Three for Free!

The Island Ingenuity Tour is coming around again. On Saturday, Sept 21, from 10 ‘til 4 you will be able to see how your friends and neighbors have figured out how to save energy and resources and to produce local food and energy. This year, the Ingenuity Tour is teaming up with the WisEnergy Fair and with the Solar Tour. Whether you are interested in down home gardening ideas or high tech home and community energy solutions, these three events will have something for you.
 
Be sure to consult the official Map and Brochure for a complete listing of sites and locations. You will find it online at wisenergyvashon.org, sustainablevashon.org, or vigavashon.org. There will be a large WisEnergy supplement in the Beachcomber that will include the brochure. You can also get printed copies on the day of the tour at the WisEnergy Fair in the Island Lumber parking lot and the Saturday Market. There will be signs indicating exact locations at the sites and volunteers to help you.
 
If you are interested in food production, the gardens of Lotus and Barb Smith, Roger and Jaimie Sherman, Gary and Linda Peterson will be featured again this year. These sites epitomize the spirit of the ingenuity tour: lots of low-cost home designed and built systems that you can employ now without any major purchases. At Sunrise Ridge, you will be able to stroll through the Food Bank garden, and Vashon Island Fruit Club will have multiple exhibits there for you to study as well. They have trials studying Peach curl, almond varieties, multiple stone fruit grafts, and exhibits on hugelculture, sheet mulch, and advanced grafting.
 
Michael Laurie will be on the tour again this year demonstrating numerous ways to conserve water and energy both inside the house and out. Michael’s place is a must see if you want knowledgeable and comprehensive explanations of the state of the art in conservation techniques. Similar conservation methods can be seen at Lotus’ place and the Peterson’s. The Peterson’s, by the way, have the oldest passive solar Trombe wall house on Vashon. A Trombe wall is a heat-absorbing wall located behind a large south facing glass surface. John and Jennie Osborne’s can show you everything you ever wanted to know about LED lighting, plus a few other things.
 
For house structures, we have Kathleen Dolan’s very cute strawbale home with many wet Northwest winters under its belt and Bill and Wendy Gage’s recycled, transported and transformed energy efficient home with solar array and gardens.
 
Also on the solar tour are Jim Gerlach’s, March Twisdale and Jose Marquez’, and Don Wolzko’s homes. A special ingenuity award goes out to Don for designing and building his own solar tracking system.
 
This year we will also be featuring Gib Dammon’s Community Solar installation at the Harbor School. If you live in a shady area and don’t see much potential for home solar production, you should check out this arrangement. This is a state subsidized array owned by multiple small investors like you that wanted to invest in and reap the benefits of solar energy. We could have one of these in every neighborhood! Get there at lunchtime for a free burger or tofu dog.
 
Then there is the Energy Fair in the Island Lumber parking lot. This is worth a day’s perusal all by itself. Here you will find energy saving home products, building materials, appliances, heating systems, remodeling ideas, and financing options. Also, there will be exhibits on solar technology, electric cars, island wood products, honeybees, and more.
 
At the Energy Fair, stop by the Transition Vashon booth and say hi. We will have good books for you to borrow from our library. I and others will be available to answer any question you may have or discuss transition with you. I will also have some printouts on some of my own ingenious (if I do say so myself!) ideas that I have employed at my own home.
 
We also hope that some of you will get into the spirit of the day and choose to tour the sites on your bicycles. Suggested north (6.2 mi.) and south (9 mi.) routes are given on the brochure. You can also do the walking tour in town (.7 mi.) Make a festive day of it; meet your neighbors, learn something new, grab some free lunch!
 
Someday, I hope we will have cobb, rammed earth, and earth sheltered houses to show.
 
I hope that we will have innovative neighborhood energy and food cooperatives. I’d love to see a living plant based sewage treatment system. Maybe you will be one of the pioneers that brings something new and wonderful to Vashon!
Comments?
terry@vashonloop.com