Green Postcards

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May 9, 2008 5:00:00 AM | $100-$125, $125-$150, $25-$50, $50-$75, B&B, Cuisine, Cycling Vacation, Hiking Vacation, Mountain, Rural, US, Vermont

May 08, 2008

Churchill House Inn: The oldest, greenest inn in Vermont

Last week, A Stone Wall Inn claimed to be the greenest inn in Vermont. Now I like a rumble as well as the next girl, especially when it involves eco-one-upmanship, but for the sake of the peace, we’re going to call the Churchill House Inn the oldest greenest inn in Vermont. (It’s also the first green inn Vermont’s Green Hotels in the Green Mountain State program certified in Brandon, Vermont.)

The inn served its first guests in 1872, 134 years before An Inconvenient Truth debuted. Churchill House Inn (named after its founding family) was built with local wood, milled on the property with hydro-power. It was a common practice then but would blow LEED new-construction standards away today. Seth and Olya Hopkins took over in April of 2005 and began updates that significantly boosted the house’s energy efficiency.

They installed on-demand Energy Star water heaters and promptly cut their water-heating fuel use by two-thirds. An efficient furnace, a new roof, Energy Star appliances, CFL bulbs, and triple-pane windows decreased their energy costs even further. “One of our significant heating sources is burning locally harvested firewood in three woodstoves throughout the inn,” the Hopkinses say. “We burnt about four cords last year, which cut down a lot on the oil we consumed.”

The couple reports they aren’t finished. They’ll be replacing 20 more windows next month and are looking into their renewable energy options. (“Our local utility offers ‘Cow Power,” produced from burning methane created from manure from local dairy farms,” they write.) They are also researching how to offset their remaining carbon footprint -- and their guests’, too.

Churchill House Inn’s eco-credentials don’t stop with energy efficiency. They keep their groundwater sources clean by using “high-temperature sanitizing” for their dishwashing and biodegradable laundry detergent. They compost and recycle. But the green practice visitors probably appreciate most is the inn’s organic vegetable and herb garden. The garden stocks their kitchen with fresh, chemical-free produce and also led them to the Vermont Fresh Network, “a cooperative encouraging use of local produce at Vermont country inns and restaurants,” Seth and Olya explain.

After enjoying all that fresh Vermont cooking, the couple says you shouldn’t miss a hiking, biking, or skiing tour in the surrounding Moosalamoo National Recreation Area or the Green Mountain National Forest. Olya and Seth run a Vermont tour company called Inn to Inn, which offers both guided and self-guided foot-powered tours along Vermont’s Long Trail with stays at hand-picked inns each night. Check out the two-night hike that connects Churchill House Inn to another eco-friendly lodge, Blueberry Hill, just nine miles away.

Come back tomorrow for information on Churchill House Inn’s rooms and rates!

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May 8, 2008 5:00:00 AM | $100-$125, $125-$150, $25-$50, $50-$75, B&B, Cycling Vacation, Hiking Vacation, Mountain, Rural, US, Vermont

May 01, 2008

A Stone Wall Inn: The greenest inn in Vermont, Part 2

See yesterday’s post for more on A Stone Wall Inn and its eco-efforts.

A Stone Wall Inn
578 Hitchcock Hill Road
Windham, VT 05359
Phone: 802-875-4238
E-mail: stonewall AT vermontel.net

Rooms at A Stone Wall Inn come with breakfast, afternoon snacks, and something to nibble on before bedtime. (The treats are often made from fruits and herbs grown on-site.) If you’re going it alone, take $10 off the room rate. Splurge alert: If you’re traveling to the inn during prime foliage season (September 15 – October 25), add $30 to the nightly rate.

The Hideaway: Full-sized bed with private bathroom. $125 per night for two.
The Grotto: Queen-sized bed with shared bathroom. The room overlooks the meditation room. $125 per night for two.
The Garden Room: Queen-sized bed with shared bathroom. Looks out to garden and the lawn. $125 per night for two.
The Crow’s Nest: Queen-sized bed with private bathroom and deck. $145 per night for two.

Rent the entire “Corner House”: Includes all four rooms, breakfast, and run of the kitchen to create your other meals. $470 ($576 during foliage season) per day. Rate breaks for multiple days up to $2900 (or $3480 during foliage season) for seven days. (That’s $103 per room, per night.)

All profits from A Stonewall Inn are donated to The Fourth Corner Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to encouraging environmentally responsible design. Before you visit A Stone Wall Inn, check out the Fourth Corner website; it will give you insight into the thinking behind the inn’s unique (and sustainable!) architecture.

Owner Robert Shannon also suggests reading Cradle to Cradle, by William McDonough and Michael Braungart. I second his recommendation, with a warning: It might change your life! The book is a call for a new, more organic way of building and manufacturing things by considering the full life-cycle of each item. I promise you’ll never look at a man-made object the same way again.

Photo of The Grotto Room courtesy of www.astonewallinn.com.

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May 1, 2008 5:00:00 AM | $125-$150, Architecture Vacation, B&B, Big Group Vacation, Rural, Solar-powered, US, Vermont

April 30, 2008

A Stone Wall Inn: The greenest inn in Vermont, Part 1

A Stone Wall Inn claims to be the greenest inn in Vermont. I'm not going to argue. In my (eco-)book, any inn that pours 100 percent of its profits into a nonprofit that encourages sustainable design and has a strict BYOTB (Bring Your Own Teddy Bear) policy can make any claims it wants to. Besides, it probably is the greenest inn in Vermont.

The inn was built with recycled materials and local wood and masonry. Solar hot-air collecting systems provide 60 percent of the innâs space-heating needs. The rest is supplied by efficient wood stoves and firewood grown on the innâs property. The inn uses water-efficient toilets and shower heads. (âAlthough water is not the issue here,â says owner and architect Robert Shannon, âbut the energy to pump it.â) Cleaning supplies are non-toxic (7th Generation and Ecover), and the inn grows its own fruits and herbs, used to make the breakfasts and snacks provided for guests.

Robert says heâs proud of how A Stone Wall Inn was designed to surpass LEEDâs platinum sustainability standards. In the future, he wants to make the inn carbon neutral. An important step in that process is being about to generate renewable energy on-site â a challenge Robert is tackling currently by adding photovoltaic solar arrays.

Although the unique architecture has a function â moving solar-heated air throughout the buildings â it is also aesthetically sophisticated. Robert says guests should make time to enjoy the architecture, the innâs extensive gardens, and the artwork found throughout the inn.

Come back tomorrow for details on the innâs accommodations.

Photo courtesy of www.astonewallinn.com

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Apr 30, 2008 5:00:00 AM | $125-$150, Architecture Vacation, B&B, Big Group Vacation, Cuisine, Rural, Solar-powered, US, Vermont

April 25, 2008

Wisconsin sunshine powers Artha Sustainable Living Center, Part 2

See yesterday’s post for more about Artha Sustainable Living Center’s workshops on solar power and solar heating.

Artha Sustainable Living Center
9784 County Road K,
Amherst, Wisconsin 54406
Phone: (715) 824-3463
E-mail: info AT arthaonline.com

Artha Sustainable Living Center runs a bed and breakfast along with its many workshops and solar heating consulting business. Room rates include breakfast, which will most likely feature ingredients from the B&B’s organic garden. Additional guests are $15 per night. If you’d like to host an event at the B&B, the center provides event planning services for $45 per hour. (You can also arrange to rent the yoga studio, gazebo, and grounds – call or write for details.)

Program and Marketing Director Chamomile Nusz suggests visitors interested in renewable energy should time their stay to coincide with the Midwest Renewable Energy Fair, held 20 minutes away in Custer, Wisconsin, from June 20-22. Find more information here.

Solar Room: One king bed (could be separated into two twins) and a day bed. Shared bathroom. $75 per night for two.

Garden Room: One double bed with a shared bathroom. $55 per night for two.

Energy Room: One queen bed with a shared bathroom. $65 per night for two.

Rent the entire house: Sleeps thirteen. $100, plus $15 per guest per night. ($295 per night for thirteen.)

Chamomile suggests you pick up Artha’s Solar Water Heating, an in-depth primer on sun-powered heating systems, to get you in the mood for a solar-stay at Artha. You can buy the book on their website or at Amazon. She also says John Denver music reminds her of Artha. Load up your ipod, start learning about solar power, and you’ll be on your way!

Photo courtesy of www.arthaonline.com.
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Apr 25, 2008 5:00:00 AM | $50-$75, B&B, Rural, Solar-powered, US, Wisconsin

April 24, 2008

Wisconsin sunshine powers Artha Sustainable Living Center, Part 1

The bed and breakfast at Artha Sustainable Living Center doesn’t just offer travelers a guilt-free vacation (with solar power and heat, organic amenities, and chemical-free food) – it teaches its guests how to take those eco-practices home with them.

Artha is in central Wisconsin, outside of Amherst and about an hour and a half west of Green Bay. Chamomile Nusz is Artha’s program and marketing director and the daughter of its owners, Bob and Marguerite Ramlow. “Artha, in one form or another, has been around for 37 years,” Chamomile explains, “and we opened the bed and breakfast in 2007.” Many of their guests come first to learn, then to relax.

The green-curious can sign up for workshops and retreats year round on renewable energy, organic gardening, and yoga. For example, next month, Artha will host “Planning and planting your vegetable garden” (May 10, 9am-4pm, $65), “Solar water heating installation lab” (May 12-14, 8am-4 pm, through the Midwest Renewable Energy Center), and “Standing Poses and Backbends” (May 31, 1-4pm, $35).

“Our biggest eco-effort is education,” says Chamomile. “We try to teach by example and reach out to people all over the U.S.” Beyond the on-site workshops, Artha also acts as a solar consultant, designing systems for home and business owners without local solar providers in their areas. The center has definitely proven that those who can, teach.

Artha’s 4-kilowatt photovoltaic system provides the B&B and the on-site office with 75 to 85 percent of their energy needs. Solar thermal collectors – 800 square feet of them – heat the facilities’ water, 85 percent of the office space, and 25 percent of the B&B space (efficient wood stoves make up the difference). In the future, Chamomile says they will install fan convector radiators to increase the amount of solar-heat they get in the B&B.

They put similar forethought into their guest accommodations. The B&B was renovated with wood from their own 90-acre property and from the sustainable forests of the local Menomonee Indian Tribe. The linens are organic cotton, as is the produce served up straight from their garden. Non-VOC paint and energy- and water-efficient appliances are without.

Come back tomorrow for Artha’s rates and Chamomile’s suggestions on prime times to visit.
Photos courtesy of www.arthaonline.com

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