I have a confession to make. While we’ve been featuring Arizona staycations in the past few issues, and continue to do so this month with a fabulous eco-travel piece highlighting Phoenix, I stepped a bit out of our state’s borders last month. I ran as far from the 110-degree heat as I could to the northeastern part of our great country. Rhode Island to be exact—and Connecticut and Massachusetts. It was a working vacation, really. An educational excursion, if you will, and a much-needed visit with family.
The New England communities, and my family, are rich with examples of living green. The way of life there reinforces the idea that green living is not just a fad celebrated by a few, but a lifestyle embraced in varying degrees by many, some as newly adopted habits and some as practices that span generations.
My home base (a.k.a. my mom’s house in Greenville, Rhode Island) is a seven-acre property surrounded by woodland thick with oak, maple, birch and pine. Most of my working hours were spent on the front porch overlooking lush gardens that draw a dynamic mix of the feathered and furry. The blue jays, nuthatches, cardinals, and others vie for position on the bird feeders. They take flight when squirrels leap from a nearby umbrella tree and maneuver their way through the bars of the not-so-squirrel-proof feeders. Chipmunks and doves wait for spilled seeds below. Here, the roosters start crowing at 4:30 a.m. and the cows sound off throughout the day, depending on my brother’s proximity with the tractor which signals the promise of sustenance. I was working in my own personal paradise. Is it fair to say I was “working” when I was doing what I love in a place like this?
On a day trip to Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts, I visited an organic herb farm and learned about some of their composting and harvesting methods. That same afternoon I found myself at an ice cream social where community members were being educated about GMOs. A drive through the communities revealed many backyard gardens. I grew up enjoying vegetables harvested from our own quarter-acre garden, and although it’s smaller now, my mom’s tomatoes still have a delicious reputation.
Conversations touched on a variety of environmental issues indicating a top-of-mind awareness. Those who read Green 
Living Magazine for the first time found it interesting and informative. Even though Green Living is based in Arizona, the topics we cover appealed to an audience some 2,700 miles away. (Well, about 2,200 miles, as the crow flies.)
Since this issue focuses on energy, I was intently aware of the examples around me. Connecticut, and the other states I visited, all boast buildings powered by solar. In northwestern Massachusetts I visited the Montague Retreat Center, which regulates the building’s temperature using geothermal technology. At Salty Brine State Beach in Narragansett, Rhode Island, a towering wind turbine energizes a bathhouse.
In the following pages you will find stories that touch on solar, energy co-ops, and deregulation. There is a story about boosting your own energy with nutrition. As always, we have included recipes, cool and outrageous stuff, and more stories to inspire you to live, work and play green.
Photo by A. Hurd
