How does a heat pump work? Can solar technology be adapted to an antique home? Can I garden without pesticides? How far does an electric car go between charges?
Christiane Turnheim shows passive composting at work with bins of two- and three-year-old compost.. (Courtesy photo)
Turnheim shows aronia berries from a native superfood berry bush that she grows on Good Spirits Farm on East Bare Hill Road.
About 250 people took part in “Earth Day Show and Tell Around Town” last Saturday, sharing information on all sorts of environmental topics, from energy-saving devices to sustainable gardening to restoring the American chestnut tree.
At more than a dozen sites in town, visitors could see and discuss local efforts to meet the challenges of climate change. The “show and tell” was organized by the Harvard Climate Initiative Committee and the Energy Advisory Committee.
The Hildreth Elementary School featured a “petting zoo” of electric vehicles, ranging from fully electric Teslas and Chevy Bolts to plug-in hybrids and even a two-wheeler—a Mod Easy electric bike, displayed by owner Jefferson Burson. Other electric and hybrid vehicles were on display at the homes on the tour.
Homeowners explained how they were moving away from fossil fuels to solar- or wind-powered electricity. Richard Jenson and Patricia DeLeeuw built their Mill Road home in 2017 with the goal of a net-zero carbon footprint. The house relies almost entirely on solar power, storing electricity in two tall lithium iron phosphate batteries. An air-source heat pump warms the well-insulated house on all but the very coldest days. If the temperature outside falls close to zero, the owners fire up their cylindrical wood stove.
Heat pumps of various types figured prominently on the tour, since they can provide both heating and cooling as needed. Abby and Brad Besse on Westcott Road have an air-source heat pump. George and Margaret Snyder on Cameron Road use a ground-source heat pump, as does Rich Molnar on Old Littleton Road. Molnar’s neighbors, Paul and Marty Green, combine an air-source heat pump and solar-heated water, backed up by oil heat. Many people also use mini-splits—ductless air-source pumps connected to an outdoor compressor that can both heat and cool specific rooms.
Vintage homes, too, can successfully reduce or eliminate the use of fossil fuels, as shown by several houses on the tour. In their 1903 house on Bolton Road, Edward and Deborah O’Rourke have added an earth-mounted solar array for electricity and a ground-based heat pump for heating, cooling, and hot water. They insulated and weatherized the house through the Mass Save program.
Ira and Judy Ockene added solar panels to their antique house on Fairbank Street, as did David Fay and Roben Campbell in Still River. In both cases, the households also have an electric car.
Environmental gardening practices and conservation
Landscaping and gardening were also on display in the tour, with an emphasis on environmentally sound methods. Many householders have replaced their gasoline-powered yard and garden tools with electric ones.
Harvard’s community gardens on Littleton Road showcased two dozen organic garden plots. A solar-powered electric fence protects the crops from critters, and compost made on site enriches the soil.
At Good Spirits Farm on East Bare Hill Road, Christiane and Rene Turnheim have planted a pollinator garden and a wide variety of fruit trees—heirloom apples, pears, plums, pawpaws, and more. All the flowering plants provide good support for the bees in their hives. The Turnheims are also starting a multilevel food forest, with nut-bearing trees in the upper layers, shrubs like blueberries in the middle layers, and ground-hugging plants such as strawberries and thyme near the bottom.
Farther down East Bare Hill Road, on the Powell conservation land, Brian McClain greeted visitors to the small orchard of American chestnut saplings that were planted about two years ago as part of a nationwide effort to restore this almost-vanished species to northeastern forests. While all trees sequester carbon, chestnuts are particularly effective. Not only are they massive when they reach maturity, but their wood is extremely resistant to rot. So even when they die, the carbon they absorbed in life remains locked in the fallen logs on the forest floor.
From tree planting and gardening to heat pumps and solar panels, the Earth Day Show and Tell Around Town offered an all-around wealth of information.
Richard Jenson talks to visitors on his porch about the net zero-house he and Pat DeLeeuw built on Mill Road, with active and passive solar power, triple-glazed windows, lithium iron storage batteries, and other bells and whistles. (Photo by Lisa Aciukewicz)
Brian McClain describes the giant chestnut trees, “redwoods of the East,” that used to grace local forests until a blight destroyed them in the early 1900s.
Madhavi Kolli tends to her plot at the Harvard Community Garden. (Photo by Thomas Kilian)
Paul Green shows visitors the plug to charge up his electric Volvo XC40 Recharge EV.
Riding my electric bike around town
My contribution to Harvard’s April 30 Earth Day celebration was riding around town on my electric bike. And it was glorious.
Riding an electric bike on Harvard’s hilly terrain is like being a kid again. When an ominous hill appears in the distance, I shift gears the same way I did with my nonelectric bike, but I can also press another button for a little extra boost to maintain a constant cadence, speed, and effort.
Margaret Kusner with her electric bike. (Photo by Lisa Aciukewicz)
The upright posture is comfortable to my aging neck and back. I also feel I have a good view of the road ahead and, with a mirror, some view of the road behind me. An upright posture also makes me feel more self-assured and visible to car traffic. I have a flashing red tail light, a neon vest and helmet, and a bright headlight. It didn’t take long to reassert my right to the road, to confidently use hand signals, and to look the waiting drivers at crossroads directly in the eyes.
I visited some of the open houses on East Bare Hill Road, a test of my bike’s ability (and mine) to handle serious hills. Later, I cycled past the electric cars exposing their innards in the parking lot of the elementary school. No one was interested in my electric vehicle, however, so I rode on.
The bike I bought, a specialized Como, is heavy, however. The man at Pedal Power where I bought it compared its weight to the old Schwinn bikes many of us rode as kids, about 45-50 pounds. It has thick tires. It is expensive, in the thousands. Transporting it to a bike trail, for instance, is difficult unless you buy the also-expensive Thule bike carrier that is a snap to use. (I use a less expensive rigged-up version.)
This is the bike that the bike rental stores in Bar Harbor use for their customers to ride on the carriage roads in Acadia National Park. They report that no customer has ever run out of battery power after a day on the carriage roads. I rode almost 14 miles last Saturday and used 33% of my total power available.
After adding panniers to the back, I can now perform chores, like going to the library, getting my flu shot at the Council on Aging as I did last fall, attending tai chi at the Congregational Church, getting a latte at the General Store, going to the Community Garden (if I don’t have to haul heavy or awkward tools, or large amounts of soil amendments), without driving my car.
Using this bike to carry out some of my daily activities is not only a clean way to travel, it is healthy and invigorating. And every now and then, a youthful rider on a sleek 10-speed in equally sleek garb, lifts fingers from the handlebars, in acknowledgement that we are both out there enjoying the world.
