We're a Contender!

We've just received notification that we're one of four finalists in the running for this year's Jefferson County Job Development Corporation's

New Business Venture Award

!

From the JCJDC's website:

The Business of Excellence Award honors a business whose corporate actions have proven a commitment to Jefferson County’s economic well-being. Nominations are open to all Jefferson County businesses. Finalists for the Award will receive a professionally produced video of their business and a one-year JCJDC membership. Those videos will be shown and the winner announced at the JCJDC's annual meeting 12 p.m. Friday, Jan. 20. The winner of the New Business Venture Award will receive a $1000 cash prize.

We are honored to be in the running! Stay tuned for results next month...

See a full article about this exciting nomination at

MyABC50.com

.

Artist-in-Residence Sends in the Drones

The drones of Occupy Wall Street. Photos from Amazon.

The Occupy Wall Street movement gained an unbelievable amount of ground since its inception; spreading worldwide, gaining international attention, and drawing thousands upon thousands of people into the streets to acknowledge a corrupt system and demand a change. Of course, no movement—especially one with so many far-reaching ideas and, at times, unclear focus, is without its skirmishes. The Occupy movement's relationship with police departments has often seemed strained at best; an "urban guerilla war" at worst.

But this movement is different from the original tea-partiers or civil rights activists—or, really, any past movements—because of how publicized this one can be on an individual level. The advent of cell phone cameras, video cameras, the entire blogosphere, Facebook, and Twitter have allowed individual protesters, movers, and shakers, to report from ground zero of this movement. And the whole world has been watching. 

But some argue that airspace is still the home of the biggest disadvantage to members of the movement. News helicopters and ground-based media were evicted from the Zuccotti Park eviction in New York City, while NYPD helicopters flew overhead to cover Occupy Wall Street Activity.

So betterArts artist-in-residence Mike Brown decided to send in the drones.

 From his own site:

Politicians and police forces are public servants and must be understood as such. They are meant to serve us and the mandate and money that power their usual authority is supposed to be rooted in the fact that they have been elected or employed to serve and protect by an informed public. This is essential to democracy. If a public is not well-informed it can not even really be said to be voting. In the absence of a clear channel of information regarding the behavior of our public servants we cannot properly govern ourselves. To be deprived of our right to basic information regarding the behavior of public servants is to be deprived of our very democracy. That it is the very servants whose actions we need to observe who are preventing us from doing so is unacceptable. That they may invoke minor laws as rationale for flouting major laws is unacceptable. ("On the Need for Outlaw Journalism")

So far, Mike's outfitted people in San Francisco and New York with several drones to capture what's going on at these protests. Check out this footage shot from a civilian drone of a Polish protest (not one of Mike's, but shows you what these things can do): 


The media is starting to catch on, from the Village Voice to the New York Times. The Atlantic is calling the machine an Occucopter (we'll see if the name sticks!).

Keep up with Mike and this project at the following links:

Watching the Watchmen
Slippereal on Youtube


Get in touch with Mike via e-mail with any questions.

Spotlight On: Rocket Mass Heaters

What if there was a way to heat your home that uses up to 90 percent less wood than conventional wood stoves, with a system that could be built in a day and a half, for less than $20?

Yes, seriously.

A rocket mass heater is an innovative and efficient space-heating system developed from the rocket stove and the masonry heater, and one that is gaining popularity in natural buildings and within permaculture designs.

These systems incorporate a simple J-tube rocket stove, a metal drum to direct the flue gases down and into a system of ductwork, and finally a great deal of thermal mass (usually a cob bench) to soak up all the heat. Wood is fed into B (the feed tube), it is burned in C (the combustion chamber), re-burned (smoke and all) in E, then the hot gases move into a low pressure area (G, H and J), and travel through K (the duct work) and finally out C (the chimney). All the while, the hot gas moving through the system is being sucked into the thermal mass—usually a cob bench, warming the area with beautiful radiant heat.

This could be the cleanest and most sustainable way to heat a conventional home. Some people have reported that they heat their home with nothing more than the dead branches that fall off the trees in their yard. And they burn so clean, that a lot of sneaky people are using them illegally, in cities, without detection.

Click here to get the full rundown

.

Recommended Reading: Rocket Mass Heaters:

Super Efficient Woodstoves You Can Build (and Snuggle Up To)

Fans of Winter

Our heat-activated EcoFan.

I know almost all of us think of fans as summer necessities to move air around our homes until it just gets too hot and we forget about these seemingly primitive inventions in favor of the air conditioner.

But fans play an extremely important role in winter months as well, pushing warm temperatures throughout the house and circulating the air. Here are a few different styles of winter fans and the advantages of utilizing them in your own home:

The Heat-Powered EcoFan
List price: $99.99
Available online through Ace Hardware, or locally at Garlock Building Supplies & Design Center
Vital Stats: 800 HP, heat-powered wood stove fan that creates its own electricity from the heat of the stove. There is nothing to plug in! Warm air is pushed out into the living area rather than simply rising to the ceiling above the stove. The little fan improves the heating effectiveness of the stove and results in greater room comfort and less fuel consumption. The unique blade design delivers a broad cross-section of gentle air movement to avoid uncomfortable drafts.

Room-to-room doorway fan from The Great Hardware Store.

Achla Designs Room-to-Room Fan
List price: $31.63
Available online at The Great Hardware Store
Vital Stats: This tiny (4.75"W x 4.75"H x 1.75"D, 11' Cord With On/Off Switch) fan fits in the upper-corner of any doorway (mounting brackets included) and moves 55 cubic feet of air a minute. It's easy for warm air in one room to get stuck up near the ceiling, unable to sink down and through doorways. These little doorway fans answer that need with minimal electrical requirements, are perfectly quiet, and will make a very big, very noticeable difference in how you can circulate warm air throughout your home.

Minka Air Gyro ceiling fan from Wayfair.com

Your Regular Old Ceiling Fan
List Price: Varies
Available: Everywhere
You know that ceiling fan you forget about most times throughout the year? Well consider bringing it back into the rotation all year long. Use of the ceiling fan in winter may see strange, but it can save you lots of money on your heating bills. Why? Because heat rises! A large amount of heated air can collect in a large room with high ceilings before it can be felt. For example: In a room with a 16-foot cathedral ceiling and the thermostat set at 68 degrees Fahrenheit, the uppermost three feet can be 90 degrees or higher before the heater shuts off. But if you flip the reverse switch on your ceiling fan (the blades, if you're looking up at the fan, will then be moving clockwise), running your fan on low speed will force the heat accumulated at the ceiling down along the walls where it will rise again. This mild circulation of air will result in a more evenly heated room that shortens the time it takes for the heater to work. Be sure to keep your fan at a low speed to prevent drafts. For something that uses the same amount of energy as a lightbulb, fans are a great way to control temperature in the home all year round.


   

Got a great energy-saving tip? E-mail us at info@betterfarm.org.

Bright Ideas for Saving On Your Utility Bill

The average, American family of four will use 10,656 kWh in a year, according to the Department of Energy.

Better Farm's average, according to the last year of electric bills, is around 8,000. And that's before the solar panels have been installed on the Art Barn. So what's our secret, when we have so many more than four people running around here at any given time?

• Use only energy-efficient bulbs. I know this one seems like a no-brainer nowadays, but if you haven't mindfully swapped out your old bulbs for high-efficiency ones, chances are you'll find some of the former still installed in lamps throughout your home. If every U.S. household replaced just one regular incandescent light bulb with a compact fluorescent light bulb, it would prevent 90 billion pounds of greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, the equivalent of taking 7.5 million cars off the road. And the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says that by replacing regular light bulbs with compact fluorescent light bulbs at the same minimal rate, Americans would save enough energy to light more than 2.5 million homes for a year. 

• Utilize passive solar. When you wake up in the morning on a cold, sunny day, open south-facing window shades and let the light (and solar heat) in. In the early evening, let down the blinds and close the curtains to save heat in the house. Keeping your south-facing windows open during daylight hours means you won't need to rely on your heating system as much—or your light bulbs.

• Lower Your Thermostat. Whether you're relying on electric heat, furnace, or some other way to heat your home, experiment with lowering your thermostat at different times throughout a 24-hour cycle. Try knocking it down as many as 5 degrees before bed, when the house is empty, or during peak daylight hours. We're particularly fierce at the Farm, keeping the thermostat permanently set at 64. You certainly don't have to be as rugged as us, but keep this in mind: each 1-degree drop you make on your thermostat for an eight-hour period reduces your fuel bill about 1 percent. Click here to see just how much you can save at your own home.

• Watch Less TV. The television is one of the biggest energy-zappers in the home. Depending on what kind of television you have, it costs you anywhere from $24 to $145 or more a year to watch TV.

• Unplug Everything with an LED Light. Certain phone chargers, televisions, DVD/Blue Ray players, computer chargers, and more all continue to draw energy even when they're not being active (telltale sign? The little red or blue or green LED light). Try plugging your entertainment system and computer console into power cords that you flip off before going to bed at night.

• Give Your Fridge and Freezer a Tune-up. The condenser coils behind a refrigerator do the heavy lifting of creating cold air, but they can't radiate heat properly if their surface is coated with dust or grime. Once a month, take a vacuum to the coils to keep them free of gunk. Want to knock a few extra bucks off your utility bill? Put your fridge and freezer on timers. Even switching these appliances off for two or three hours over night and during mid-day will make a big difference in energy use and cost.

• Upgrade for the Long-Term. One of the biggest mistakes people make with home improvements is opting for a break at the register instead of long-term returns on investments. Buying a cheaper washing machine, dishwasher, vacuum cleaner, microwave, or fridge may seem attractive at the time; but consider the amount of money you will spend on the energy costs of that particular appliance throughout its lifetime (also factor in replacement/repair costs). A more expensive item with a better warranty and less energy use can cost you half as much during the life of the appliance.

• Turn off Lights. It seems so obvious, and yet how many of us actually turn off lights and appliances when we leave a room? This act alone can knock a significant percentage off your energy costs.

Got a great energy-saving tip not mentioned here? Share it with us at

info@betterfarm.org

.

Ones to Watch: The Perennial Plate

The Perennial Plate Episode 81: Farming State of Mind (NYC) from Daniel Klein on Vimeo.

The Perennial Plate is an online weekly documentary series dedicated to socially responsible and adventurous eating.  The episodes follow the culinary, agricultural and hunting explorations of chef and activist, Daniel Klein.

Season One took place over a calendar year in Minnesota where every Monday for 52 weeks, Klein and cameragirl Mirra Fine released short films about good food. In Season Two, Klein is traveling across America, taking the viewer on a journey to appreciate and understand where good food comes from and how to enjoy it.  The Real Food Road Trip began on May 9th 2011, and the weekly videos have continued — bringing the audience along for stories of urban gardens, long drives, blood, hunting and guts…

We particularly love the above video, which takes a look at New York City-based farms.

Click here to learn how you can get involved with this great project.

Upgrade Your Home's Insulation with Injection Foam

 

Editor's note: This article was originally written by Tim Snyder for Mother Earth News.

It’s not unusual for a household to consume twice as much energy as necessary. Of course, there are many “culprits” responsible for this high energy demand: an inefficient water heater, phantom loads from electronic devices, leaky ductwork and an outdated furnace, just for starters. But one of the most common denominators in energy-wasting houses is inadequate insulation – or more specifically, too many air leaks and too little insulation.

In earlier blogs, I talked about the importance of air-sealing and insulating the attic according to recommendations established by the U.S. Dept. of Energy. If you have access to your attic space through a hatch or drop-down stair, your attic is a good candidate for an insulation upgrade with blow-in cellulose or fiberglass insulation. You can rent an insulation blower yourself or have an insulation contractor do the job, after sealing leaks between the attic and the living space below.

Beefing up the insulation in your walls is a different matter. In many older homes, walls are framed with 2x4 studs and either have just R-13 fiberglass batt insulation or no insulation at all. Even when there is insulation in exterior walls, there are certain to be air leaks that allow frigid winter air to come into your living space around electrical outlets, window framing and through other air leaks. Flawed installation details can also hurt energy performance. A small void or area where insulation is missing can cut a wall’s overall insulation value by as much as 40%.

Improving wall insulation can be challenging. After all, who wants to go to the expense of removing interior wallboard or exterior siding and sheathing in order to access a wall’s stud cavities? Another alternative – removing exterior siding and then covering walls with rigid foam insulation—is also expensive and disruptive. So what can be done to solve this energy and comfort problem?

Injection foam is proving to be an excellent product for upgrading existing wall insulation quickly, affordably and with minimal disruption. Standard two-part foam can’t be sprayed into wall cavities because its expansive force will pop wallboard and sheathing off studs. But injection foam is non-expanding. It’s designed to flow and fill around electrical wires, outlet boxes and existing underperforming insulation. It seals air leaks, fills voids, and provides very high R-value: up to R-5.1 per in. when temperatures are close to freezing.

To upgrade wall insulation with injection foam, workers drill small (typically 2-in.-dia.) holes in each stud bay, from inside or outside the house. The stud cavity is then filled with injection foam from a flexible hose, and the access holes are plugged.

Another thing I like about injection foam is that it’s not hazardous to handle. Workers wear safety goggles and gloves rather than respirators and hazmat suits, which are required when installing standard two-part spray foam. Injection foam overspray cleans up with water rather than solvent. Recently I watched a crew from a Connecticut-based company called Dr. Energy Saver install injection foam in the walls of a ranch house. Workers removed a course of vinyl siding to access the wall sheathing. After drilling access holes, the injection foam was (there’s no better word) injected into each cavity. The foam looks like shaving cream and has a similar consistency. In just a couple of hours, the job was done. Small amounts of foam were evident inside the house, where the material filled gaps around electrical outlets. Cleanup was easy, and I came away with no doubts about the effectiveness of this technique for sealing leaks and upping wall insulation value.

The Freeing of the Pheasants

The lovely pheasants of Better Farm. Photo/Nicole Caldwell

Pheasant farmers in the North Country typically raise hundreds of these birds in cages before killing and selling the birds locally for meat. Some people buy the birds and hunt them on their own (a released pheasant will typically stay put on the land it's released on). But us? We find local pheasant farmers willing to turn some birds loose for no purpose other than the simple act of emancipation. Then we release them at Better Farm.

Whether these birds move on to other pastures, fall prey to an errant coyote or bobcat or human, live out their lives in perfect health, have their eggs gobbled up by predators, or procreate and fill the world with beautiful baby pheasants, we're happy just knowing the birds are in the wild, being the free birds they were born to be.

Check it out—the first time in their lives these birds have been airborne!

Want to learn more about these amazing animals? Visit Pheasants Forever.

Turkeys Have a Seat at the Table, Not on the Dinner Plate

by Karen DawnOriginally Published at Santa Monica Daily Press

Up here in the Palisades I am known as the turkey lady. That's because this will be the fourth year in a row that there will be beautiful live turkeys strolling around my front yard over the holiday season.

My love affair with turkeys began a decade ago when I visited the Poplar Spring Farm Animal Sanctuary and met Olivia. Having fallen for Babe, the movie star, I thought I was at the sanctuary to meet the pigs. But the sanctuary owner, Terry, started our tour at the turkey coop and changed my life. Terry opened the gate and Olivia hobbled toward me — "hobbled" because the ends of her toes had been cut off. Terry explained that turkeys on factory farms are crammed so close together that their claws and beaks injure each other's lucrative flesh and it's cheaper to cut or sear them off than to give the animals enough space. I learned that such living conditions are legal because the Animal Welfare Act, which regulates housing, exempts any animal who will be used for food. Toes and beaks can be removed, without anesthesia, because animal cruelty laws exempt any "standard agricultural practice" no matter how painful.

Terry told us that Olivia had been living on a turkey factory farm until Hurricane Floyd wiped it out. Ironically that hurricane saved her from a particularly gruesome death; turkeys are not covered under federal humane slaughter laws — no poultry is, even though birds make up approximately 95 percent of animals slaughtered for food.

More happily I learned that turkeys love to be cuddled. As I sat cross-legged on the grassy hill near the coop, Olivia limped in my direction. First she came close enough for me to reach out and touch her — gingerly. Then she moved further in, and I could pet her. It was surprisingly like petting my dog.

I reached my fingers under the outer feathers on her back and could feel a layer of soft down underneath. I had only ever felt that down in luxury pillows. How odd and lovely to feel it warm on a living being.

Within a couple of minutes, Olivia had edged herself into my lap! I continued to move my fingers through her down. She laid her head in the crook of my elbow. She fell asleep. I fell in love.

I wished I could take her home with me but settled for sponsoring her at the sanctuary.

Olivia showed remarkable longevity for a modern turkey. Bred to be deformed with a grotesquely huge chest with lots of "white meat," she'd been too weak to stand when she had arrived at the sanctuary. But apparently a home with space to move, grass to enjoy, sunshine in which to bathe, and loving care, had given her the will to live. And live she did, happily, until 2005 when I received the sad news that the sanctuary's lovely little turkey ambassador, my little ward, had died of cancer.

In Olivia's honor I started to sponsor a new turkey every Thanksgiving through Farm Sanctuary's AdoptaTurkey.org. Eventually I decided to take some home from a local slaughterhouse; now I can't imagine Turkey Day without live turkeys.

First there were Bruce and Emily. They became Brucilla and Emily after Bruce laid an egg. Next came Monty and Marsha, and then Ellen and Portia, named after vegan ambassadors Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi. This year's turkeys are named after newly vegan newlyweds Russell Brand and Katy Perry. They were originally named Russell and Katy but when Katy let out a very loud and very male gobble, I realized that she, or indeed he, had to be renamed. So Russell and Perry they are — a modern couple.

I have the turkey routine down now, and you can watch it on a little YouTube video at ThankingtheMonkey.com/turkeyrescue (

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATMfRyb7IdY

). They come to me pretty stinky, often covered in excrement from their cage-mates, so they get a bath and then a blow-dry. Turkeys are pretty much waterproof — their beautiful soft down is protected by thick outer feathers so if you are going to wash the layers underneath you have to blow-dry them or they just won't dry at all.

Next they come downstairs to meet the neighborhood kids, who have been asking for weeks when the new turkeys will arrive. Then they get tucked in safe and sound in their little heated coop.

After the holidays, Russell and Perry will go to Farm Sanctuary's Animal Acres in Acton, Calif. where you can visit them on Sundays. But first they'll join us here for our very vegan Thanksgiving feast. They will be at the table instead of on it. The only turkey on the table will be Wild Turkey bourbon, right next to a photo of Olivia, my first turkey love.

I am so glad to have found a whole new way to celebrate Turkey Day — it's a lot more fun for everybody when the turkeys are alive and well.

Karen Dawn is the author of "Thanking the Monkey: Rethinking the Way We Treat Animals."

What it Takes to Go Solar: Beginner's guide

The Art Barn is going solar! Our 10-panel solar field will be installed in the foreground, at left.

While it's never been simpler or more affordable to go solar, the process can still be intimidating as you try to navigate all the grants, tax incentives, new technology, and solar firms out there to choose from.

As we draw closer to the installation date of our solar panels on the Art Barn, I'd like to take a minute to outline our process so far. Here's a quick rundown of the steps we underwent to get to where we are now.

Photo of a solar farm from Electronic Component News.

1. Figure out what you want to do. Do you want to go totally off-grid? Are you trying to supplement your energy source? Is this for a seasonal structure or a full-time home or office? Get ahold of some old utility bills and get a sense of exactly how many kilowatts it takes to make that structure tick.
2. Choose Your Company. There are thousands of solar companies out there to choose from. I recommend going as hyper-local as is feasibly possible—if we found installers as close as Theresa, N.Y., I have to assume every person reading this blog will be able to find a solar installer in his or her county. We got several quotes for the Art Barn, each of which was undercut significantly by 1 Block Off the Grid (1BOG), a  collective solar purchasing company that groups solar customers in a region together to offer pretty outrageous discounts on installation. The company outsources the installation work to local companies (in our case, Finlo Renewable Energy out of Ithaca, N.Y.).
3. Study up on the Latest Technology, and Discuss with Your Installer. 1BOG introduced us to the world of microinverters, which we didn't know about before. If we had never found out about it, one of the first two companies we talked to would have gone ahead with the installation without incorporating microinverters into the design, thereby weakening the entire system. New solar technology is coming out all the time, so it's important to do your homework!
4. Settle on a Plan. Here's what we decided on for the Art Barn: a 2.250 kW DC STC rated PV array, including 10 Solar One 225-Watt, 10 Enphase M215 Micro-inverters, and a racking system.  The panels will be arranged on a ground-mounted system in the open field next to the Art Barn. The system will be looped into the grid, which means the power will also backfeed into the house on days we're not using the electric in the barn. Bonus!
5. Get Your Paperwork in Order. Most contractors will take care of tracking down the forms you need to sign, but so you're aware, there's no shortage of John Hancocks necessary before you get those panels installed. Our short list involved three grant applications, an energy savings action plan form, building permit request, survey map and recent utility bill, and eight photos from the location of the solar field depicting North, Northeast, East, Southeast, South, Southwest, West, and Northwest. No small feat! Make sure you've got a good, trustworthy relationship with your contractor so this process is smooth and easy.
6. Set an Installation Date. Now comes the easy part! Set your installation date, and start basking in some sun! Your days of getting utility bills are over—with the right setup, you can even get paid back by your utility company as you provide them with power.

Got any specific questions about getting the proverbial solar ball rolling? Shoot us an e-mail at info@betterfarm.org.

Pizza is a Vegetable and other Offenses to Food Groups

In case you've recovered from the debilitating reality of how corporate interests have shaped public food policy in America (ahem, USDA Food Pyramid), here's another shock to the system:

Pizza is now a vegetable.

Yup, really.

Screaming headlines last week everywhere from the Huffington Post to Fox News decried Congress' new bill that would label the tomato paste in personal pizzas doled out in lunchroom cafeterias across the country as a serving of vegetables.

Congress' proposition was that pizza and French fries remain school lunch staples—in spite of standards proposed by the Agriculture Department earlier in 2011 that would have limited the use of potatoes, put restrictions on sodium, and boosted whole grains.

Makes you wonder who Congress is actually working for. Forget that a tomato isn't a vegetable to begin with (it's a fruit), check out the full list of ingredients in a 4x6 lunchroom personal pizza, as is distributed by ConAgrato thousands of schools countrywide.

Yum, no?

So where can we turn for good information about good food? Common sense. Eat vegetables and fruits as much as you can. Make as much of your own food as you can. Choose whole grains and beans over processed wheat. Buy local. And for more good, common-sense ideas, refer to this list, gleaned from Michael Pollan's book

Food Rules:

1. Eat food.

2. Don’t eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food.

3. Avoid food products containing ingredients that no ordinary human would keep in the pantry.

4. Avoid food products that contain high-fructose corn syrup.

5. Avoid foods that have some form of sugar (or sweetener) listed among the top three ingredients.

6. Avoid food products that contain more than five ingredients.

7. Avoid food products containing ingredients that a third-grader cannot pronounce.

8. Avoid food products that make health claims.

9. Avoid food products with the wordoid “lite” or the terms “low-fat” or “nonfat” in their names.

10. Avoid foods that are pretending to be something they are not.

11. Avoid foods that you see advertised on television.

12. Shop the peripheries of the supermarket and stay out of the middle.

 Now that's food for thought.

Channel 7 Features Better Farm!

(Click on image to start video.)

By Caitlin Cissne

Originally published at wwnytv.com

Story Published: Nov 19, 2011 at 8:10 PM EST

Since leaving behind a hectic life in New York City for a farm house in Redwood and the 65 acres that came with it, Nicole Caldwell's motto is this: "Whatever happens, it's always an opportunity to grow and to learn from the experience. You can sort of transform the world by how you perceive it and look at it," says Caldwell, the executive director of Better Farm.

Caldwell inherited the land, and the motto, from her uncle two years ago and created Better Farm, a space where artists live together in a sustainable, productive way. 

It was quiet when 7 News visited Better Farm on Saturday morning, but typically, that means volunteering, creating organic gardens, and coming up with creative ways to be more green.
It also means bringing on interns from as far away as Kenya and Singapore. Maylisa Daniels is an intern from California. 

"I've learned a lot so far.  Just from their conversations, for the first two weeks I was here I didn't really talk.  I was just like, "whoa." Just the conversations are so much different," says Daniels.

The group's latest project is an “Art Barn,” where Caldwell says free art and music workshops will be available to the community she now calls home.

Caldwell says she's a long way away from her life in New York City and she's now in the North Country to stay. 

"Right now feel like my entire life, 24 hours a day, has a purpose.  That feels really, really good," says Caldwell.

Spotlight On: This is Green

This Is Green

, an iPhone app and

blog

offering green options for house and home, features, among other totally amazing green innovations, the above "Flexible Love" folding chair.

This is Green was developed by Jan Manon and Thomas Bache-Wiig. Jan is a writer and designer with a BA in Ecology who resides in Burlington, Verm., and has her own company Elf Productions!

www.elfproductions.com

. Thomas Bache-Wiig is a green architect who resides in Miami, FL. Both Jan and Thomas have worked on environmental content together for the last 2 years. Building the This Is Green iPhone app was a labor of love. Both Jan and Thomas wanted to make green choices easy to understand and implement for every consumer.

Kudos for combining tech-savvy with green ideals!

Have a great, green site or organization you'd like to share?

E-mail us

with your tips!