So this is my first blog post for a couple of reasons:

1. I have found a new passion is spending 100% of my free time asking for money for the Bus (and plants and cigars etc.).
2. I don’t have a computer.
3. I don’t have a phone.
4. I have slept an average of 4.5 hours since Senior Week.

Anyways, the Bus encountered one of its first major obstacles (or as I like to refer to it as, a sticky veg situation).  We had to bring our Bus into the MCI shop for some suspension repairs, and ended up staying the day in what is now what one of my favorite parts of the world: New Jersey (is there a sarcasm font?).

But in all seriousness, Jersey isn’t as bad as I thought, whatever that means.  Our gracious last-minute hosts, the Cohens showed us all the highlights of the town.  We went to CVS [where Devo (aka Nikki) waited 2 hours for prescription medicine that is now off the market], water ice (which is apparently famous all of South Jersey!), LL Bean (we have so much solar power now!!), and TWO Verizon stores (however I still don’t have a phone).

While we ran our errands, Meegs worked out to ‘80s dance videos, Jules and Ewik troubleshot, Matt and Sarah threw the first pitch at baseball game (how romantic is that!?), Joey explored a magical forest, Garzy ordered eco-friendly business cards, Laura researched breast issues that will change the world, Channah started her SECOND academic paper to determine the correlation of estrogen on sleeping habits, Jen woke me up twice, Morgs reworked our logistics, and Nikki tested a new foam acne product while making friends at CVS.

And now we are on the road.  Courtesy of David Attenborough, we are learning about the shallow seas of the world, enjoying our Cabot Cheese dinner, and sticking our heads out the roof to look at cool bridges.

Sustainability Success Story of the Day: Cherry Hill, NJ has solar panels on its electrical grid system all around town!

At the end of the day, some of the problems are fixed, but sadly we had to miss one of our events tonight.  Thanks so much to Bethesda Big Train, the Dartmouth Club of D.C., and Honest Tea for their support and concern for the Big Green Bus.

We hope to see anyone who missed us today from 12-2:30pm tomorrow, June 30th, on Capital Hill (1^st and C St.) and any Dartmouth Alumni are welcome to come to Jack’s Boathouse in Georgetown from 5-8pm for drinks, kayaks and grilling!

Xoxo,

Papa Joe

Today the Big Green Bus Crew woke up to a sunny morning in Atlantic Beach, Long Island. After Joey and Erik were done patching up the veg system (a blown fuse and a kinked line caused a couple stalls on the narrow streets of Brookyn) we were on our way to Princeton, NJ. We’d picked up a couple of siblings: David’s younger brother, Bradley, and Devo’s younger sister, Mika. After losing to Google Maps by 45 minutes, we arrived in front of a gorgeous square in Princeton. We set up camp for a relaxing afternoon of talking to passers-by and residents of Princeton.

The Bus in front of the Princeton Public Library

Devo visited a store in Princeton (right across from the bus) called Green Design, which is a company that makes useful things out of what most people would consider trash. He was in heaven. Moments later he was there showing off his Clif-Bar wrapper pillow. They were excited about it too. They talked about how they’d use them to make book-covers and binders. An excited Devo gave them his whole stash of peanut-butter and chocolate flavored pillow fluffing. Looks like the bus would be starting all over… good thing we have plenty of Clif Bars. Jen later asked, “Is it up-cycling or down-cycling?” We decided on up-cycling: bringing garbage up into higher use.

Some ridiculously awesome driving from Hannah brought the bus to Waterfront Park Stadium in Trenton on time. We were able to attract fans headed to see the Trenton Thunder take on the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, and convinced people to prove their legs on the surprisingly difficult bike generator. Gracious hosting from Kirk Lecompte (Dartmouth ’86) and his son made it a great visit; we even got our transfer pump rewired and got to see some of the game. Much appreciated was the Trenton Thunder’s recycling efforts and use of cups made from corn starch. Awesome!

The Crew in front of the Trenton Thunder's stadium

After the game we headed to Laura’s house for dinner with her family and some quick showers. Laura’s dad took a keen interest in our backgrounds during our excellent meal, consisting of a variety of foods ranging from seafood pasta to edamame beans (of which Devo ate a pound and a half). Many thanks for the food, laughs, and safety tips.

Another hour-long drive got us to a previous busser’s house at midnight so we would be closer to an MCI service garage. Hopefully a little time in the shop will take the lean out of our bus and fix the tag axle. We’re excited to have the bus in great shape and for our visit to Maryland and Washington DC!

- Jules

Yesterday we stopped by the Brooklyn New School and brought over 100 students onto the Bus. I was outside the Bus but I still could here the groups of students come on and get so excited, “WHOA! SOMEBODY LIVES IN HERE!?!” Five seconds later, “THEY GOT A FLAT SCREEN TV ON HERE!” (That’s our touch screen system that we use to share sustainability success stories and will display our energy statistics).

With the 8 to 11 year olds we worked on their three R’s (reduce, reuse, recycle), and talked about ways of reducing the resources used, and how that’s just important as recycling. Outside the Bus we gave tours of our veg system. When we first tried to explain the bus as running on French fry oil, kids get a bit confused and asked, “where do you put the French Fries?” Outside, we also had the electric bike generator going and kids were lining up to get a chance to see how hard it was to make power. We also had a great demonstration going to show how much less energy a compact fluorescent bulb needs. When we have an older crowd, we’ll be able to do a demonstration about how to choose the best compact fluorescent bulb for you too (the lower the kelvin temperature [k], the warmer the light). Anyway, the kids loved it, the teachers were so thankful, and we had an absolute blast. It was easily the most rewarding day I’ve had on the bus so far.

After that we visited Icestone. The were located in an old Navy shipyard and it was very cool to see how they were taking old WWII buildings and upgrading them with better insulated windows to top of the line residential wind power. Icestone hooked us up with some beautiful countertops that are made from recycled glass and concrete. Some of them even have shiny sea shells built into the mix.

Later on we arrived at the Garczynski’s beautiful house just off the beaches of Long Island. We had a fantastic welcome, with beautiful food by the pool. Breakfast the next day was just spectacular. We got to meet up with some Dartmouth alums dating back to ’53 and it was great to trade stories of road trips to the statue of John Harvard. We finished the night watching a movie outdoors, about another type of connection to the environment. It was a documentary on surfing and we’re now all obsessed with catching some tidal powered entertainment in California.

Dinner on the Beach

Devo

This morning the Big Green Bus visited the Connecticut Audubon Society in Fairfield, CT. We arrived at the bus (which had spent the night in front of the Audubon building) well-fed and rested, thanks to Morgan’s aunt and uncle (Martha and Timmy Curtis).

The Connecticut Audubon Society is dedicated to protecting bird populations and their habitats all across CT. The society owns a large area of conserved land that also has some pretty trails (Joey explored them early this morning). I got to talk to the Connecticut Audubon Society president, Bob Martinez, about the neo-tropical birds spend the summer in New England. Local conservation initiatives are important, but it’s also important to keep in mind how actions in other parts of the world affect your ecosystems as well – even if there is a lot of land left in New England for these birds, if their breeding grounds in the tropics all disappear they will not be able to survive. Joey, Sarah, and I also went to check out the birds of prey exhibit; the CT Audubon Society keep and rehabilitates injured birds including owls and peregring falcons. If you’re interested in in learning more about the CT Audubon Society, visit their website: www.ctaudubon.org

During the morning we also met Amy Barnouw, co-founder of the Planet Fuel Beverage Company. Planet Fuel creates juices for kids from organic ingredients, without any artificial sweeteners or flavors. To top it off, their juice bottles are made from aluminum and can be reused or recycled. Amy told us that many common juice brands have just as much sugar as sodas, so that she was inspired to provide a healthy alternative for her own kids and others. To learn more about Planet Fuels, visit their website: http://www.planetfuel.com/

Amy Barnouw and Devo show off one of Planet Fuel’s new flavors: “Desert Dan’s Organic Cactus Cooler”.

The bus spent the afternoon relaxing and doing some work on the bus (and keeping in touch with all our event contacts) outside of Matt’s house in Bronxville, NY. After dinner, we’re heading to Brooklyn to meet some old BGBers!

BGB at Matt's house

Happy first week of summer to all!

BusLove, Jen

Meegs here!

Today we made our way to Fairfield, Connecticut. We started the morning at Jules’s house in Canaan. Let it be known that Jules’s mom is the most amazing lady in the world. After cooking us a dinner that made bus history we started the morning with fabulous breads, teas, and coffee. Vali (Jules’s mom) sent Joe to the garden to pick some mint leaves and Vali made the best mint tea I’ve ever had with them. We stopped for a photo with our new friend (and Jules’s old friend) Bill in front of Jim’s auto shop.

With a little drill sergeanting from me, we made pulled up to the Fairfield Green at 12 sharp (well maybe a few minutes late, but only a few). We had an awesome showing. We met the entire Curtis and Hodgson families (Morgan’s fam) and all their friends from the area. We met SO many people, young to old, and heard a bunch of great stories. We heard about a school in Delaware that has recently installed solar panels, where the initiative for the panels came from two ninth graders! Another man told us about his grandson (a 5^th grader in LA) who designed curved photovoltaics for mobile applications – that help to better track the sun. Sounds like something we need for our bus! (We’re recruiting him for Dartmouth as we speak.) We met a bearded man who lives a completely zero waste lifestyle. Everything he owns he either keeps, recycles or reuses. He had quite a perspective on our single-use lifestyle of consumption.

We also had a number of notable visitors, from the News 12 camera crew, to a multitude of local papers who were interested in Interim First Selectman Mike Tetreau’s visit to the bus. The First Selectman stayed around for a while, and was full of advice for our journey, everything from event marketing to working with schools. We really appreciated his time, and it was fantastic to be welcomed to the town by someone who knows so much about its inner workings. There’s a number of great sustainability initiatives going on in Fairfield, and Mike worries that this is often true in many towns but residents just don’t get to hear about it enough. Something visible we saw was actually a GE Level 2 electric car charging station right in Sherman Green car park. Wow!

Brad Evans, Dartmouth trustee, talks to Joe and David

Phill Coletti ’14 chilled with us today too. It was awesome.

After our stint at the Green we made our way to Fairfield Country Club where Morgan’s grandma set us up with some awesome food on the beach. We eat so well, this time including a Big Green Bus cake!

Big Green Bus Cake

A bunch of bussers went on a run along the Sound to Southport Harbor. Garz wants you all to know that he took the shortcut back, swimming across the channel back to the club at the end of his run.. fully clothed. Devo and I went for an adventurous walk down the beach. I know that walks on the beach and adventurous don’t usually go together, but this involved a long balance beam walk and some leaps of faith. We concluded the night with some rooftop sea gazing. Not a bad life.

Nick's leap

Also, here’s a picture of Garz. He’s single and ready to mingle. I snapped this lovely pic at the beach today. Any takers?

Garz looking suave

Peace out Boy Scout.

Hello! Missed you. I’m sure it goes both ways. Today we woke up in Jen’s house in Shutesbury, MA. I’m supposed to talk about today, so I figure post-midnight counts. Last night, circa 12:01 AM, Laura, Garz, and I decided to take a walk through Shutesbury. I know what you’re thinking. Who are these crazy kids who live on the edge to the point where they walk around in a place lit up only by fireflies? It was a lot less risky than it seems because we have Garz. Duh. Have you seen his muscles? Even though Laura and I ran when we mistook a log for a human, it was not because we didn’t trust Garz’s ability to defend us. Here are some highlights from our walk. One, Laura caught a firefly with her bare hands. Two, we saw a graveyard with an entire section dedicated to deaths by lightening. Three, we got pulled over by the town police. Suspicious persons. Count it! Check out the Shutesbury, MA police blotter for more information.

After that adventure, I snuggled up in my sleeping bag and didn’t wake up until 10:23 AM. It was awesome. After a yummy breakfast at Jen’s, we headed to Amherst. On the way, there was an epic dance party. Songs included: Avril Lavigne’s Complicated, Smash Mouth’s All Star, The Backstreet Boys’ I Want It That Way, and Taylor Swift’s “You Belong with Me.” When we arrived in Amherst, we met Morgan’s dad, John, for coffee at Amherst Coffee. He’s a great guy.

We drove from Amherst, MA to Canaan, CT to finally pick up Jules! His family and friends welcomed us with hugs and a yummy dinner.

Bye!!!

Joey and Erik inspecting the Bus

Hi! I’m Hannah! This is my first blog, and I’m really excited about it. After Boston, we returned to my hometown, Shrewsbury, MA. It was pouring rain when we arrived, but that didn’t stop us from having an awesome time. When we arrived at the town hall, we parked and worked on securing our cubbies, which had come a little loose on the ride back from Boston. As we worked, Jackie Pratt, the head of Green Energy for SELCO, knocked on our door (Shrewsbury Electric & Cable Operations is the local municipal utility – this means that the town takes its power production into its own hands, often meaning that the utility does a great job at caring for their local community and environment!) She had stopped by before we left for Boston that morning and came back to meet the whole crew. She told us all about the environmental success stories of Shrewsbury, MA, like the solar panels being installed at Floral Street Elementary School on Friday. Here‘s some videos they made to promote the school’s Go Green 2011 initiative. ALSO check out these links for more information on SELCO’s current sustainability initiatives: SELCO Go Green Program, Berkshire Wind Power Co-op.

Earlier in the day, Matt Beaton, Shrewsbury’s State Representative, contacted us. He has the first certified passive solar house in Massachusetts. It will be officially approved on Friday. So, after talking with Jackie, we took the Bus to his house on Surrey Lane for a tour. It was incredible. He has a clover lawn, walls insulated with recycled newspapers (Boston Globes and Boston Heralds only ), giant windows that allow the sun to warm the house, a 21-inch heating unit that heats his entire house (his heating bill is only 50 dollars for the entire year!), and a really cute new baby boy named Sammy. In addition to serving as State Representative, he owns a construction company. He told us that in his work, he aims to combine environmental consciousness with practicality by allowing people to reduce energy use but still maintain a normal lifestyle. He does this by informing people about the advantages of a passive solar home and leads by example. What a success story! Yay Shrewsbury! After leaving the Beaton’s, we headed to my aunt Ellen’s house for dinner. She cooked us chili and lasagna and made some tasty salads. After a great meal and super fun time, we headed back to my house. Remember the really cool bus that we met in Boston that Meegan told you about? They came to visit us and hang out in Shrewsbury! We had a great time together. Hooray for Bus Love! Okay, now it’s bedtime. Talk to you later!

PS: So although Hannah wrote this beautiful post Meegan is uploading it…and…Hannah deserves this shout out for being a published author! Read the brainiac’s article!

Hey this is Meegan. Pretty stoked about my first blog post.

Lemme tell you a little somethin’ about fridges. They weigh a lot. A few bussers started the morning by taking our fridge off of its stand so we didn’t have to hold it up as we made turns. Definitely an excellent move. After picking up the sleepyheads at 10 we made it to Boloco and had ourselves all set up by 11:58 for a 12 o’clock start time. Killin’ it. We were rather ecstatic about our first timely arrival. 2.5 times people time and you get bus time.

Garzy’s first mission upon our arrival to Copley Square was to get that mess on his head cut. He headed through Boston and found “the best barber in the world” at Anfa Haircutters. He was so thrilled with his new doo he referred Devo who also returned looking mighty handsome.

Garzy's sleek new style

We were parked from 12-3 and handed out smoothies at the Copley Street Boloco. We met some pretty awesome people. Sara and Caitlin from Boloco expertly scooped out smoothie samples (the mango was more popular—Garzy thinks that people like to try the more exotic options when sampling. He’s so wise). We chatted about the bus and Laura, Hannah and I showed off our dance skills.

Hannah and Laura breakin' it down

We heard some awesome environmental success stories. WPI just started movement to shut down all power to their school on a day when they don’t need it once a month. Weston, MA has a community garden and a great recycling and transfer facility. There is also an organic garden near Roxbury in Boston. A group of Roger Williams students arranged a San Francisco Bay cleanup and many families told us about their recent addition of a compster to their kitchens. The Audubon Society in Marshfield, MA has installed solar panels and we also heard about the Mystic River Cleanup in Medford, MA. All these awesome things going on, go Massachusetts!

During our tabling session we also met the Chicken Man, straight out of Toy Story 2. The Chicken Man was wildly enthusiastic and had the most fantastic hat I have ever seen—complete with chickens on springs attached to the brim.

Love, the Bus stops by

Our Boloco event concluded with a visit from the guys of Love, the Bus. We were rather stoked to meet them. Having only heard about them days before from Karen Brace ‘85 and Annie Fagan ’15 while we were staying with them in Camden, the quick turn around into this epic meeting was awesome. Love, the Bus had procured a rather tricky parking spot and couldn’t bring their bus down to Copley Square, but promised to come to Hannah’s house later for the cutest bus rendezvous ever. More on that to come. Check out Love, the Bus’s website here.

We also learned a lot about the dancing skills of Joe and Garzy—especially Garzy. They’re both rather indescribable, but he’s got his own unique way of breaking it down. If we have yet to come to your city and you come see us, be sure to request a demonstration of Five Years Time.  Maybe I’ll get their personal rendition up on my next post.

So back in April I went down to Powershift, the nation’s largest youth environmental conference. On the final day we marched from the White House to Capitol Hill, 10,000 strong, and then lobbied our senators with other students from New Hampshire. On the steps of Russel Senate Building we were approached by an enthusiastic lady who introduced herself as Lori Ehrlich, State Representative for the 8th Essex District, in DC for the day to work with Senator John Kerry on an environmental bill. When we mentioned we were from Dartmouth she immediately asked us if we knew about the Big Green Bus! She handed me her card and I’ve had it in my phone case ever since, as it’s a little big and tends to fall off..

So yesterday when we found out our Boloco event was changing days and we needed something to do in Boston I gave the State House a call! Lori really came to our rescue, inviting us to come by her home in Marblehead, MA, and pick her and her daughter Casey up for a ride on the bus and a tour of her district. First stop was Preston Beach, where the Clifton Improvement Association (we were initially confused by the acronym CIA..) has done a wonderful job setting up a community beach with a sculpture that captures the path of the sun between summer and winter solstices. Awesome! Read more about them here: http://ciabeachbluff.org/cia18.html. The water was also great, and we all had our first swim in the ocean for the summer.

Bussers learning about the sun solstice on Preston Beach

Also at the beach we met Matt Moran who works for an energy utility as their green energy expert. He really laid out for us why green energy is really the best option for local businesses, saying he can beat any major utility quote, and the green energy signage he puts up really draws in the customers in tourist towns like Salem and Marblehead. It was great to hear how excited he was about the industry!

Matt Moran on the Bus

Next stop was Cat Cove Marine Laboratory, part of Salem State University, to learn about aquaculture, marine biology and invasive species. We got an awesome tour, and it was great to learn about some science that we can pass on along the road. For example, tilapia require 8% less protein than salmon, making them a far more sustainable fish for farming! On our way to the lab we also drove by Salem Power Plant, a huge coal and oil burning plant that has been blighting local air and water quality for over sixty years. Lori has been running a grassroots campaign for its shutdown for 13 years, and it has just been announced that it will close in June 2014. Great news for local residents, their health and the green energy economy.

Bussers checking out an algal culture at Cat Cove Marine Laboratory

We swung by Devereux beach for ice cream before dropping Lori & Casey home and heading to Wompatuck State Park in Hingham, MA to meet a few alumni, all of whom were excited to come on board and hear about the bus. We’ve been really shown a great time by Dartmouth alumni so far, thank you so much to all of you. And thank you SO much Lori, it was a fun and fascinating day that we’re so happy came together at the last minute!

- Morgan