. As she related to GLP, many chefs put their ego on the plate. Rather, her menu is distinctly crafted to demonstrate where the food comes from and how it is grown. And one needn’t look far. In fact it is only a small walk out the front door.
Complementing the ideals of customer education, Chef Kelly and Co-owner/ Pastry and Bakery Chef Price Kushner encourage their guests to explore where the cuisine brilliance begins and ends everyday- the one and a half acres of thriving flora and fauna. Unlike other restaurants, Primo’s gardeners decide each morning what seasonal produce is ripe for that evening’s delights. The food is harvested in the morning, the back of the house staff preps the 
ingredients in the afternoon, and by the evening the front of the house is delivering you, say, a Ricotta Stuffed and Fried Zucchini Blossom, or Black Spaghetti with Braised Cuttlefish and Heirloom Tomatoes, or Price’s famous Vanilla Bean Crème Brulee complete with a Poppyseed Olive Oil Cake. By closing time, all organic, waste products from the kitchen and leftovers go to the Tamworth pigs out back. (I personally am not sure why anyone would leave a morsel, as I happened to devour the rest of Amoris’ Black Spaghetti.)
Earlier that afternoon, I got a personal peek into not only the functionality of the garden, but into the dedication of Primo’s staff. Stumbling behind line cook Jenna Sprafkin, I bumbled out several questions as we plunged past the herb gardens and produce patches, the vibrant beehive, two biofueled greenhouses, fruit trees, the clucking chicken coop, and the muddied pig-pen. We finally reached our destination- the row of pink radicchios. While pulling and snipping, Jenna related to me how three years ago she had landed a job at Primo after her parents, who have a second home in Rockland, had mentioned to the waitress her recent graduation from culinary school. Next thing she knew, Jenna was meeting Chef Kelly and was hired. She had only anticipated washing vegetables for that summer. As a now full-time Maine resident, Jenna confessed, “I have really come to embrace Maine. I wear plaid wool clothes and have a four-wheel vehicle, not because it’s cool. But because it’s practical.” Once again, that word- “practical.” For Primo, its guests, and its staff, sustainability has become a pragmatic undertone to the dishes as well as the larger symbiotic relationship between the earth and her beneficiaries.
Island Institute: Monhegan
August 29, 2009
For Mainers, family ties run deep. There is 
a strange saying in Maine that goes like this, “A cat can have kittens in the oven, but it doesn’t mean their biscuits!” Translation: Just because you are born in Maine, doesn’t mean you’re an official Mainer. To be considered a local, both of your great, great grandparents must have been established in Maine and your family must have remained within its 33, 215 square miles; otherwise, you are considered “from Away”, or possibly a metaphorical kitten. Thus for any initiative to spark in Maine, the respect for Mainers and their autonomy holds substantial and consequential weight.
Built upon this concept, Island Institute, a non-profit organization headquartered 
in Rockland, seeks to establish partnerships with Maine’s year round island and working water front communities to help conserve island and marine biodiversity for generations to come. Instead of leading the communities into different projects, the Island Institute provides information and guidance to resources that can help develop ecological solutions. On a cold and very wet Saturday, GLP took a jolting voyage with Suzanne Pude, Director of the Community Wind Program, 10 miles off of Mid-Coast Maine to witness one the Island Institute’s newest ventures- the Monhegan wind project.
Unloading off the ferry like a pack of seasick tourists, we arrived in Monhegan and met one of our contacts, Matthew Thomson. Mattie, a tall, stout man with a wisped beard and orange jumpsuit (the typical garb for most Maine fishermen),
has as much resonance in the community as the loaded canon on his front porch. As the President of Board of Trustees of the Monhegan Power Company, Mattie and his colleague Chris Smith, the Project Manager of the Monhegan Plantation Power District, have made renewable energy the hot topic on the island.
For Monhegan residents, who amount to around 50 year around residents, the average electricity cost in 2008 was around 70 cents per kilowatt-hour! Comparatively, the national average is less than 10 cents per kilowatt-hour! Although several private alternative energy contractors have approached islands like Monhegan before, citizens have almost always rejected their proposals due to the plans’ lack of community involvement, ownership, and self-determination. 
Therefore, it was no surprise that a majority of the Monhegan islanders voted to continue developing the community wind power project in conjunction with the Island Institute. Currently, the island electricity is run off of three diesel powered generators atop of Lighthouse Hill; and eventually, one wind turbine would hybrid with the generators.
A project that would stabilize energy costs, grant islanders ownership, localize benefits, and revolve around a renewable resource is, indeed, a powerful solution. In fact, the Monhegan wind project could act as a sort of petri dish for other renewable projects across the North East. According to Mattie, Chris, and Suzanne, renewable energy is not really a matter of sustainability for the islanders as much as a “plain common sense” approach to the island’s fragility and islander’s susceptibility to economic downturns.
After filming several colorful shops, the local grocery store, and blocks of lobster cages, Green Living Project headed back to Mid-Coast Maine on an even more epic boat ride. As Chad stood at the bow of the boat watching the water pummel the glass, like an accomplished captain defying the waves, Amoris battled from loosing her camera, Rob edited photos standing up, and Jayms listened to his music to wane off sickness, I closed my eyes and thought of the ways in which the community of Monhegan has metamorphosed over the centuries but has somehow remained innately connected to their greatest resource, the island itself.
Island Institute Summary II: Monhegan
August 29, 2009
The GLP team woke up to a
chilly, wet 5 a.m. in our matchbox cabin on Saturday. On the ferry dock, Suzanne Pude, Director of the Community Wind Program at the Island Institute, warmly greeted us. We boarded the small boat and set off on what we thought was one of the more tumultuous rides of our lives. During the transit, GLP got a chance to catch up with a few locals on such subjects as: why Maine is more Canadian than North Eastern, the tourist industry, the recent lobster depression, and the coastal buzz on the wind turbines. It seems that everyone was excited for the developing wind projects.
As we approached Monhegan, which stands ten miles off the Mid-Coast Maine, Suzanne gave me a run down of the island. During the era of the French and Indian Wars, families moved to Monhegan to seek refuge from the ongoing violence. Although it has not been proven yet, Vikings may have also inhabited the small island at one time in history.
Today with less than 50 year round residents (mostly lobster fisherman) and hundreds of second-homers/summer vacationers and artists, Monhegan recently supported the proposal to erect one wind turbine on Lighthouse Hill. The community-owned power cooperative, Monhegan Plantation Power District, takes up the space of a small two-story home and currently operates on three diesel-powered generators. With the installation of the wind turbine, the community seeks a hybrid effort of wind energy and diesel power (particularly for the summer season when more energy is consumed than wind generated). Within the near future, MPPD hopes to develop a way to store or dispatch the extra energy from the winter months.
While filming Christopher Smith, the Project Director of MPPD, he clued us in on the forbidden appliances that consume too much electricity: electric water heaters, electric ovens, and driers. Although the wind turbine is sized to generate approximately the same amount of power the island uses during a typical year and will most likely not allow frivolous devices, the islanders will essentially save money as they decrease dependency on the diesel generators and stabilize rates. Quite a convincing set of facts, considering islanders paid an average of 70 cents per kilowatt-hour in 2008.
But as Suzanne remarked
over and over again, for the islanders, it’s not about sustainability, but rather plain common sense. Philip Conkling, President of the Island Institute, reiterated this shrewd mantra in his interview. He disclosed, “Islanders are instinctive environmentalist. They have to be environmentally conscious or everything collapses.”
On the ride back to the mainland of Maine, the team got a taste, or rather a large gulp, of what it means to be at the mercy of Mother Nature. For almost an hour and a half, the ferry was battered and rammed by the surly ocean. At first it was fun. And then we all felt sick. As I glared at the trashcan across the room daring it to make the first move instead of me, I thought about the strata of island predecessors and their lives being precariously interlaced with the uncontrollable beauty of nautical forces and, indeed, with one another.