BlueDotLiving 2 2021

M A R T H A’S VI N EYA RD / S U M M E R 2 0 2 1

M A R T H A’S VI N EYARD / SUMMER 2021

S I M P L E / S M A RT / S U STA I N A B L E / STOR I E S I S S U E N O. 2 S I M P L E / S M A RT / S U STA I N A B L E / STOR I E S

KELP IS ON THE WAY! Savory seaweed might save the world

CURRIER CRUISES

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WHAT'S SO BAD ABOUT CARBON?

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BDL • OUR TEAM

Contributing Editor

Mollie Doyle

(see Mollie’s Bluedot critters on the contributors’ page)

We asked our crew what their favorite Martha's Vineyard critter or plant species was.

Publishers

Peter and Barbara Oberfest (publisher@mvtimes.com)

Editors

Leslie Garrett: “Whales. I grew up on one of the Great Lakes so the ocean seems both familiar and mysterious to me. Admittedly, I’ve never seen a whale when I’ve been on the Vineyard (though, as a newcomer, I hold out hope it will happen) but I am awed just knowing these leviathans are moving through the same waters that surround me.”

Jamie Kageleiry: (editor@bluedotliving.com) “There are so many birds I love where I live on Farm Pond, but for now, I’ll choose the river otter who scampers across the street and frolics in the pond, delighting us all when we see him or her, maybe once a year.”

Creative Director

Tara Kenny: “The firefly. Makes every night magical.”

Art Director

Kristófer Rabasca: "I love terns. I admired them as a child growing up in Iceland."

Design/Production

Dave Plath: “I love clams. Their shells are good for our ponds."

Nicole Jackson: “My favorite critter on M.V. is a horse named Nettie. She lives at White Stone Equestrian in West Tisbury, where nearly every morning I walk her out to her paddock. On our walk together, if I am feeling anxious or happy, I sing to her, other days I just talk to her; I've told her all about Bluedot Living magazine.”

Climate Intern

Kyra Steck: "I have to go with luna moths!"

Garden Angels Bring beauty to your property

“And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”

— Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

Office: 256 Edgartown Road · buymv@mvbuyeragents.com

www.mvbuyeragents.com · 508-627-5177

Native plant specialists and environmentally focused organic garden practices.

Design • Installation • Maintenance (508) 645-9306 www.vineyardgardenangels.com

OUR TEAM • BDL

Digital/Social Media

Kelsey Perrett

Proofreaders

Irene Ziebarth, and Barbara Dudley Davis: “No surprise: the dogs of M.V.”

Ad Sales

Alessandra Hagerty, Jenna Lambert: (adsales@mvtimes.com)

Bluedot, Inc. Founders

Victoria Riskin: “As a one-time city girl, I never knew the 'little joys' of nature. The milkweed just beyond my driveway was covered over with a dirt pile, so I cleared it away and cordoned off the area. An explosion of milkweed plants, waiting for the butterflies.”

Walter and Nora McGraw: “Growing up in the hollers of East Tennessee, summer meant ice-cold watermelon, tomatoes big enough to have surnames, and, once the late afternoon thunderstorms headed off to their homes, presumably in Virginia, and the skies began to darken on their own terms, it meant woods that would come alive with the determined winking of lightning bugs. Here, I’m told, they’re called fireflies, and a pair of them down by Watcha Pond brought back a raft of childhood memories.”

Bluedot and Bluedot Living logo are trademarks of Bluedot, Inc. Copyright ©2021. All rights reserved.

Bluedot Living: At Home on Earth is printed on recycled material, using soy-based ink, in the U.S.A.

Bluedot Living magazine is published quarterly (three times in 2021) by The Martha’s Vineyard Times, publishers of The Martha’s Vineyard Times weekly newspaper, Martha’s Vineyard Arts & Ideas Magazine, Edible Vineyard Magazine, The Local, The Minute daily newsletter, Vineyard Visitor, & the websites MVTimes.com, VineyardVisitor.com, & MVArtsandIdeas.com.

You can see the digital version of this magazine at bluedotliving.com.

Bluedot Living is available at newsstands, select retail locations, inns, hotels, and bookstores, free of charge. Find Bluedot Living on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook @bluedotliving. • Subscribe: Please inquire at mvtsubscriptions@ mvtimes.com.

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EDITORS' LETTER

Dear Reader, One of the first conversations I had, when I was brought on board to help edit Bluedot Magazine, was with Noli Taylor, our “Bluedot Living Local Hero” for this issue. My co-editor Jamie thought, rightfully, that Noli might help us shape our vision of Bluedot and connect us with many Islanders already hard at work in the climate space. I was struck, not only with Noli’s sense of calm despite her understanding of the stakes of climate change, but by the incredible work she does alongside others at Island Grown Initiative. Noli and the folks at IGI are guided by a sense of community, a recognition that we’re all in this together.

And if there’s anything we’ve learned this pandemic year, it’s that what affects one of us affects all of us.

We see this at work in Kelsey Perrett’s profile of our Island citizen scientists, who have learned that getting out and collecting valuable data about the impacts of climate not only helps restore our threatened species and ecosystems, it restores hope. Sam Moore expands on that with his story on the M.V. Atlas of Life, Matt Pelikan’s latest project. What affects one affects all.

Laurie David tells Geoff Currier that she was motivated to get involved in climate action when she was pregnant, and increasingly aware of how her food was grown. She took that

concern for her baby into the world, and her work has motivated millions of us to create change.

Geoff also takes us back to the Vineyard of the ’70s, populated, perhaps like today, with idealists who saw a threat to the world they loved. Just a few — among them John Abrams — who refused to accept the risks of nukes organized a concert so that like-minded others might join forces.

The Martino brothers saw opportunity in an ocean forest plant that is being recognized as a powerful climate change combatant. Kelp absorbs up to 20 times more carbon than trees on land, and what’s more, Cathy Walthers shares with us just how delicious it can taste on our plates.

We hope this issue of Bluedot Living inspires you to take action to protect what you love. What affects one affects all.

– Leslie Garrett (and Jamie Kageleiry)

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We transform dead dirt into rich soil.

It’s called regeneration.

And it is the future.

Regenerative farming focuses on improving—not just sustaining—the health of the soil. Ensuring our farms will be growing abundant, nutrient-dense food for generations to come. Regenerative farming is climate-friendly farming.

Innovating new farming technologies to produce more food for Islanders and help mitigate climate change is just one our many Island Grown Initiatives.

We are on a mission. To help create a more socially just and environmentally healthy Martha’s Vineyard.

And you can help.

Donate today at igimv.org

Island Grown Initiative strives to build a regenerative and equitable food system on Martha’s Vineyard that engages, informs, and integrates the community.

TOC

CONTENTS Upfront 7 What.On.Earth 8 Contributors 9 Local: Lizzie Horvitz introduces

Choose Finch.

11 Good News from All Over + The Grist Report

13 In a Word: Solastalgia 14 Field Notes: L uanne Johnson updates us on bats.

Features What’s So Bad About … Carbon? By Leslie Garrett

42 Farley Pedler Built a Small Passive Home By Sam Moore

Then his family grew, so he's building a bigger one.

8 Matt Pelikan's Counting 4 Every Critter on the Island

By Sam Moore

Pelikan at work on the M.V. Atlas of Life.

Essay 25 Kilo-what?

Nancy Aronie tries to establish the unit for measuring eco-guilt.

Departments 15 Dear Dot et your answers on eggs, G electric cars, and more.

21 Carbon:

Carbon is the chemical backbone of all life on Earth. But when we elease too much into our atmosphere it threatens life on our planet. So how do we solve the problem of carbon?

26 Citizen Science: A peoplepowered solution By Kelsey Perrett We all possess one superpower that could aid in the fight against climate change: the power of scientific observation.

17 Cruising with Currier

0 Room for Change: The Closet 4

Mollie Doyle questions why anyone needs five pairs of jeans.

52 Good Food

30 No Nukes By Geoff Currier

Looking back at a day of friendship, hope, and a lot of great music.

33 R ight at Home: The Robinsons at the Barnhouse By Mollie Doyle

"Everyone wants shiny and new," Betsy Carnie says during a visit to the Barnhouse in Chilmark."Why? It’s not like our family suffers living the way we do. I have an enormous amount of pleasure and joy in my life. Look at where we live,” she says, pointing to the verdant grass and trees outside the kitchen’s window.

After forgiving Geoff for stealing her dog, Laurie David zooms around up-Island in her Nissan Leaf.

Cathy Walthers and Randi Baird harvest seaweed with the Martino brothers. Sugar kelp, savory and beautiful, may just help save the planet.

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The Keep This Handbook

Useful Composting/Recycling/ Volunteering Info

64 Local Heroes: We Nominate Noli Taylor

Cover photo, and photo this page

By Randi Baird

UPFRONT

What. On. Earth.

Here we are, alive, and you and I will have to make it what we can.

— Geraldine Brooks, Year of Wonders

36 million trees

lost in American cities annually 1

12,000 deaths in the U.S. annually related to heat (estimated) 2

1 billion seashore

animal deaths

on rocky shoreline of BC during last week of June 2021 (estimated) 3

Percentage increase in violent crime from April 2010 to June 2018 on days when temperature was above 68°F, according to London Metropolitan Police: 14 4

10° 5

Reduction in temperature from trees in city neighborhoods:

6

Temperature of rocky shoreline on British Columbia during last week of June 2021: 122°F 7

Distance from Earth that causes clouds to lower temperature rather than increase it: 1 mile 8 PERCENTAGE decrease in burglaries FROM APRIL 2010 TO JUNE 2018 WHEN temperature

was above 68°F:

SIXTEEN

9

Difference in temperature between green roofs and conventional roofs: 30–40°F 10

Three warmest years on record:

2016, 2019, 2020

62° Average temperature in Chilmark on June 20 11

80°

Temperature on Martha’s Vineyard on June 20, 2021 12

Estimated average percentage reduction in heat-related deaths due to tree cover in urban areas: 22 13

2X

Since records began in 1895, summer overnight low temperatures are warming compared to afternoon high temperatures for the U.S.14

Sources: 1-2: New York Times; 3:CBC; 4: BBC; 5: New York Times: 6: onebillionresilient.org; 7: CBC; 8: NASA; 9: BBC; 10: onebillionresilient.org; 11: climate-data.org; 12: timeanddate.com; 13: onebillionresilient.org 14: The Gaurdian.

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BDL • CONTRIBUTORS

CONTRIBUTORS We asked our contributors: What’s your favorite Vineyard critter or plant species? Here’s how they answered.

“Wineberries! I discovered wineberries back in late July 2006, during the early years of Island Grown Initiative. I saw this hairy, burgundy, tall multi-cane stalk in the background, and was intrigued. Their flavor — similar to a raspberry, but a little bit tarter and a little bit juicier — is delightful. The following year I uprooted a dozen canes or more from a friend's dirt road and planted them. I look forward to their sweet, sour taste and slightly sticky, viscous texture every July. I have never seen them anywhere else in my travels.”

Geoff Currier (writer, “Cruising with Currier,” page 17; “No Nukes,” page 30): “Forget your pinkletinks and robins; nothing says spring to me like those first showy shadbush blossoms lighting up the woodlands. I even gave a shadbush to my wife for her birthday one year.”

Book author Laurie David (excerpt from Imagine It!, page 20), and Geoff Currier’s “Cruisin” partner, also loves the shadbush: “I now love the lowly shadbush, otherwise known as serviceberry! After reading that this native bush that is so important for the birds and bees is now in short supply in many backyards, I recently planted a bunch!”

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are paying us a visit. Their beauty and grace are magical.”

Wildlife biologist Luanne Johnson (“Field Notes,” page 14): “My favorite for July — the saltmarsh sparrow; they nest in the grasses in salt marshes, and manage to hatch and raise their chicks with the tides flooding just below their nests. If you are patient and quiet, you might see this little sparrow with orange markings on its face peer out from a clump of spartina before it flies low across the marsh in search of insects, or hear one singing its buzzy song from a tall clump of grass, or an old fence post in the marsh.”

Fae Kontje-Gibbs (illustrator, “Citizen Science,” page 26): “Go terns! Their pure white quickness. The clear angles of their wings and beak and tail. Watching them glide so effortlessly over the water. Their cry.”

Writer and photographer Sam Moore (“Farley Built a Small House,” page 42, and “M.V. Atlas of Life,” page 48): “Tree swallows are a favorite presence on the Vineyard. The flash of their glossy blue backs as they fly aerial encounters, and the sight of scruffy fledglings near a nest box in summer are signs of their tenacity, and often of thoughtful stewardship from the people who build and maintain places for the birds to nest.”

Bluedot contributing editor and writer Mollie Doyle (“Right at Home with the Robinsons,” page 33, and “Room for Change,” page 40): “I love rambles daily with Stevie, my 10-pound mutt. While Stevie enjoys chasing deer, squirrels, rabbits, and the occasional osprey, I appreciate the never-ending change — oak trees masting, purple mushrooms pushing up, the brilliant appearance of a lady-slipper.”

Kelsey Perrett (writer, “Citizen Science,” page 26): “Some

Jeremy Driesen, photographer (“Cruising,” page 17; “Carbon,” page 21; “Robinsons,” page 33): “Deer come into our yard from time to time, and it’s as though creatures from another world

Catherine Walthers (writer, “Kelp,” page 52): “Look for the edible wild fruit autumn olives in the fall. It’s a tart-sweet red berry (nothing related to olives) with telltale tiny white spots. Kids love them, and they make a beautiful Vineyard cordial.”

of my favorite Vineyard memories are of rowing on the Tisbury Great Pond at night and watching the paddles churn up bioluminescence. So I have to give a shout-out to the little dinoflagellates that make those light shows possible!”

Lucas Thors (writer, “Bluedot Hall of Fame,” page

64): “My favorite animal on the Island is the turkey.

I love watching the look on people’s faces as they wait for them to cross a busy thoroughfare. Turkeys also love to eat ticks, which is a plus in my book!”

PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE CONTRIBUTORS

Randi Baird (photographer, cover, “Kelp,” page 52):

CHOOSE FINCH • UPFRONT

Local

A BETTER WAY TO BROWSE A conversation with Lizzie Horvitz, Vineyarder and creator of Choose Finch, a more sustainable way to shop online.

Kyra Steck: Lizzie, what’s your connection to the Island?

Lizzie Horvitz: My parents started coming to Martha’s Vineyard when my mom was in college. When my sister and I were born, we spent almost the whole summer here. When I was around 11, we bought a house, and it’s become the most special place for us. It’s really what I call home.

Lizard, which came out in 2016.

Meanwhile, I went to work for a startup based in Asia, and really fell in love with entrepreneurship and the startup space, taking a company from inception to scale, and realized that the Green Lizard could become a full-time thing. And that’s how Finch was born.

KS: Tell me a bit about your background before Finch.

LH: I’ve been in the sustainability space for my entire career. After college, I went to get my MBA and my master’s in environmental management, focusing on big companies’ carbon footprints. I then went to work for Unilever, where I was on their supply chain team before shifting to their sustainability team.

While I was there, I started getting a lot of questions from family and friends who didn’t have a formal background in sustainability on how they could reduce their own footprint. “I don’t like using paper straws; what type of metal straw should I be buying?” or “I just had a baby; are cloth diapers better than disposables?” I realized that the content out there was very difficult to sift through. On the one hand, you have these very academic papers that weren’t meant for the average person, and then on the other, you had this rise of “mommy bloggers,” who are super-well-intentioned, but are saying things like, “This is all natural,” and “This is eco-friendly,” which isn’t really based in fact. So I started a newsletter called the Green

KS: What exactly is Finch?

LH: The product right now is this browser extension, where we’ve rated products on a scale of 1 to 10.

On your desktop, everybody has a browser to use the internet. That’s either Chrome, Safari, Firefox ... A browser extension really helps provide additional information that the specific page you’re going to doesn’t have. To start, you go to the Chrome Store or the Firefox store on your desktop, and you can download the Finch extension.

The beauty is that you can go on amazon.com, and the additional information you’re looking for will automatically come up without you having to go to a separate spot to search for it.

With the Finch extension, we use a series of attributes to rate products.

These attributes range from “What’s the likelihood that this product will shed microplastics?” all the way to “What’s the carbon footprint in this manufacturing phase?” So then, whenever you go on Amazon and search for a certain product, we’ll tell you what we like, what could be better, what that score is, as well as three alternatives, in case you’re interested in making a better decision.

Interview by Kyra Steck

KS: What e-commerce websites will Finch work for?

Will it also work for shopping sites that are more local?

LH: Right now, it only applies to Amazon. Then we’ll go on a couple of other large retailer sites, and then eventually the goal is to be on every e-com site, both large and small. Local definitely is a priority for us, but the reason we’re starting with Amazon is because we want to reach as many people as possible.

Lizzie Horvitz

KS: I really appreciate Finch’s focus on accessibility. Can you expand on what that means for Finch, and for climate action as a whole?

LH: I look at accessibility in two ways. First, what’s really important to Finch as a company is accessibility for marginalized populations and groups of people who have historically been left out of the sustainability

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UPFRONT • CHOOSE FINCH

conversation. The fact of the matter is BIPOC populations both care more about climate change and are more affected by it. Actually, the science shows that those populations are more willing to invest personally in progress on the environment, even if it doesn’t directly benefit them. I’m trying to create a product that speaks to those groups of people, and not just people that look exactly like me.

Otherwise, we just don’t want to intimidate people. A majority of the questions I was getting in my early days that incentivized me to start my newsletter, I didn’t know the answer to offhand. I always use myself and my friends as a litmus test of, “Does this make sense? Is this interesting to read?” Additionally, with Finch, we’re not trying to get people to turn their lives upside down to be more sustainable. We are proving that with the right knowledge, you don’t have to. It’s not a heavy lift to make smarter decisions.

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KS: Tell me more about your business model.

LH: One of our goals is to help consumers become more sustainable, but our business model is actually based around helping companies become as sustainable as possible. We take the data that we’re gathering from the sustainability boards and from academia, and then we’re taking aggregated consumer insights from the browser extension, and selling that information to companies so that they’re equipped to make those better decisions. Companies of all sizes who are a little behind the eight ball with sustainability are feeling overwhelmed, just like consumers are, with where to even begin. And so with our data that we’re gathering, we can say to a company, “When you’re creating a shampoo brand, 80 percent of the footprint is in the packaging, so you should be focusing on buying postconsumer, recycled materials, and don’t focus as much on the ingredients.”

KS: Some people see the responsibility solely falling on the consumer and the choices we make, whereas others see the onus falling solely on the company and the sustainability of their products. In your opinion, where should the responsibility fall?

LH: It’s not an either/or situation.

It’s a both/and. If there were one solution to the climate problem, we would have already solved it.

We need a complete grid-overhaul infrastructure change on the national and international level, but there’s also plenty of things that consumers can do that actually will make a difference as long as it’s collective. As people start downloading Finch and seeing that they’re having an impact on a daily basis, that then layers up to voting differently and to becoming more involved in local politics, etc.

GOOD NEWS • UPFRONT

good news F R O M A L L OV E R

Throwing Some Shade

According to National Geographic’s Planet Possible (bit.ly/PlanetPoss), here are just a few cities that are putting trees to work cooling things down: Baltimore: Hiring residents to plant trees in underserved communities.

Phoenix: Targeting the hottest neighborhoods — low-income and primarily Latino — for tree planting, shade structures, and redesigned streets.

Boston: Creating sophisticated shade maps to drive future planning efforts.

Avoid the Tipping Point

Remember the hole in the ozone layer?

That was largely the consequence

of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) — common chemicals in refrigerants and aerosol sprays. Through global cooperation in banning those substances in 1987, called the Montreal Protocol, that hole is largely healed.

But in the climate version of whacka-mole, hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) also wreak havoc on the planet by contributing to climate change. The Biden administration recently announced it is taking steps to mitigate HFCs, which, according to the New York Times, can help us avoid climate tipping points: “By taking fast action on these shortlived climate pollutants, of which HFCs are the most potent, we can buy ourselves

some time … The regulation would begin to take effect in 2022, and would gradually reduce the production and importation of hydrofluorocarbons in the U.S. by 85 percent over the following 15 years. About 15 percent of HFCs would still be permitted because they have critical uses for which alternatives do not yet exist” (bit.ly/HFCregs).

The Grist Report: Plastic Pollution Becomes More Transparent

There’s little incentive for companies to reduce their plastic pollution if most of us are in the dark about it. Now, corporate

Continued on page 12

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UPFRONT • GOOD NEWS

Continued from page 11

behemoth DuPont has bowed to pressure to not only disclose its plastic footprint, but take steps to mitigate it. Online climate newsroom Grist reports (bit.ly/ grist-plastic), “Plastic pellets are among the biggest sources of plastic pollution in the world’s oceans.

DuPont will join Chevron Phillips REPORT Chemical, ExxonMobil Chemical, and Dow Chemical in reporting such data. According to As You Sow, a nonprofit shareholder advocacy group that helped file the proposal, DuPont’s environmental reports will ‘disclose trends in the amount of plastic in various forms released to the environment by the company annually, and concisely assess the effectiveness of the company’s policies and actions to reduce the volume of the company’s plastic materials contaminating the environment.’”

TM

Banking on Clean Energy

According to the Financial Times, three of Australia’s Big Four banks have announced they intend to stop financing new coal projects. It’s a politically controversial decision in a country that exports more coal than

any other. But it’s a smart decision in a hot, dry country where climate change is expected to make it hotter and drier (bit.ly/BanksCoal).

Canada Calls Plastic ‘Toxic.’ Officially …

The Trudeau government recently declared plastic “toxic” under Canada’s Environmental Protection Act, clearing the way for the government to push further policies to reduce plastic waste.

The step acknowledges the scope of the plastic problem, where less than 10 percent of the 3.3 million tons of plastic discarded in Canada each year is recycled, with the remainder going to landfill or incineration, or making its way to lakes, rivers, and oceans (bit. ly/CanadaEPA).

Fast Fashion Gives Way to Throwback Threads

While vintage fashion is nothing new, the increasing number of those who are trading fast fashion for previously loved garments is.

The Guardian reports that “research in the U.S. for resale site ThredUp suggests that 70 percent of women were prepared to buy secondhand fashion in 2019, compared with

45 percent four years earlier. It predicts that the resale market will be bigger than fast fashion by 2029, as traditional charity shops sell more items, and the for-profit resale market balloons” (bit.ly/throwback-threads).

Given the outsize impact our overstuffed closets (See “Room for Change, page 40”) have on the planet, this newfound affection for old clothes is a good look.

The King of Fish Swims Again

This past spring, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service transferred roughly two-year-old smolts from its hatchery to open-net pens off the coast of Maine.

From there, Cooke Aquaculture, a company that operates commercial salmon farms in Maine and around the world, is tending the fish, feeding them, and keeping predators like seals away for the next year to two.

If everything goes to plan, thousands of adult salmon will be transferred to the East Branch Penobscot and Machias rivers, where they will select their own mates, find places to spawn, and lay eggs in the gravel. The hope that this will give rise to a generation of new fish in a spot where salmon have suffered dramatic losses (bit.ly/SalmonME).

Save the Dates Two upcoming events feature experts and conversations to help us make Martha’s Vineyard more resilient to climate change, starting in our own backyards:

• H ow can you affordably build, adapt, and inhabit your home more sustainably?

Sept. 18, 3-6 pm: Bluedot Living Roundtable

Nov. 1-6: Climate Week: “A Climate to Thrive: Heading to the Year 2040 on MV.”

will feature Island climate activists and experts discussing solutions for climate issues right here, at home. Living with Climate Change • Coastal retreat is a hot topic.

Should we move our homes back from the shore? Then what?

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Sponsored by Bluedot Living Magazine.

Info at bluedotliving.com

Featuring games, art, emergency preparedness workshops, public health displays, an electric vehicle caravan, a visioning session, a family shellfish day, student activities, fami-

ly climate day at the Grange, a climate awareness night at the Ritz, and more — all focused on how the Island aims to achieve its ambitious climate goals in two decades.

Sponsored by the Martha’s Vineyard Commission. Participants include Bluedot Living Magazine, Cape Light Compact, Vineyard Power, M.V. Hospital, Island Grown Initiative, and many more. Island businesses, associations, and organizations are encouraged to coordinate an activity or event.

To get involved, contact Liz Durkee at durkee@mvcommission.org.

IN A WORD • UPFRONT

in a word Solastalgia [ so-lês-tæl-ji-ê ]

W

Psychological distress caused by climate change.

hile the word “solastalgia” might never have rolled off your tongue, you’ve likely felt its meaning deep in your bones.

Solastalgia the word is a combination of the Latin sōlācium (comfort) and the Greek root -algia (pain).

It’s also a play on “nostalgia” — a combination of the Homeric word

(nóstos), meaning “homecoming,” and (álgos), meaning “pain” or “ache.”

Solastalgia the feeling washes over us as we read the latest news of the record-setting heat that blanketed the West Coast of the U.S. and Canada and parts of the Middle East as this was being written. It’s the feeling that pins us to our beds when we think of coral reef bleaching, or mass extinctions, or note that

fewer songbirds visit the tree under which we love to read in the shade.

Yes, there’s lots to feel solastalgic about, but there’s also plenty to feel hopeful about: Smart people fighting for what they love. Kind people reaching out to help. Hopeful people refusing to give in to despair.

Solastalgia might not have an antonym but it does have an antidote: Join the folks who take action.

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UPFRONT • FIELD NOTES

FIELDNotes To: Bluedot Living From: L uanne Johnson,

BiodiversityWorks

Subject: K eeping bats safe from COVID

As COVID-19 restrictions were implemented in March 2020, we at BiodiversityWorks were preparing to begin spring mist-netting to capture Northern long-eared bats (Myotis septentrionalis, MYSE). MYSE were once the most common forest bat in New England but more than 95 percent of its population has died during winter hibernation since a non-native, cold-thriving fungus (Pseudogymnoascans destructans, or Pd) was first found and identified from dead bats at a cave in New York State in 2006. Bats have since spread the fungus to other hibernation sites across North America, killing millions of other bats.

MYSE survive winter by entering caves and mines where they go into a torpor and live off their fat reserves; bat immune systems are also at rest during winter. Thus, our native bats were not prepared for a novel fungus from Europe. Pd thrives in the high humidity and cool temperatures where it colonizes and digests bat skin, especially on their wings and muzzle. Pd embedded in bats’ skin tissue is known as white-nose syndrome (WNS). The infection rouses bats from their winter rest and disrupts their metabolism such that they run out of fat reserves.

While not a threat to humans, Pd and WNS threatens our native bats with extinction.

With support from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, we have been collaborating with biologists on Nantucket and Long Island to understand how small populations of these now-rare bats are persisting amid Pd and WNS. We learned that they are not flying

Solar creates a cool summer.

to mainland, but hibernating in crawlspaces, and cinderblock walls or basements with bulkhead doors on their respective islands.

Bat detectors at these sites tell us that MYSE wake up and feed during warm periods in winter, which awakens their immune systems. Thus, we believe their persistence is related to our shorter and milder winters.

While so many people were looking at bats as the potential cause of the global pandemic, our team of biologists was focused on how to conserve some of the only bats surviving their own ongoing crisis. Federal and state agencies restrictedt all handling of bats in 2020, to prevent any human researchers from passing COVID-19 to the bats. We canceled our netting efforts for the spring and summer of 2020, and used only acoustic detectors to record bat calls and document presence

Continued on page 20

The Vineyard Transit Authority (VTA) powered up eight new solar canopies in May 2021 – this marks the next step in our conversion from diesel-powered vehicles to an all-electric fleet. The solar energy generated onsite will be stored in batteries and used to charge the buses. The VTA has spent the last four years creating a clean, resilient transportation system for the Island and is proud to announce that 50% of the bus fleet is now all electric.

14

FEATURE • HEADLINE FOR STORY

DEAR DOT

dot DEAR

Dear Dot,

I can’t afford a new electric vehicle.

Is there a way to make my internal combustion engine more energy efficient?

Does it matter what grade fuel I use?

– Poppy MacCormack, Oak Bluffs

Dear Poppy, Illustrations Elissa Turnbull How do I green my ride if I can’t afford an electric car?

And how, eggs-actly, can I support happy hens?

Dot answers your thorniest questions from a perch on her porch.

For too long, the notion of being environmentally responsible has been tangled up with the purchase of new eco-friendly things. Electric vehicles, for instance. But using what we have as responsibly as we can is often more virtuous, so your question is a good one.

I took your query to Dan Becker, director of the Safe Climate Transport Campaign at the Center for Biological Diversity. Becker worked hard to get achievable fuel-efficiency standards passed in 2012 by the Obama administration only

to watch them be gutted in 2017 under Trump. But Becker is a man who does not accept defeat, nor should we. At the top of Becker’s list of how to reduce our fuel emissions is a simple one: Drive less.

“Every gallon burned emits 25 pounds of CO2 whether in a Hummer or a hybrid,” he says, which is why efficiency and electric vehicles are so important.

Don’t buy premium gas unless your car requires it, he says, as “higher levels of ethanol — E-10 is currently standard — will only reduce mpg.” If premium gas is simply recommended rather than required, you can get the same performance from regular fuel. It also doesn’t matter which brand of gasoline you buy. Becker has personally boycotted Exxon since the Valdez spill in 1989, 32 years ago, a level of conviction I tip my hat to. My grudges are measured in the lifespan of a fruitfly.

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15

DEAR DOT

Save your money and don’t bother with fuel additives, Becker adds.

Their claims are meaningless.

Perhaps most importantly (besides driving less), says Becker, “urge President Biden to set the strongest clean car standards to force automakers to use the best technology.” The folks at Moms Clean Air Force have already written a letter that you can download, personalize if you’d like, and send (bit.ly/3i9Envf ).

You can also contact Gov. Charlie Baker toll-free at 888-870-7770 or reach him on Twitter — his handle is @MassGovernor — and tell him you support clean car standards for automakers and would very much like him to help make them happen.

In the meantime, oil your bike or get a good pair of sneakers and, as often as you can, leave your car in the driveway. Not only will that improve air quality and your own health, your bank account will breathe easier too.

If you do find yourself in the market for a new vehicle, you’re smart to buy electric and not just because it’s better for the planet. A hot-off-the-press study by the federal Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy reveals that there’s a whopping 40 percent less expense associated with an electric vehicle over a conventional internal combustion engine. And that’s not even including the reduced expense from using less fuel. The reason is that, while an internal combustion engine has roughly 10,000 parts involved in making it move, an electric vehicle has less than 10, say the clever folks at CleanTechnica. (https://cleantechnica.com/2021/06/22/ its-official-us-government-sayselectric-vehicles-cost-40-less-tomaintain/?edf=380) which means there are a lot fewer parts requiring service or replacement. And don’t feel you have to purchase an off-the-lot vehicle.

A used electric is a great option.

What else can you do?

• Keep your tires properly inflated, which lowers rolling resistance.

• Lump errands together so that it takes just one car trip to satisfy your to-do list.

16

• Stick to the speed limit and ease up on the accelerator and brake for a smoother, more fuel-efficient ride.

• If your roof-top box is empty, remove it.

– Gaslessly, Dot

Dear Dot,

What is the difference between pasture-raised hens (and therefore eggs), cage-free or free run? I want eggs only from the happiest of hens.

– Rona, West Tisbury

Dear Rona,

Oh, my hen-loving friend … your innocent question has opened up a can of mealworms that has, no yolk, seriously ruffled my feathers. It would seem that the $6.1 billion U.S. egg industry has more than its share of rotten ova. Eggproducers have taken carton blanche to mislead us with labels and making sense of the various egg classifications is enough to scramble our brains.

But let’s crack this open. I hope my response meets your eggs-pectations.

Both cage-free and free-range are USDA-certified terms that may conjure up images of chickens strutting blissfully around a farmyard but that, under closer scrutiny, are actually fairly meaningless. While cage-free is what it says — uncaged chickens — there’s a pecking order among poultry that means less aggressive birds are often cowed by the bullies and denied access to move about. Free-range means only that there’s a door to the outside and a farmer may or may not open it at some point.

Which isn’t to say that some cagefree and/or free-range-designated birds aren’t strutting about like feathered royalty. It’s just that, without more information, you can’t be sure.

Pasture-raised is a step up in poultry parlance because, as cookbook author and Edible Vineyard editor Tina Miller says, “chickens are insectivores so being outside eating grass and bugs is what you want.” If you want happy hens, she says, look no further than Grey Barn.

Indeed, Grey Barn’s site tells us that all 500 of their laying hens have access to

the farm’s organic pastures and woodlands every day of the year. They earn their freedom by acting as pest-control — devouring ticks, flies, and insects. During the summer, they are rotated after the cows through pastures so their tiny little chicken feet can better work the cow’s manure into the soil (see “What’s So Bad About … Carbon” on page 23 to learn more about just how valuable this, ahem, step is in regenerative farming).

Julie Scott, executive director and farm manager for Slough Farm on Edgartown’s Great Pond, has long been exasperated by marketing claims by egg manufacturers.

It’s not enough to take the claims at face value, she says. Instead, go to companies’ actual websites (like I did with Grey Barn).

Or, better still, find local honest farmers staking their reputations on their claims.

– Peckishly, Dot

Got a question for Dot? Email us at DearDot @bluedotliving.com

FEATURE • CRUISING WITH CURRIER

The plan for our "cruise" was to drive around, then make our way to the solar farm at Laurie and Bart's house. First, I should mention that I once stole Laurie's dog.

FEATURING LAURIE DAVID AND HER 2021 NISSAN LEAF

Cruising with Currier

F

Story by Geoff Currier Photos by Jeremy Driesen

or our second issue of Blue Dot Living, I’m taking a cruise with environmental activist Laurie David in her Nissan Leaf. Before working full-time on environmental and political issues, Laurie worked as a talent coordinator in the entertainment business, which is where she met her first husband, Larry David.

But her breakthrough moment came in 2006 when she was the executive producer for the film An Inconvenient Truth, starring Al Gore, for which she received an Academy Award.

“Yesterday was the 15th anniversary of the film,” Laurie told me when we went for our ride. “Fifteen years ago, many people had not acknowledged that climate change was real, or that

humans were causing it. Because of that movie, every magazine and newspaper was doing a story about it. It shifted the entire paradigm on the issue.”

More recently she’s produced social action documentaries including The Last Animals, Fed Up, and The Biggest Little Farm.

She’s written two popular cookbooks, The Family Dinner and The Family Cooks, and most recently she’s co-written Imagine It! A Handbook for a Happier Planet with Heather Reisman (excerpted in this magazine, on page TK). Laurie and her husband, Bart Thorpe, now live full-time on their regenerative farm in Chilmark.

I met Laurie at the Chilmark Store. She was wearing a pair of jeans, a striped pullover, and a stylish pair of green sunglasses.

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CRUISING WITH CURRIER • FEATURE

Laurie wore a stylish pair of green sunglasses made from a dozen plastic water bottles from Flint, Mich. Right: The Nissan Leaf is an affordable $30,000.

“The frames for these glasses,” she said, “are made from about a dozen plastic water bottles.” When Laurie was researching Imagine It! she met a woman in Flint, Mich., who was horrified that thousands and thousands of plastic water bottles were brought in because it was unsafe to drink the city water, but there was no good plan for disposing of the bottles.

“So the girl started making the bottles into frames,” Laurie said. “She started a company called Genusee, and she ended up hiring all these fantastic people.”

The plan for our “cruise” was to drive around up-Island a bit, then make our way to the solar farm at Laurie and Bart’s house.

But before we get to that, in the interest of full disclosure, I should tell you that I once stole Laurie’s dog.

It was all innocent enough. I was driving down the road 18

The plan for our “cruise” was to drive around upIsland a bit then make our way to the solar farm at Laurie and Bart’s house. But before we get to that, in the interest of full disclosure, I should tell you that I once stole David’s dog.

where I live, and saw a dog I mistook for my neighbor's dog, walking along the side of the road. It was cold and getting dark, so thinking I would do my neighbor a favor, I put the dog in the car and brought him to his house, only to be greeted by my neighbor's real dog barking at me from behind the door. So much for being a good Samaritan.

I had to run an errand, and my neighbor agreed to hold onto the dog until I got back. When I returned a half an hour later, my neighbor said, “I think this dog belongs to Laurie David, who was visiting some people up the street. And his name is Theo.” How my neighbor figured all this out will always remain a dark secret to me. But when I told Laurie and Bart that I was the guy who took her dog, we all had a good laugh.

On our way to the solar farm, Laurie told me how she

FEATURE • CRUISING WITH CURRIER

initially got involved as an environmentalist. “When I was pregnant, I became super-aware of what I was eating and what I should be drinking,” she said. “I was responsible for the child growing inside of me, and that’s when I had the ‘aha’ moment. I didn’t want to be exposed to chemicals, and wanted only nutritious food not laced with insecticide.”

Laurie’s car was a new Nissan Leaf, a sharp-looking, compact five-door hatchback. Laurie and Bart like it so much they got two of them, and are quick to proselytize about it to their friends. “It’s a great car, and it’s affordable,” Laurie said, “around $30,000. It saves people money, and it feels fantastic driving it.” While it’s not a rocket ship like Hasoni Pratts’ Tesla Model X that I wrote about last issue, it’s still fun to drive.

“When you drive an electric car and then go back to an old internal-combustion car,” Laurie said, “it feels like you’re going back to the Fifties. This is the future! I love that I never have to go to the gas station, and,driving around the Island, I can go days without recharging.” Nissan claims that it can go up to 225 miles on a single charge.

“If you’re buying a new car, you have to consider getting an electric vehicle,” Laurie said. “They can do so much to help with the climate and keep emissions out of the air, and especially now that manufacturers like GM and Volvo are pledging to be all-electric in a few years, as customers we have to meet them halfway. It’s critically important.”

Driving around Chilmark, we had a chance to talk about Laurie's new book, Imagine It! A Handbook for a Happier Planet. I told Laurie that I really enjoyed her book. It covered all the different ways we’re leaving a carbon footprint, including plastics, clothing, food, chemicals, paper, water, and transportation. And I liked that at the end of each section, it gave the readers ways they could do something about climate change and become an advocate.

“Everything I know is in Imagine It!” Laurie said, “If you want to know what I know, read the book … it’s the way to have a healthier life.” I asked Laurie if she had fun writing the book.

“I learned so much writing it, it was fun because I feel compelled to share what I know with people. It was also a lot of work because my co-writer, Heather Reisman, who founded and owns Indigo Books, lives in Canada and was only available to work at night, so that’s

when we did it. It’s pretty much how I spent the pandemic.”

At this point we were approaching Laurie’s house, and she told me a little about her farm. “You know, I never imagined myself living on a regenerative farm,” she said. “It’s a small farm, we’re just lady and gentleman farmers, but the ultimate is to have a place to grow our own food, and of course that’s also all tied in with composting. Nothing is wasted.”

Bart does the farming, and each year they’re able to donate food to Island schools and the Food Pantry. “We grow tons of food,” Laurie said. They also have a fair amount of livestock, chickens (Laurie gave me some organic eggs), cattle, sheep, a goat, and three Sicilian donkeys.

We turned into a dirt road that led up to Laurie’s house, and took a left to what Laurie told me was the solar farm. Spread across the field were 24 big solar panels which had enough output to support the electricity needs for about 50 houses. “We donate to people who would like to use solar power but don’t have their own panels,” David said.

All in all, it was a rather surreal experience. I was surrounded by a whole lot of solar panels slowly and silently tracking the sun. There was the buzz of several beehives clustered in the corner of the field. And I could have sworn I heard the wistful bark of a dog in the distance.

“Could that be you, Theo?” I thought to myself.

The 24 solar panels provide enough electricity for about 50 houses; they donate to people who would like to use solar power but don’t have their own.

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UP FRONT • BOOK EXCERPT

Book excerpt:

Imagine It! A Handbook for a Happier Planet

From the chapter “Our Transportation Footprint” by Laurie David and Heather Reisman, published by Penguin Random House

FACT: One gas-powered car emits, on average, five tons of carbon dioxide per year. That’s equivalent to burning 5,500 pounds of coal.

FACT: A container ship can outpollute 50 million cars.

FACT: Almost 30 percent of all greenhouse gases are created by transportation.

FACT: Traffic areas around schools — where vehicles are often left idling — [contribute to] significantly higher pollution inside school buildings.

Transportation is a major contribu-

tor to carbon emissions, and reducing them is essential to tackling our climate crisis. Cars, trucks, planes, and ships

Continued from page 14

20

temperatures. The Pd fungus does not survive in hot, dry environments, which is what female bats seek for pup rearing.

By August, the bat pups born in May and June will be flying, and more bats will be feeding heavily on beetles, moths, mosquitoes, and other insects in our forests and night skies than were feeding this spring. Northern long-eared bats have only one pup a year, so it will be decades before their populations recover.

We continue to search for any basements or crawlspaces under homes on Martha’s Vineyard where bats were seen in winter, or found in the spring. Because hibernating bats do not leave excrement, nor do they chew wiring or insulation, they are good tenants, but difficult to find. Bluedot readers who have old cinderblock or stone foundations with dirt-floor crawlspaces,

loss and grief wrought by the pandemic to see the skies clearing, hear the songbirds, see fishes and dolphins swimming in rivers and estuaries they had abandoned. So, imagine replacing parking lots, bumper-tobumper traffic, and exposure to climate- and people-harming air pollution with more pocket parks, green spaces, bike lanes, farmers markets, and pedestrian paths.

Find Imagine It! at Bunch of Grapes, Edgartown Books, Grey Barn, and Lennox and Harvey.

A Northern long-eared bat.

or a damp basement that has a bulkhead door entrance are urged to reach out if they will allow us to investigate for potential bat occupancy. Email info@biodiversityworksmv.org or call 800-690-0993.

COURTESY U.S. FISH & WILDLIFE SERVICE

or absence and overwinter survival of this species at monitoring sites around Martha’s Vineyard. Early in 2021, we learned that several research trials attempted to infect big brown bats with COVID-19 and failed, offering some scientific support for moving forward with a 2021 field season for bat research. By late April 2021, our staff were fully vaccinated against COVID-19, which allowed us to launch our spring mist-netting efforts.

We captured three Northern long-eared bats in May, and all showed signs of the fungus on their wings, but were otherwise healthy. The male and two females likely recovered as the May weather warmed and they began roosting behind the bark of trees exposed to the sun and warm

... now produce more planet-warming pollution than power plants.

Governments can help by developing smarter and cleaner public transit infrastructure (i.e., trains and buses that quickly and conveniently connect people with their destinations, enhanced walking and biking paths) and by incentivizing the adoption of electric vehicles; but individuals also have an important role to play in reducing transportation-based carbon emissions ...

Cars and trucks account for nearly one-fifth of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions … People in communities of color are, once again, disproportionately exposed to higher levels of this air pollution where they live or work.

The sooner we transition to clean-fuel cars and trucks, the better for our planet and all its people …

It was inspiring in the midst of the

WHAT'S FEATURE SO•BAD BUILT ABOUT FROM•SCRATCH CARBON

6

C Carbon 12.0107

WHAT’S S O BAD ABOUT

carbon?

Carbon is the chemical backbone of all life on Earth. But when too much is released into our atmosphere, it threatens life on our planet. So how do we solve the problem of carbon?

I

s there any word more associated with our climate crisis than carbon? And rightly so. It has been made clear to us since NASA scientist Dr. James Hansen testified before Congress on June 23, 1988, that our burning of fossil fuels, producing largely carbon dioxide, was creating a “greenhouse effect,” leading the New York Times to declare on its front page, “Global warming has begun.”

More than 30 years later, it’s clear that Hansen, whose testimony drew plenty of detractors, then and since, was right. Carbon dioxide levels have reached a point unseen by any living creature on Earth in the past 4 million years.

Story by Leslie Garrett Photos by Jeremy Driesen And yet, it is to carbon that we owe life on earth. Carbon has an exceptional ability to form bonds with other elements and wOith itself. Carbon is able to form an enormous number of complex molecules called organic molecules, which make up organisms and carry out life processes.

The problem, as with so many environmental issues, is that, thanks to our enthusiastic burning of fossil fuels, which are carbon sequestered in the earth, the amount of carbon dioxide we’re asking our atmosphere to absorb is simply too much.

The environmental organization 350.org owes its name to the number scientists determined was the safe threshold at which

MMAARRTTHHAA’ S’ S VVI INNEEYYAARRDD / / SSUPMR M I NEG R 2021

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CARBON • WHAT'S SO BAD ABOUT

our planet’s climate can be sustained: 350 parts per million of carbon dioxide. Or, as Dr. Hansen puts it, “If humanity wishes to preserve a planet similar to that on which civilization developed and to which life on Earth is adapted, paleoclimate evidence and ongoing climate change suggest that carbon dioxide will need to be reduced from [current levels] to at most 350 ppm.”

Current levels, at this point in history, are close to 419 ppm, a 47 percent increase since the Industrial Age, according to NASA, and an 11 percent increase since 2000, when atmospheric carbon dioxide was at 370 ppm. Scientists estimate that 275 ppm created the conditions on which civilization and our life on Earth adapted.

Gulp.

And so we find ourselves seeking solutions in 2021, throwing around phrases like carbon-neutral and zero carbon, which sound like something we should aspire to, but which mean what, exactly? And given that 419 is so much more than 275 or even 350, does that mean we’re doomed? Not according to the folks hard at work on carbon sequestration.

Carbon sequestration means

Julie Scott, Slough Farm

22

holding or capturing carbon so that it isn’t emitted as the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide. “Nature already serves as a powerful sink for our greenhouse gas emissions, with no human intervention,” says Noli Taylor, senior director of programs with Island Grown Initiative (IGI). In fact, she says, “55 percent of carbon is absorbed by forests and oceans.” The problem, again, is that our emissions are exceeding nature’s ability to absorb them. But, as Taylor says, “if we can reduce those emissions, and even create new sinks on working lands, we could make important progress in addressing climate change.”

A twist on traditional farming

A small potato from Beetlebung Farm.

Clara Colas, IGI

“The big problem with carbon,” says Kristin Ohlson, author of The Soil Will Save Us, “is that there’s a lot of carbon in the air now that was in the soil.”

Some, of course, was in the form of oil; but lots was in the soil itself: “Most of us don’t even realize that when we’re looking at dark, rich soil, the reason it’s dark is because it is infused with carbon.” It gets there, she explains, thanks to photosynthesis. Gathering energy through sunlight, plants snatch carbon from the air and convert it into carbon fuels. What’s fascinating to Ohlson was that in researching her book, she learned that plants don’t just use the carbon for themselves, they share it through their roots: “They strategically leak that carbon fuel to feed microorganisms that live in the soil.”

The problem is that conventional agriculture destroys many of those microorganisms and the environment that sustains them, leading to the release of a lot of this sequestered carbon and reducing the soil to dust.

But a straightforward solution exists. Enter regenerative farming.

Theo Gallagher, Beetlebung Farm

WHAT'S SO BAD ABOUT • CARBON

Regenerative farming is a broad term that spans criteria. In a nutshell, regenerative farming aims to restore soil health by replacing its organic carbon.

Tilling or plowing, a part of farming since biblical times, is widely considered a sin in the regenerative world, because it exposes all the microorganisms in the soil to oxygen, and releases carbon in the form of carbon dioxide. Another sin is bare soil, which also leeches carbon into the atmosphere. So diverse cover crops — plants that cover soil after main crops are harvested — are crucial. If you practice regenerative agriculture, you reduce or eliminate the use of pesticides and synthetic fertilizers, because they “kill life forms indiscriminately,” Ohlson says.

“We need those microorganisms.”

And forget a monoculture, where only one crop is grown over acres and, often, years. Like so many Indigenous practices around the world indicate, crop rotation leads to soil health.

Some regenerative farmers, like Julie Scott at Edgartown’s nonprofit, educational Slough Farms, also rotate

At various times, says Scott, you’ll find chickens, turkeys, pigs, sheep, goats, and cows, all eating and pooping their way across Slough Farms. their animals through the fields to graze and eat the weeds and crop residue, then drop their microbe-rich dung and their nitrogen-rich urine on the fields, making it even more fertile. At various times, says Scott, you’ll find chickens, turkeys, pigs, sheep, goats, and cows, all eating and pooping their way across Slough Farms.

Noli Taylor has been assisting IGI as it phases in a regenerative method.

A plot of land, she says, that was compacted, leached from synthetic pesticides and fertilizers, and unable to even absorb water, is now teeming with life. “You’d pick up this chunk of solid ground and it would just powder away to dust,” Taylor says. After three years of not tilling, applying compost, and adding cover crops, “the soil structure has totally changed.” She also notes that she’s seeing more insects and pollinators, which are attracting more birds. “The changes we can see with our own eyes are really powerful and encouraging.”

Theo Gallagher is helping Beetlebung Farm, in Chilmark, make the shift to regenerative agriculture.

He is, literally, watching the earth transform beneath his feet. “The soil is alive,” he says; “it’s not like sandy moon dust you see on a conventional field.”

It’s a chain of life: Increasing carbon in the soil improves the life of the soil, improves the health of the plants, helps all the microscopic critters that make that soil their home do their jobs much better, makes the soil much better

At Slough Farm, animals rotate through through the fields to eat the weeds and crop residue.

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CARBON • WHAT'S SO BAD ABOUT

at absorbing water, and renders expensive synthetic fertilizers largely unnecessary.

What’s more, says Ohlson, there are indications that regenerative agriculture can help farmers double or triple their yields, especially in less developed countries where industrial agriculture hasn’t taken over.

The folks at Project Drawdown (bit.ly/ drawdown-regen), who put out the book Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming in 2017, spearheaded by environmental heavyweight Paul Hawken, anticipated a growth in regenerative agriculture from 108 million acres when the book was published to a total of 1 billion acres in 2050, an increase that could result in a total reduction of 23.2 gigatons of carbon dioxide. More than that, they chose it, among their 100 most substantive solutions to climate change because, even without its impact on carbon dioxide, it’s a healthier approach to growing food, for us and our planet.

But, for the purposes of our story, we’re interested in that invisible change — regenerative farming’s superior ability to sequester carbon.

It is not without challenges, of course.

Carbon in the ground only stays there as long as it’s relatively undisturbed. “We don’t know how long it takes to sequester carbon, and it’s sequestered at different rates depending on land-care strategies and the plants that you’re growing,” IGI’s Taylor says. As for agriculture or backyard sequestration, she says, “if somebody else comes along who has a different land management practice, then the carbon that’s been sequestered could be released.”

Which is why Taylor is adamant that our first point of order must be to reduce carbon emissions in the first place.

If regenerative farming is to have the major impact that proponents hope it will, it must be widely implemented. It’s a big ask of farmers. Regenerative practices, at least at first, typically require more money and time. “And usually farmers don’t have a lot of either of those things,” Scott says.

What’s more, the calculus involved with carbon sequestration is really hard to pin down. For instance, what if a forest is cut down to make way for a regenerative farm? It typically comes

24

down to a case-by-case assessment of costs, benefits, and drawdown. In Drawdown, the authors qualify their calculations because there are so many moving parts, noting “the impact of regenerative agriculture is hard to measure

The soil will save us.

and model ... Rates of sequestration will vary considerably in quantity and amount of time required.” Farms, they write, “cannot use a cookie-cutter approach.”

Even as Taylor and the gang at IGI’s Thimble Farm are in the process of working with soil experts to monitor their farm’s shift to regenerative practices, she’s quick to note that this approach is one piece of the climate solution.

Theo Gallagher is similarly clear-eyed at both the potential and shortcomings of regenerative agriculture. “It would be tough to take human-scale regenerative practices to, like, a 10,000-acre wheat farm, or a corn or soy farm,” he says. “But I think the future is in abundant regenerative farms, little by little, doing their part.”

Ohlson shares his optimism. “What’s truly exciting, what all … these farmers and the scientists who are involved in this are saying is that we can have better agriculture and better production, we can have healthy profits for farmers, and we can have healthy landscapes. It’s not an either/or.”

Kelp is key Dan Martino of Martino Brothers Seafood and Cottage City Oysters is prepared to make a bold claim: “Shellfish farming is by far the most sustainable form of protein farming on the planet,” he says.

(Read more about the Martino brothers’ operation on page 52.) And he’s got backup.

“Marine permaculture may be one of the most extraordinary ways to [reverse global warming],” say the contributors to Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming.

Their optimism seems warranted.

Coastal ecosystems can sequester up to 20 times more carbon per acre than forests on land. And macroalgae, such as kelp, are key to this carbon sequestration.

Kelp’s gas-filled “bladders” keep it close to the surface, where it absorbs carbon dioxide through photosynthesis and then, studies show, it floats far away from the shore where, mostly uneaten and with its bladders burst, it sinks thousands of feet to the bottom of the ocean, taking its carbon, which will remain, theoretically at least, sequestered for millions of years. In some cases, phytoplankton are eaten by larger creatures who then drop carbon-rich fragments and feces to the ocean floor.

But that’s not all. “Seaweed and shellfish use dissolved carbon to grow, and [the shellfish also use it] to build their shells,” says Dan Martino. These shells, he says, also potentially sequester that carbon for thousands of years.

Seaweed and shellfish, he says, could also supplement cattle and chicken feed. He points to studies that show adding this to the feed dramatically reduces the methane and greenhouse gases released by these animals. We, too, can eat seaweed, which, though our consumption of it returns its sequestered carbon to the atmosphere, if it’s replacing some carbon-intensive, land-cultivated food, then it’s still a net benefit for the planet. (And f ind out how delicious it can be on page 52.) While many fish stocks are depleted, the ocean offers up plenty of other food sources that are largely untapped.

It’s an opportunity that Dan Martino considers “one of the greatest moments in history to be alive.” We are grasping the scope of the problem, he says, “but also the ability to create the solutions to these problems.”

ESSAY

Kilo-

what?

W

e just got our Cape Light Compact energy-efficiency report. The graphic shows three lines. The shortest one is chartreuse, says 468 kWh, and next to that it says, "Efficient homes." The sapphire blue one in the center is 1,054 kWh, and next to that are the words in bold, "Your home."

And then at the bottom is a gray line, and it says, 1,348 kWh. And next to that are the words, "Similar homes."

My husband has told me hundreds of times that a kilowatt is 1,000 watts, and that a kilowatt-hour is a measure of electrical energy equivalent to a power consumption of a thousand watts per hour. Usually I glaze over when he starts his kilowatt lectures.

He reads these reports with every bill. I never look because ... oy ... then I’d feel guilty. I know if I really listened, I’d never again use the toaster.

I’ve told you before I’m married to the Energy Czar — a czar with a huge heart and a desperate worry about his favorite planet, my home and yours.

This morning when he finished reading, and I happened to be there with no escape route, he looked at it and said, “It’s hard to be excellent instead of just plain good when it comes to electricity.” It’s times like these that I refall in love with the man. He’s relentless, and it’s never about himself.

It’s always about the blue ball, Planet Earth.

He’s like David Attenborough — in awe of the natural world and in pain over its imminent demise. Friends and family call my husband and his brother the Doomsday Boys.

They are, however, capable of having fun. They can laugh and play around, but go ahead and spend any time with either of them, and you will get a passionate discourse on small, safe, molten salt thorium reactors, and how wind and solar are good but cannot handle the future electrical demands, and how climate refugees are finally in the news but people just aren’t waking up in time because it’s not affecting them directly. They both end up putting their heads in their hands.

My husband wrote to Michael Moore after watching his

What’s the unit for measuring eco-guilt?

ESSAY BY NANCY ARONIE movie, Planet of the Humans. He wrote to Jeff Bezos and told him what a waste of energy and money his planned trips to Mars are, and that there is no plan B. He also wrote to Jane Fonda.

No responses. He has written letters to editors everywhere. He has printed facts on two sides of an 8 by 11 Day-Glo-colored sheet of paper with information on thorium, and given away several copies of a book called The Answer, also about thorium.

He thinks people shower too much. His own occasional shower is a trickle, and he tells me what it takes for the cold water to get heated in the hot water heater. Among many other embarrassing actions he incorporates into our everyday life, the one that I want him to stop is when when he sees the hostess or the caterer after a dinner party washing dishes and letting the hot water run down the drain, he actually rushes to their side and says, ‘Please, at least let the hot water work for you. Let it rinse the other dishes, and can’t you use less?’

The invitations are dwindling.

Here's how you compare

As I am writing this, he attempts once more to explain in laywoman’s terms the difference between power and energy. He says electrical energy is electrical power used over a certain amount of time. Ten 100-watt light bulbs represents 1,000 watts of power, or one kilowatt.

If those bulbs were left on for one hour, that would be one kilowatt-hour of energy. And of course, when I am willing to, I get it, I get it. But I feel like any little contribution I make, like turning off that lightbulb, won’t make a difference.

And that’s the problem. Most of us don’t believe our little effort is going to help. It does, he says. Plenty, if we all made drastic changes in our energy consumption. Then he adds, “What do you have to lose?” And his answer? “Just this precious life.”

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CITIZEN SCIENCE • FEATURE

Citizen Science: A peoplepowered solution

Not only can regular people do real science, the process could prove healing for individuals, communities, and the Earth.

Story by Kelsey Perrett • Illustration by Fae Kontje-Gibbs

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F

or the past 15 years, mental health practitioners have been on the lookout for a burgeoning complaint: eco-anxiety. The condition refers to a chronic sense of environmental doom, a fear that the ecological systems that sustain life are on the brink of collapse. Most psychotherapists interpret eco-anxiety not as a pathology, but rather a normal response to real-world conditions.

How do they recommend we mitigate that fear?

Two measures: action and community.

Sure, we can reduce our plastic waste, buy local and organic, but there’s a lingering feeling that these individual choices are never enough. We need a more powerful antidote. While it’s obvious there’s no panacea, we all possess one superpower that could aid in the fight: the power of scientific observation.

Hold up, you might say, I’m no scientist. I’m a (bartender, bookkeeper, insert other rationalization here). But science is for everyone, no degree required. And one particular form of science, citizen science, is specifically concerned with returning the power to the people.

Citizen science happens when public volunteers participate in the scientific process to address real-world questions and concerns. Anyone can join in, usually by following a uniform protocol to collect data. Then scientists analyze and draw conclusions from those data. But it’s more than free crowdsourcing for scientists.

Citizens benefit from the educational opportunity, as well as from the return of the data, which can influence policymaking and other decisions that directly impact their local environments.

CITIZEN SCIENCE, ABUNDANT ON-ISLAND Here on Martha’s Vineyard, there are many opportunities to get involved in citizen science, with organizations like Felix Neck and BiodiversityWorks leading the charge. Owing to the Island’s prevalence of rare species and conservation land, most of the current projects involve monitoring local wildlife populations. Other ventures, from the Martha’s Vineyard Commission and the Buzzards Bay Coalition, call on citizen scientists to help assess the Island’s water quality, using test kits to screen nitrogen and cyanobacteria levels.

Perhaps the most visible programs are the beach-nesting bird initiatives, which are responsible for many of the summer rules on our beloved stretches of sand. The exclosures, the fencing, the leashed-dog mandates — these all exist to protect vulnerable piping plovers, oystercatchers, and terns.

“They’re nesting on our beaches during the summertime, when everyone else wants to be using the beaches as well, so it’s real all-hands-on-deck work,” said Liz Olson, assistant director of BiodiversityWorks. The program relies on volunteers to help with data collection and habitat protection. “To have a well-functioning

program doing the best we can do, we need help, and volunteers are a great way to get that help,” Olson said.

There are a number of other survey projects happening across the Island, tracking species like spotted turtles, horseshoe crabs, ospreys, odonates (dragonflies and damselflies), spadefoot toads, and salamanders. But interested volunteers aren’t limited to these creatures. A new project from BiodiversityWorks, called the Martha’s Vineyard Atlas of Life (see story, page 48), encourages citizen scientists to record pictures and observations of any flora and fauna, using the iNaturalist app.

As Atlas of Life director Matt Pelikan states, the project is about establishing a baseline for species on the Island. “Compiling the knowledge of what's here, how common it is, and where it occurs seems like a very basic first step in protecting it all more effectively,” Pelikan said.

That knowledge could come in handy when it comes to understanding and combating climate change on-Island. “The sooner you can start gathering data, the better you're going to be at detecting changes later on,” Pelikan said. “Citizen science is a really powerful way to get the breadth of coverage, and the real, sustained, ongoing coverage, that you need in order to track that sort of thing.”

THE SNOWBALL EFFECT OF DATA One of the Vineyard’s most successful citizen science projects, the osprey survey, is part of a global strategy to monitor indicator species of our planet’s overall aquatic health. In the early 1970s, nesting ospreys on the Island had dwindled to just two pairs. Volunteer efforts to construct nesting poles and monitor birds have been wildly successful. Last year, Felix Neck reported a record-breaking 106 nests.

But the impact of citizen science is not strictly local. Some data collected by citizen scientists make its way off-Island, where it contributes to state, and even federal, conservation decisions.

The data that shorebird volunteers collect — number of nests, number of hatchlings, survival rates — is sent to MassWildlife’s Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program. This helps determine the productivity of birds like plovers at a state level, and tells managers which practices are working to protect the species.

All data collected at Felix Neck is incorporated into Mass Audubon's Sanctuary Inventory and Monitoring Project, to provide a statewide view of biodiversity and change over time.

The data can, and has, impacted the commonwealth’s management of species.

Director of Felix Neck Suzan Bellincampi said horseshoe crab surveys were instrumental in changing harvest regulations that were leading to a decline in populations. “When we first started doing the surveys, horseshoe crabs were being harvested during their reproductive cycle,” Bellincampi said. The commonwealth changed the harvesting season to protect reproduction, and numbers recovered. “That's a concrete example of the work these M A R T H A’ S V I N E YA R D / S U M M E R 2 0 2 1

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CITIZEN SCIENCE • FEATURE

"The fact these biologists have a use for me and an appreciation for what I do is rewarding. It’s the most satisfying thing I do in my life." –Keren Tonneson citizen scientists did to actually make a difference in statewide regulation,” Bellincampi said.

Other citizen science projects reach even farther. The amalgamation of data from water quality testing, which follows guidelines from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, has allowed researchers to study decades of change in Buzzards Bay. The data may come from local waters, but it sheds light on issues like temperature rise and human development that impact coastal waters worldwide.

Initiatives like the annual Christmas Bird Count and the North American Breeding Bird Survey supply the data behind the U.S. Geological Survey’s official estimates on bird populations, density, and distribution. These numbers inform the conservation priorities of federal authorities, including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Park Service.

“Over time, those databases become really, really powerful,” Pelikan said. “You can track the change in distribution of species in response to climate change. You can compare that with models to see if the models are accurate, then refine the models so we’re better able to project what might happen in the future.” In other words, participants may count only a few birds, but the data can reach around the world.

THE COMMUNITY CONNECTION While collecting data and watching it grow might address the “action” element of eco-anxiety, the “community” facet is just as important. Felix Neck prefers to call its citizen science programs “community science,” in order to emphasize the inclusive, homegrown nature of the projects. Other organizations evoke the same sentiment.

“It’s important to have the community involved in this process because these resources all belong to the community,” Olson said of the BiodiversityWorks projects.

“Conservation is partly biological, but it's also a social problem,” Pelikan said. “It’s based on people's attitudes.”

Citizen scientists involved in the projects say that apart from viewing and learning a great deal about local wildlife, some of the most rewarding work involves educating the public about what’s at stake.

Keren Tonneson, a volunteer with BiodiversityWorks for 10 years, keeps her summers free to spend time with the plovers. When she noticed fishermen at Lighthouse Beach leaving scraps that could potentially attract predators, she politely conveyed her concerns. In turn, the fishermen began educating other beachgoers about the importance of leashing dogs, respecting fenced areas, and using caution while flying drones. “The fishermen that are out there all the time are aware of their surroundings, they have a connection,” Tonneson said. “I’ve made them my allies.”

Ulrike Wartner, another BiodiversityWorks volunteer, said it’s satisfying to pass this information on to young people.

“It's kind of fun, and it usually goes really well, if I can talk to a kid about the birds,” she said. “I can show kids the birds, and even rope them into starting to feel protective.” Wartner says these efforts do feel like small steps toward addressing climate change. Perhaps not in a systemic, big-picture way, but in “micro-ways, thinking about what you personally can do and also how you can educate the community.”

For Tonneson, learning about the birds and handling the data has sharpened her belief in herself as a scientist. “I realized a little late in life that I wished I had gone to school for this,” she said. “The fact these biologists have a use for me and an appreciation for what I do is rewarding. It’s the most satisfying thing I do in my life.”

SCIENCE IS FOR EVERYONE That’s really the heart of citizen science — amateurs and laypeople believing that we can be part of the solution. “You don't have to have any experience, you just have to have passion,” Olson emphasized.

“Everybody starts somewhere,” Pelikan reiterated. “And anybody who is capable of making good observations can do science.”

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FEATURE • CITIZEN SCIENCE

“ Compiling the knowledge of what's here, how common it is, and where it occurs seems like a very basic first step in protecting it all more effectively.” –Matt Pelikan The benefit of participating in citizen science through organizations like BiodiversityWorks and Felix Neck is that they provide a scaffolding of educational support from scientists.

“We are also educators at heart,” Bellincampi said. “We can translate the concepts into bite-size pieces. It makes science relatable and understandable, and doable for everyone.”

Pelikan also points out that technological advances such as digital photography, smartphones, and apps like iNaturalist have made contributions to scientific data sets more accessible than ever.

The more involvement, the more data, the better.

On-Island, simple contributions like collecting data in your own backyard can make a huge difference in achieving the widespread coverage these citizen science projects require. For that reason, the scientists involved say they don’t want any barriers to access.

“You don't need special degrees, you don’t need fancy equipment,” Bellincampi said. “We really want everyone to be able to partake and spend time in nature.”

Whether you spend hours scouring the dunes for shorebirds, or a few minutes checking the osprey pole on your bus ride to work, take comfort that your time outside can be more than a diversion. It’s more than reverence for an at-risk Earth, too. It’s getting to know the ins and outs of your environment, connecting with your community, and playing a small scientific role in a big scientific picture.

“This is a real thing, it's not just a fad or a hobby,” Pelikan said. “The science part of citizen science is very, very real.” And it may be just the salve your eco-anxious nerves need.

How Do I Get Started?

If you’re ready to begin the citizen science experience, a number of projects are actively recruiting volunteers. Projects on-Island include: Felix Neck Community Science: bit.ly/felix-neck BiodiversityWorks Volunteer Program: bit.ly/bioDivVolunteer Martha’s Vineyard Atlas of Life: bit.ly/MVAtlas Buzzards Bay Coalition; Baywatchers: bit.ly/BuzzBay Martha’s Vineyard Commission; Water Quality Testing: mvcommission.org

Islanders can also join in countless off-Island citizen science projects. Activities range from playing an online game that catches Alzheimer’s symptoms in mice (with StallCatchers) to walking around with your head in the clouds (for the NASA GLOBE Observer project). In most cases, all you need is a computer or a smartphone. Hop on a website like scistarter.org or CitSci.gov to search for projects by location, age group, or topic of interest.

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On September 25, 1978, thousands of people attended the "No Nukes" concert.

Story by Geoff Currier

T

A day of music, friendship, and hope.

he No Nukes Festival was held on Martha’s Vineyard 45 years ago, and there are still plenty of people on the Island who not only attended the festival, but look back on it as one of the highpoints of their youth.

How do I know? Because when I ask someone, “Did you go to the No Nukes concert?”, they generally pause what they’re doing, look me in the eye — and break into a big grin.

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You have to understand the Vineyard in the ’70s. Young people in their 20s and 30s were coming to the Island in droves, drawn to the laid-back lifestyle, a sense offreedom, and a shared social consciousness.

In 1973, President Richard Nixon initiated Project Independence, which sought to build 1,000 nuclear power plants by 2000. The Clamshell Alliance was created in 1976 to make sure that Nixon wouldn’t have his way.

In May 1977, over 2,000 Clamshell Alliance nonviolent protesters occupied the

Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant construction site in Seabrook, N.H. Close to 1,500 of these activists were arrested and held in jails and National Guard armories for up to two weeks, after refusing to pay bail.

A large contingent of Vineyarders were at the protest, including Jay Walsh, a UMass student who would go on to play a critical role in starting the Martha’s Vineyard No Nukes Concert.

The primary organizer of the No Nukes Concert is a familiar face on the Vineyard today, John Abrams, the CEO and co-own-

PHOTOS COURTESY OF COURTESY JOHN ABRAMS

Looking back at the No Nukes Festival

FEATURE • LOOKING BACK AT THE NO NUKES FESTIVAL

er of South Mountain Co. In 1974, Abrams was complicit in an act of civil disobedience against the production of atomic power that was immortalized in a documentary film called “Lovejoy’s Nuclear War.” Sam Lovejoy, an antinuclear activist, was responsible for toppling a 500-foot weather tower that was constructed to study weather conditions in preparation for building a nuclear power plant in Montague.

“I helped Sam load his tools the night he went to knock the tower down,” Abrams said.

“He loosened one of the turnbuckles that held the guy wires, and the tower went tumbling down.”

Lovejoy then turned himself in to the police, along with a four-page statement decrying the dangers of nuclear power and accusing the government and utilities of "conspiracy and despotism."

Lovejoy went on trial in 1974 and took full responsibility for his actions and after a dramatic seven-day trial, he was acquitted on a technicality. He would later go on to help found the Clamshell Alliance.

John Abrams moved to the Island in

1975 after a six-year back-to-the-land odyssey, with his friend Mitchell Posin, his wife Chris, and his five-year-old son Pinto.

He came to build a house and make some money and then return to Vermont but, as it turned out, good builders were much in demand on the Island, and John and his family never left. They were living, along with Mitchell Posin, in Clarissa Allen’s house at the Allen Farm in Chilmark.

Jay Walsh, who was summering on the Island at the time, remembers an evening when he traveled out to the Allen Farm for a game of poker.

“We were talking about no nukes,'' Walsh said, “and we thought, Wouldn’t it be great to have a concert and raise some money for the antinuclear movement?”

“The way we conceived it,” Abrams said, “was as a festival. We’d have music as the driver, but we’d bring in speakers, and offer lots of food from Island providers as well.”

The group of organizers would grow to include not only Abrams and Walsh but a host of others, including Steve Sinnett, Mitchell Posin, Steve Donavan, Carmel

In 1973, President Richard Nixon initiated Project Independence, which sought to build 1,000 nuclear power plants by 2000. The Clamshell Alliance was created in 1976 to make sure that Nixon wouldn’t have his way.

Gamble, Patrie Grace, Tom Campbell, Chris Abrams, and Clarissa Allen, who would donate her family's farm in Chilmark to be the location of the festival.

“The site was fantastic,” Abrams said.

“There was kind of a bowl there where the stage could be set up, and it all looked out over the sparkling ocean.”

What was interesting about this group was that no one had any experience in staging a festival. But then again, it was the Age of Aquarius and anything was possible.

Abrams thought that he’d spend about a half-dozen weekends putting the event together, but instead he spent about two months, working 60 to 70 hours a week. The first priority would be lining up the acts.

“We started by approaching a few musicians, mostly grouped around the Taylor family,” Abrams said. “Carly, Kate, Alex…

James was in and out, and finally out.

“I reached out to Peter Simon to see if he could help getting Carly on board, and Peter came back to us and said Carly would love to do it, but that you guys have no idea of what you’re doing. The only way she would accept The weather was perfect, the clouds were magnificent, and there was a magical vibe in the air.

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the invitation was if you brought in a professional promoter…, someone who actually knew what he was doing.

“We ended up talking to Tom Campbell, an LA producer who had produced other concerts and events for the nuclear movement,” Abrams said. “He came and worked with us for the last week or two, and he was a huge help.” And his presence was enough to get Carly Simon to sign on.

“When it came to picking a date,” Abrams said, "Peter was a weather maven, and he told me that there is a corollary from year to year — any day that has historically been sunny is likely to be so again. I went to TF Green airport, where they have weather records going way back, and found that in the last 100 years, it had never rained on September 25. We had our date." And that’s how the group decided to hold the concert on September, 25, 1978. Campbell’s advice proved to be right on the money. But just barely.

Getting musical acts for the concert was made much easier by having Carly Simon at the top of the bill. The acts included John Hall, formerly of the band Orleans. “He sang his anti-nuke anthem ‘Power,’” Abrams said. The Pousette-Dart Band, a popular New England–based folk-rock band in the ’70s and ’80s, was added to the bill, as were Kate and Alex Taylor. Other local artists included Joel Zoss, who wrote “Been Too Long at the Fair,” sung by Bonnie Raitt, and Mark Carroll, a local singer-songwriter. Two other local bands were the Condor Brothers and TCD — short for Timothy Maxwell, Charlie Esposito, and Dwayne Giesemann, who had a big following on the Island.

The speakers for the day were from the antinuclear movement. Sara Nelson, the chair for the National Organization for Women, Sam John Abrams, pictured here in 1978, was one of a group of Islanders who worked for months on the concert.

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Lovejoy from “Lovejoy’s Nuclear War” fame, and Helen Caldicott, an Australian physician who was one of the founders of Physicians for Social Responsibility, all spoke.

Abrams and crew had seemingly crossed all the t’s and dotted the i’s in preparation for the day. They had built a beautiful stage. The local police, notably George Manter in West Tisbury and Andy Parker in Chilmark, were on board with the effort, and were very cooperative.

Jay Walsh was in charge of transportation. He arranged to have buses move people to the concert from staging areas at the West Tisbury Grange Hall and elsewhere. John George headed security. Tom Feeney, a local pilot, picked up some of the off-island musicians.

The organizers had done everything that was humanly possible to pull off the event. But then something happened that was beyond the reach of mere humans.

“It rained like hell the day and night before the concert,” Abrams said. “But then by 5 am the clouds cleared, it turned out to be a gorgeous day and the concert went off without a hitch.”

“Everything went as smoothly as it could,” Walsh said. “It was such a pleasurable union of friends and family, there were

good spirits all around. It was a big neighborhood party. Everyone had a smile.”

Terre Young of West Tisbury is one of the people who attended the concert, and even on the phone I could tell she was smiling. “I came down from Boston with my brother,” Young said. “The weather was perfect, the clouds were magnificent, there was a magical vibe in the air. I just remember the music being great, and I felt like I was at one with the bodies of many…waving, singing, and cheering at the songs.”

Kate Taylor, who performed at the concert, wrote to me in an email: “The festival on the field in Chilmark was a precious moment in time where it felt like anything was possible. We cared about our planet and our fellow man.

Our culture and our perspectives have evolved over time, sometimes for better and sometimes for worse, but on that hillside in Chilmark, we were sure, we were together, and we had hope. One of the beautiful things about Martha's Vineyard is that we have all that still.”

The festival was not only an artistic success, but a financial success as well.

“There were 7,000 tickets sold,” Abrams said, “and we raised somewhere between $15,000 and $20,000 to benefit the Southeastern Massachusetts antinuclear movement.” It’s interesting to note that in 1978, there were only about 7,000 people on the whole Island. Yes, many people came over on the ferry to attend the concert, but it’s safe to say virtually everyone on the Vineyard rallied around the event.

The concert was, in and of itself, a huge success. But it also went on to inspire another antinuclear event that was even larger.

“Late at night, after the festival,” Abrams said, “a lot of us were hanging out at Clarissa’s farmhouse, and we were thinking how great it would be to do something like this in New York. Actually, I think it was John Hall’s idea.”

Continued on page 47

PHOTO COURTESY OF JOHN ABRAMS

LOOKING BACK AT THE NO NUKES FESTIVAL • FEATURE

FEATURE • RIGHT AT HOME

Ben Robinson and Betsy Carnie at the Barnhouse

RIGHT AT HOME:

A collage of creative, sustainable living.

Story by Mollie Doyle Photos by Jeremy Driesen

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RIGHT AT HOME • FEATURE

It is a chilly June morning when I visit Ben Robinson and have lived here for about six months a year ever since.” Betsy, Betsy Carnie at the Barnhouse on South Road. I find them who is the head chef for the Charter School, is in charge of the in the main house’s cold kitchen, bundled up in sweaters. meals at the Barnhouse: breakfast, snack, lunch and dessert, Betsy hands me a beach rock, which has been warmed by the dinner and dessert. Ben, who is a planner and designer, helps to stove’s pilot light, and a cup of tea. Coat on, I wrap my hands oversee the maintenance of the buildings. Ben tends the proparound the rock, surprised by the comfort of its warmth, and erty’s large garden. “The garden helps me stretch the Barhouse join them at the kitchen table. None of the 43-acre property’s food budget. And the food tastes so much better,” Betsy says. In 11 structures have heat. Only a few have hot water and toithe winter, the family rents a home near the Vineyard Haven lets. And much of the property has been allowed to rewild. library. “We love it. The boys can walk to town, to the library, The Barnhouse, which was founded in 1919, is owned and I can walk to work,” Ben says. and run by a co-operative of 35 members, mostly relatives of For Ben, Betsy and their children Runar Finn and Odin, the founders. Each member has use of the property for two mitigating climate change is a bond and a way of life. The boys weeks a summer, and part of the charter is that each member were key members of Plastic Free MV’s plastic bottle ban, must participate in the maintenance and upkeep of the propand participate in the Sunrise Movement, a youth movement erty, which has a beautiful rustic main barn where members dedicated to stopping climate change and building a green econeat their meals and congregate, a small main house with a omy. Ben sits on the Martha’s Vineyard Commission (MVC), commercial stove, and small bunkhouses dotted around the is chair of the MVC’s climate task force, and sits on the Tisbury property. “This place was sought out as an alternative to the planning board. Betsy has transformed the Charter School’s luxury of summer resorts like Newport and the Catskills.” Ben food offerings — making moves to make it as low-waste as possays. “The members are still trying to keep it simple. A few sible, and taking advantage of the incredible local food available. summers ago, there was a big discussion about whether to install the internet.”

Until I talked to Ben and Betsy and came across an article in the New Yorker Rustic bunkhouses a week or so later, I had not realized that dot the field. communal living is on the rise around the country. Nathan Heller’s New Yorker article featuring the Treehouse Hollywood tells the story of an intentional communal living space in Los Angeles. The Treehouse Hollywood offers private rooms, bathrooms, sometimes kitchens linked by community spaces such as laundry, a library, and larger kitchen. In her popular 2020 book “Brave New Home,” Diana Lind writes about the value of shared spaces: “Co-living has grown popular because it meets several needs that single-family homes don’t: socialization, less consumer friction in everything from utility accounts to furniture, and the convenience of all-inclusive fees and shorter leases.” Because they meet so many critical criteria such as economy of space and resources, places like Atlanta and New York City are also exploring ways to adopt co-housing initiatives.

I ask Ben and Betsy if they were intentionally seeking this kind of living. Ben laughs. “No, we had two small children and were just trying to map out a housing plan.

Eleven years ago, we found a small ad in the Betsy is in charge paper looking for a cook for the property. It of breakfast at seemed like it might solve our summer housthe Barnhouse. ing problem. We called the ad’s number, and 34

Eleven years ago, Betsy and Ben (pictured in the kitchen) answered an ad that sought a cook for the Barnhouse.

“Everyone wants shiny and new. Why? It’s not like our family suffers living the way we do. I have an enormous amount of pleasure and joy in my life. Look at where we live."

The Barnhouse's barn, a gathering place for meals, games, talks, coffee, and community.

FEATURE • RIGHT AT HOME

Charter School students are served snacks on foraged grape it. Ben — who has an encyclopedic brain for climate statistics -leaves, and lasagna with Slough Farm or Grey Barn meat. Betsy notes that if the entire 7 billion people on the planet consumed as uses her clear glass lids — found at the Dumptique — that she much as Americans do, we’d need five Earths to support it. places over bowls instead of foil or plastic wrap as an example “Nobody wants to give up their lifestyle. No one wants of how to cut down on kitchen waste. This has two advantages. limits. It’s a problem,” Ben says. Betsy adds, “Everyone wants “First, you can stack the bowls, and second, you can see the food, shiny and new. Why? It’s not like our family suffers living the which makes it much more likely to be eaten,” Betsy says. The way we do. I have an enormous amount of pleasure and joy in family tries not to fly, and they use the Island’s VTA as much as my life. We eat exceptionally well. And look at where we live,” possible. “We taught the kids how to use the VTA early. It gives she says, pointing to the verdant grass and trees outside the everyone freedom,” Ben says. kitchen’s window. “I loved the movie The True Cost. I think Though I have known Ben since childhood, I didn’t know about that phrase a lot, and ask myself, ‘Who is my purchase Ben and Betsy’s story. Betsy grew up in Milton, but came to the affecting? What impact will it have on the environment and Island in the summers: “My dad was a schoolteacher. His family communities far from here?’” had a place on East Chop. I got my cooking skills from my “In the old days, people came here to live a different life. mom.” Ben grew up on the Island, spending two years in Asia Somehow we lost that,” Ben says. from age 5 to 7. “I am one of five kids,” he says. “My mom is from Betsy agrees: “Everyone used to have ‘Island cars.’” These were Finland. She cooked on a wood stove. Wasted nothing. She was beat-up jalopies dedicated to transporting folks from the boat one of the founders of the original food co-ops on the Island, an to their homes, the market, and the beach. “Even the summer resiearly proponent for a bus system on the island, and founded the dents lived with a sense of thrift and community,” Ben adds. crosswalk program for the Tisbury School. I have never been a Betsy points to the wall, “I put that saying up.” A sign reads, consumer by nature. But I guess some of this nonconsumption is from her.” Ben’s father is a builder on the Island, and a passionate sailor, which Ben inherited: “I love the fact Betsy in that when you are offshore sailing, you have the garden. to have everything you need with you. It is often very little. You are ultimately responsible for yourself. You have to look ahead, plan, adjust for the weather. This kind of thinking lends itself to architecture, where you have to anticipate everything. And you are always learning to live with nature.” He laughs. “I love the pace. The time on a passage and the structure of the days,” he says.

Betsy went to Wellesley, and then got her master’s from Columbia’s Teachers College.

They were introduced by a mutual friend, the jeweler Gogo Ferguson. “I remember seeing him walk into Gogo’s shop [Gogo Ferguson used to have her jewelry shop across from the Black Dog on the harbor] and thinking, ‘That’s my man.’ I was cooking and traveling a lot then. So was he. We didn’t have cell phones, so we wrote each other letters. At some point he came to visit me when I was teaching on Cumberland Island in Georgia.

He had a lunchbox as his travel bag. Just a shirt and a toothbrush. I loved that he travNotes remind eled that lightly,” she remembers. humans to So here they are 20 years later, continuing consider others to live these values. Of course they know that on the planet. one family is not going to solve the climate crisis, but they do not want to contribute to M A R T H A’ S V I N E YA R D / S U M M E R 2 0 2 1

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RIGHT AT HOME • FEATURE

“Use it up, wear it out, make do, or do without.” “Doing without is an option,” she says. “It is an adventure. And I believe there is more genuine happiness in living this way.”

When Betsy first started cooking at the Charter School, the school offered bananas, oranges, apples, and dried fruit as a snack.

Betsy wondered why they were offering oranges in September.

She scrapped the snack plan, sourced local pears and apples, and served them with a sign that identified them as “Island” fruit. Betsy says, “They were not as pretty as the store-bought ones, but they were delicious — crunchy, juicy. As soon as the kids tried them, they were hooked. There was also great pleasure in knowing that these were pears and apples from their island. In January, when it was orange season, I served citrus. And then in the spring, we had watermelon and berries. Everyone tasted the specialness of it.”

Beyond their summer communal digs, Betsy and Ben also espouse the idea of a sharing economy. Betsy uses the example of sharing a popcorn machine with Native Earth Teaching Farm.

“She needs and uses the machine in the summer. I need and use one in the winter. So both of us don’t need our own machines. Before I was the chef at the Charter School, they served Smartfood

Barnhouse salads come straight from the garden.

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Much of the land has been rewilded.

as a snack. Now the children get freshly popped, organic popcorn — much less waste, much better for the kids and planet.”

And Ben shares the story of their search for surfboards: “We asked around. Of course there were people here with extra or old boards.”

Betsy nods: “Yes, it’s that kind of thinking that makes a difference. Sometimes it feels weird or uncomfortable to be asking — it’s always easier to be the person who is giving — but this is how community and relationships are forged. I have relationships with people I would never have had if we didn’t live this way.”

“We have given up a certain kind of security,” Ben concedes.

“And we are fine with that, because we are willing to figure it out.”

Ben shares that he feels conflicted about designing houses.

“But I guess I rationalize it in some way by recognizing that I’m helping people think about what they need. How they want to live. That’s an important conversation.” Because we are already living far outside the sustainable boundaries of our finite planet, we must “greatly reduce our output of both material and energy.” This means “deeply considering the investment and impact of any project.” He sighs, “Really, the best thing to do is not to build new, but restore and improve energy efficiency of existing structures. And consider the material and energy impact of the project, think small, quality over quantity. Also consider the materials you use, for the health of the user, the health of where they are sourced, and the health of where they will ultimately be disposed.”

I love that he points out that human labor is a renewable resource — the livelihood for many families. So regular maintenance provides a reinvestment in the already built and our community. He also stresses that people really need to “consider what is truly sufficient to meet your needs, regardless of your desires, wealth, and status.”

Betsy laughs, “Ben also spends a lot of time thinking about shoes.”

“It’s true,” Ben nods. “It’s true. They are such a necessity of life. You can’t live without them. There are not a lot of sustainable options.”

I appreciate Ben’s point. Yes, there are certain things that are, like shoes, necessities.

But even with necessities, let’s think about what we buy, how many we buy and will sincerely need.

Spending time with Ben, Betsy, and their children challenged me to think about my life and home. A greener lifestyle is not about deprivation, it’s about discernment. Needs versus wants. Borrow versus buy. Yes to less, and that this somehow feels blessed.

FEATURE • HEADLINE FOR STORY

Betsy, Odin, Runar Finn, and Ben.

Advice from Runar Finn and Odin Robinson on how to live more sustainably “Buy No New Stuff. Challenge yourself to buy nothing new for one year. If you need something, try to buy it used locally (Thrift Store, Dumptique —reopening any day now — MVStuff for sale).

Or try to borrow/share it. Or consider an alternative. Or go without it. If you’re able to go further to support NoNewStuff, volunteer at the Dumptique or thrift store.” –Odin “Involve yourself in politics whenever you can — from the local to national level. Individual choices only go so far in regulating our consumption and transforming our society. If we really want to change things, we need to focus on collective decisions.” –Runar Finn M A R T H A’ S V I N E YA R D / S U M M E R 2 0 2 1

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ROOM FOR CHANGE: THE CLOSET

Room For Change

The Closet W PHOTO COURTESY VALENTINA RAZUMOVA / ISTOCK

Story By Mollie Doyle

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hen I was 12, I went school shopping in the fall and bought one pair of Levi’s jeans, a gray Fair Isle sweater, and white Nike sneakers with a red swish. I wore a version of this outfit nearly every day to school until the sweater, jeans, and shoes became too small. I wasn’t aware of fashion, never mind high fashion or fast fashion. Function and comfort were the only goals.

How times have changed. My 12-year-old daughter is conscious of millions of styles and brands brilliantly marketed to her with slogans espousing strength, girl power, body positivity, and individuality. Of course the options for adults these days are equally endless. Catalogs arrive in piles and the “promotions” tab in our email inboxes are full of offers. I was a junior in high school when I called and ordered my first piece of catalog clothing: a green J. Crew roll neck sweater. Now ordering from a catalog or company by phone feels old-fashioned, even quaint. Internet clothing shopping has become the mainstay.

Acknowledge the true cost of fashion The problem with all of these offerings and the accessibility is that it means, among many other things, we are buying more. A lot more. According to a recent McKinsey study, Americans purchased 60 percent more clothing in 2014 than in 2000, and kept the garment half as long. And, on average, Americans are throwing away 81 pounds of textiles a year. That is a lot of clothes. According to a study by Quantis, more than 8 percent of the total global

greenhouse gas emissions are from the apparel and footwear industry. Worse: the Ellen MacArthur Foundation predicts that if the industry continues on its current path, it will use more than 25 percent of the total carbon budget. To give you a sense of this, ALL global transport — planes, trains, shipping, etc. — uses 23 percent.

“What is the carbon budget?” you ask.

The carbon budget is the single number that encapsulates the finite limits of our planet’s physical system and ability to negotiate and cope with carbon emissions.

If we release more carbon than this in a year, our planet’s temperature will continue to rise. So our clothing consumption seems like an obvious place where we can make cuts. Because, let’s be honest: it’s not like human survival depends on us each having five pairs of jeans in our closet.

But I’d like to pause here and say two things: 1. I am aware of the fact that our global clothing problem cannot and, in many ways, should not be solved by consumers alone. Ultimately, it needs to be addressed at the highest levels: via manufacturing and agricultural laws; by designers; and by the entire fashion business that has fueled this problem in every sense of the word.

2. I appreciate clothing, beautiful design, and know the great pleasure and romance of wearing a wonderful summer frock or a fabulously cozy winter sweater. So I am not saying stop, but maybe just slow down, buy less and make informed purchases.

But let’s get back to what the big clothing companies are doing and not doing. Are they taking any responsibility for the problem they’ve helped create? I am

ROOM FOR CHANGE: THE CLOSET

pleased to report, some companies are taking action. Others, not so much or not at all.

Know which companies are translating words into action The Business of Fashion, a highly regarded industry resource that offers a self-described, “analytical point of view on the $2.5 trillion global fashion industry,” recently published its first Sustainability Study of the industry, “Measuring the progress of the five largest public companies by annual revenue in 2019 in three distinct fashion industry verticals — luxury, high street and sportswear.”

These companies included name brands such as Nike, Under Armour, Gap Inc., H&M, LVMH, and Hermès. The summary reports that “the fashion industry’s rhetoric on sustainability is often far ahead of companies’ actions.” In other words, many of the brands have adopted the vernacular, but that’s about it. And “Even among the industry’s largest and most highly resourced companies, public disclosures indicate there are substantial disparities in progress, with a handful playing catch-up or just beginning to engage with the six key issues at hand: transparency, emissions, water and chemicals, materials, worker’s rights, and waste.”

These six areas are big issues. The report notes while some major clothing companies have made progress in one area, the other five areas have been neglected. This said, I applaud the multinational companies that are making significant and important changes to their manufacturing practices. Nike, Puma, Kering (they own Balenciaga, Bottega Veneta, Alexander McQueen, etc.), H&M, Gap, and Levi Strauss got relatively good marks in the BOF Sustainability Report, whereas Under Armour and Richemont (they own Chloé, Alaïa, etc.) have made little or no effort to change any of their practices. Note that the study did not include companies like Patagonia, which have been embracing a more conscious ethos for some time.

So the first step to a more sustainable closet is actually label consciousness. If you are going to buy from a big company, know what you are paying for: great design with environmental action or great design with environmental degradation.

Maybe the new trend is buying for

transparency, reduced emissions, limiting water and chemical use, using better, more earth friendly materials, advocating for workers’ rights, and reducing waste.

Buy local, buy less, buy better When I talk to experts and local designers they agree: the big companies all need to be doing more. MUCH more. Meanwhile, it is the smaller companies who are taking action — even though they do not have the buying power to influence and persuade cotton growers and fabric producers as much as the multinational ones. Los Angeles-based Christy Dawn has a “Farm to Closet” collection of clothes that tracks their cotton from seed to store. But, as my friend Sarah Davis told me, “Sourcing true organic materials and ensuring that the process considers all things — from workers’ rights to water use — is a rabbit hole.”

This is why local designer Stina Sayre sources her material from bigger designers. “I buy leftover fabric from Donna Karan, leftover seatbelt material to make handbags. My drive comes from creating something useful, beautiful, and practical. I stay away from synthetics as much as I can. Linen, wool, and bamboo, which I love, they too have their downsides.

What is really important is to buy highquality clothing. Yes, it costs more, but in the long run you are saving money because the garment is going to last.”

Likewise, local designer Randi Sylvia of Kenworthy Design says, “We think there is too much disposable clothing in the world. We want people to buy less and really fall in love with their purchase so they will wear it over and over again.”

Designer Lauren Morgan was inspired by the documentary film The True Cost, which takes fashion’s environmental infractions to task, and began what can only be described as an intrepid process of sourcing materials for her signature rain jacket (see Early Summer issue of Bluedot Living for more on Lauren). She says, “The film and my subsequent research really got me thinking about what I am buying, how I am buying it, and what I am putting on my body.” Her jacket is American made, free of formaldehyde, PFAS, silicone,

petroleum, and man-made polymers, and compostable at the end of its life. It doesn’t hurt that it is also great looking.

Also smaller companies are going to make comparatively ridiculously less than a large clothing company like Nike. This means much less water, chemicals, and waste. Even better, these designers are not sourcing their work out to people in far away factories with far fewer environmental and labor laws. Transportation and transparency concerns become less of an issue.

The good news is there are now tons of these smaller designers making wonderful clothing. The list of these folks is far too long to share here. But discovering them for yourself is part of the joy of label consciousness. There is a sense of discovery when I find a gem of a company. Sometimes right in my backyard. Yay, Conrado!

Shrink your closet

grow your joy Basically, we all need to come up with a new set of closet rules. My rules include: • S top clicking and buying in the most obvious, convenient places • B uy a company’s values rather than for a value (when you can) • Buy

less • B uy only what you love and will absolutely wear • Buy high quality, natural organic fibers • Buy for all seasons • Buy used • Buy local • Pass it on or … (maybe even), pass it up?

The more I apply this kind of approach to my closet, the more joy I feel. It also needs to be said that there is great satisfaction in wearing something out or repurposing it. A five-year-old yellowing white T-shirt becomes a rag. And, finally, I will say that I feel a total charge of strength when I have the courage to walk away from something I don’t need. Better than the charge of the purchase. In every way.

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FARLEY PEDLER BUILT A SMALL HOUSE • FEATURE

Farley Pedler at home with his "pandemic family." From left: Casey Webster, Daryl Pedler with Samara and Bhu; Kyla Webster, Farley, Kazmira, and Farley's mom, Nancy Sherwood.

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Farley Pedler Built a Small House, and Then He Built a Bigger One A builder takes a passive, progressive approach to building for his family and his Island.

SAM MOORE

Story by Sam Moore

F

arley Pedler, an Island builder who specializes in energy-efficient and affordable housing, is partway through a giant experiment on his own land. The experiment involves R-values, exterior trusses, European-engineered glass windows, a family of five, and very little wasted electricity.

One part of it is already finished: an 800-square-foot cottage, built in 2014 on

Dr. Fisher Road in West Tisbury, which has been certified as one of the most energy-efficient homes in the country by the Passive House Institute US. Next door is part two: a new house, more than four times larger, that Pedler is building to the same careful standards. It’s the product of lessons learned from the cottage, as well as years spent building and studying other dwellings that are sustainable, affordable, and pleasant to live in.

Pedler’s fingerprints are on buildings all over the Vineyard, from complex multifamily developments like the Island Housing Trust’s Water Street project in Vineyard Haven to compact getaways like an airy, high-ceilinged house in Chilmark that was recently featured in Residential Design magazine.

When Pedler, whose passion for affordable housing stems from personal experience as an Island renter, finally had the chance to build his own house in 2013, he wanted to beat even the stringent sustainability standards of his past work. He settled on designing a passive house, an ultra-efficient dwelling that uses almost no energy for heating and cooling, and very little electricity overall.

“Housing makes up 40 percent of our carbon emissions in this country: our heat, hot water, air conditioning, lights,

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Passive houses were just a glimmer in the eyes of a few hundred builders across the country when Pedler started work on his cottage, but the design standard is now in full swing. Not only are people building more and more homes to this standard, but larger passive buildings are going up, too.

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FARLEY PEDLER

SAM MOORE

cooking — they all contribute to that orienting the house: good windows, air number,” Farley told me. He thinks we sealing, and a robust insulation package,” can knock that number down to zero, “by Pedler explained as we stood on his buildsimply making some small changes in ing site and compared the two. That’s why the way we construct buildings. From a both structures face due south: they exploit climate-change perspective, we can easily the sun for heat in the winter, and shaded preserve this planet for future generations.” windows keep rays at bay in the summer.

When I paid a visit one evening in The most crucial variable is what Pedler late spring, the future generations were calls the “envelope,” or the barrier between roaming the porch and lawn of Farley’s the air inside the house and the air outside. cottage, including Pedler’s own children, “I realized early on that it’s important to Kazmira, Bhu, and Samara, and their have a robust envelope, added insulation, “quarantine family,” neighbors Kyla and and to really pay attention to good air sealCasey. Farley and his wife, Daryl, built ing,” he said. “If you’re not getting good air the small home sealing to make in 2014 on a an airtight ensandy, wooded velope, it doesn’t lot near the really matter how West Tismuch insulation bury School. you have, it’s not Kazmira, age 8, going to perform.” is the only kid After designin the family ing for thick insuwho has lived lation (the walls in anything of the cottage are other than a more than a foot passive building. deep), the task is About to put the house Farley Pedler's passive house. balancing together tightly family needs enough that the with green building aspirations, Farley only air coming in or out is through a told me, “I have an amazing wife who mechanical exchange system. This tight is very trusting of me. When I told her control of airflow minimizes heat loss, and what I wanted to do with our house she has the added benefit of keeping indoor air said, ‘Sure, as long as I have a kitchen, a quality much higher than average. This is bathroom, and a bedroom, you can do an important consideration, since repeated whatever you want!’” exposure to indoor pollutants can trigger For both the cottage and the new respiratory problems and other adverse family project, “the basic principles are health issues, according to the EPA.

TONY OMER

FEATURE • FARLEY PEDLER BUILT A SMALL HOUSE

SAM MOORE

1+2. The Pedlers' first certified passive house had a 15-foot interior peak, giving it a sense of being larger than its 800 square feet of floor space.

Daryl and Farley, above with Kazmira, in 2014. 3. Farley built the affordable development, at Sepiessa for IHT. 4. He also built the Mark Hutker contemporary at Tashmoo.

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FARLEY PEDLER

STEVEN BACZEK

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Constructing a passive house is a no propane or oil bill,” Pedler told me. delicate operation. The building materiOnce solar panels are installed, which he als have to be carefully installed so there is in the process of doing on the cottage, are no gaps in the exterior. Then the “our annual energy bill will be $0.” science experiment goes into full swing.

“The new house is quite a bit First, Pedler uses a “blower door,” which bigger,” Farley told me. “But four seals off the exterior doorway, and has a times the size doesn’t translate to four built-in fan. With the house plugged up, times the consumption.” Based on his the blower door acts like a bike pump on energy model, the big house will use a tire — it can increase or decrease the about twice as much electricity as the pressure of the air inside. Gaps in the small one, “which will be offset 100 construction are revealed by how hard the percent by solar panels,” he said. fan has to work Pedler says to maintain he’s looking fora particular ward to doing the pressure inside smoke test on the the house. new house with This gives a the whole family. reliable mea“This time it’s surement for going to be a lot air leakage, but of fun, because Pedler also uses we’re going to a smoke test, have a house full which sounds of smoke, and like the fun we’re going to part. “You fill have everybody Farley's new passive house, underthe house up outside looking way, will incorporate many features with one of for leaks.” from his existing one. those smoke Passive houses machines that you’d see at a nightclub,” were just a glimmer in the eyes of a few he said, “and you pressurize the house, so hundred builders across the country when you can see where it starts leaking out.”

Pedler started work on his cottage, but Even minor details, like a few unfilled the design standard is now in full swing. holes, can create major headaches unless Not only are people building more and they are caught at this stage. While build- more homes to this standard, but larger ing the cottage, he said, “I thought we passive buildings are going up, too. The had gone over and filled all the holes, but Finch Cambridge building just became it turned out we missed two, and we had the second-ever certified passive multifamthis smoke just pouring out.” ily building in Massachusetts. The first, Once the envelope is built, the reSouth Boston’s Distillery North, is a luxury maining components are European-made apartment building, but the Finch is the windows (triple-glazed for insulation and city’s biggest affordable housing project in designed to let in more of the sun’s heat the past 40 years. than most American ones), the air exWhen Pedler was looking for ways to change machinery, and a minimalist heat- build his first home as sustainably as posing and cooling system that uses far less sible, he got help from a Reading archienergy than a typical home. Altogether, tect named Steve Baczek, whom he had a home built to passive house standards read about in an article in the Journal of uses up to 90 percent less energy for tem- Light Construction. “[Steve] was talking perature regulation, and 60 percent less about passive houses, and I was like, Oh, overall, according to the nonprofit Passive he’s already done one,” Pedler said. “I’ve House Massachusetts. done a lot of energy-efficient houses, but “We have no fossil fuels, so there is I’ve never done something as stringent as M A R T H A’ S V I N E YA R D / S U M M E R 2 0 2 1

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SAM MOORE

FARLEY PEDLER BUILT A SMALL HOUSE • FEATURE

a passive house. Steve and I and my wife worked together to come up with [the cottage] design. And same thing with the main house.”

Soon after, Pedler penned his own article for the same journal, detailing the building process for his cottage. “When I get asked about building a house to this extreme level,” he wrote, “my answer is that it’s not difficult, just different.”

And so, despite being as busy as any Island builder, Pedler continues work on his own house, and is proud to have proof of concept on his own land. His zeal for green building is infectious, and more passive houses have cropped up on the Island, as well as other ambitious sustainable housing. “It didn’t take rocket science to get us here,” he wrote to me. In Farley’s view, building science and common sense are all it takes to make a big difference in our footprint 46

He thinks that well-built, energy-efficient homes should not only be the domain of the rich. “Everybody should have the right to live in a comfortable, healthy home,” he told me. “The envelope of an affordable house really should not be any different than what we're building for anyone else. The principles are the same.”

— on the Island, and in the world.

He also thinks that well-built, energy-efficient homes should not only be the domain of the rich. “Everybody should have the right to live in a comfortable, healthy home,” he told me.

“The envelope of an affordable house really should not be any different than

what we're building for anyone else. The principles are the same.”

As for the results of his own longterm experiment, he told me, “Having never lived in such a house, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. Now having lived this experience for seven years, I can’t imagine doing it any other way.”

FEATURE • LOOKING BACK AT THE NO NUKES FESTIVAL

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PHOTOS COURTESY OF KATE TAYLOR AND JOHN ABRAMS; PHOTO OF CARLY SIMON BY PETER SIMON

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“Our culture and our perspectives have evolved over time, sometimes for better and sometimes for worse, but on that hillside in Chilmark, we were sure, we were together, and we had hope. One of the beautiful things about Martha's Vineyard is that we have all that still.” –Kate Taylor

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1. "Sister" Kate Taylor was one of the first acts to sign on 2. Abrams helped build the stage, among other things. 3. It got easier to sign acts once Carly Simon agreed to perform. 4. In addition to John Hall and the Pousette-Dart band, another Taylor sibling, Alex, joined the bill.

Continued from page 32

And that would lead to the MUSE concerts (Musicians United for Safe Energy) the following year. Three days of concerts were held in Madison Square Garden, featuring a who’s who of rock ’n’ roll, including Carly Simon, James Taylor, Bonnie Raitt, the Doobie Brothers, Crosby, Stills and Nash, Jackson Brown, Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Poco, and Neil Young.

A bunch of the crew from the No Nukes concert went down to New York to help out with the MUSE concerts, but

what’s amazing is that after the success of the two concerts, to the best of Abrams’ knowledge, none of the No Nuke organizers ever got involved in producing a concert again. “This was a particularly intense short-term adventure,” Abrams said, “but it’s great to remember we actually pulled the whole thing off. What started off as just a fun thing ended up being a ton of work. There were some stretches where things got tough that I choose not to remember — mostly I remember the tremendous collaboration and the contributions of so many people to an extraordinary day.”

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BUILDING THE M.V. ATLAS OF LIFE • FEATURE

SASSAFRAS (SASSAFRAS ALBIDINUM)

BLUE-EYED GRASSES (GENUS SISYRINCHIUM)

GROUND CRAB SPIDER (GENUS XYSTICUS)

A STILETTO FLY (GENUS OZODICEROMYIA)

TIGER MOTH (SUBTRIBE SPILOSOMINA)

DEAD MAN'S FINGERS (CODIUM FRAGILE)

BICOLORED STRIPED SWEAT BEE (AGAPOSTEMON VIRESCENS)

SMALL COPPER (LYCAENA PHLAEAS)

EASTERN RIBBON SNAKE (THAMNOPHIS SAURITA)

A STILETTO FLY (OZODICEROMYIA ARGENTATA)

A STILETTO FLY (OZODICEROMYIA ARGENTATA) 48

MARGINED CALLIGRAPHER (TOXOMERUS MARGINATUS)

MARGINED CALLIGRAPHER (TOXOMERUS MARGINATUS)

COMMON GARTER SNAKE (THAMNOPHIS SIRTALIS)

COMMON GARTER SNAKE (THAMNOPHIS SIRTALIS)

S

(P

BUTTERFLY MI (ASCLEPIAS TU

FEATURE • BUILDING THE M.V. ATLAS OF LIFE

SPUR-THROATED GRASSHOPPER (HESPEROTETTIX VIRIDIS)

SWAMP AZALEA (RHODODENDRON VISCOSUM)

Matt Pelikan holds a six-spotted tiger beetle (Cicindela sexguttata). This one has eight spots.

An Island biologist gets help from the community to fill in the blanks.

BUNCH GRASS LOCUST (PSEUDOPOMALA BRACHYPTERA)

Story by Sam Moore

Building the M.V. Atlas of Life

UTTERFLY MILKWEED SCLEPIAS TUBEROSA)

BUTTERFLY MILKWEED (ASCLEPIAS TUBEROSA)

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A long morning walk with Matt Pelikan Island is a distinctive place. It’s got distinccan go all of 400 yards. When I joined tive geology, distinctive land use history; him for a stroll along Fire Road D in climatologically and in terms of weather Edgartown a few weeks ago, we barely it’s unique. All of these things have, over went anywhere at all. the centuries, added up to a very unusual That’s because we were looking for place. It’s a hotbed of rare species.” insects, something that Pelikan speThe other point is to encourage a cializes in. We found plenty. Crested culture of natural history on the Vineyard. pygmy grasshoppers, dusted skipper “It’s getting people excited about it, and butterflies, ants, flies, and wasps of many interested in learning more and discovspecies, and predatory beetles like the ering that they can make meaningful shimmering gem Cicindela sexguttata — the six-spotted tiger beetle. “Of course, it has eight spots,” Pelikan joked. (The number of spots, despite the name, can vary.)

Pelikan It was the bounty of one prospecting fraction of the forest, and the for insects Island at large, at just that in the State single moment. “I spend a huge Forest. amount of time in the State Forest,” Pelikan told me when we made our plan to go afield.

“It’s mostly sandplain, the outwash plain of the Vineyard. It’s a big tract with really good habitat conditions over much of it.”

His strategy, I learned, was to “just sort of kick some bushes and see what we can find.”

“You’ve got to think like a bug,” he advised me. “This looks like it’s all one habitat to us, because we’re gigantic, but if you’re an eighth of an inch long, this is the Serengeti.”

It’s an approachable method, and one that Pelikan, who works at the conservation organization contributions,” he said. He aspires to an BiodiversityWorks, is hoping to share. ethic of stewardship, “where people have a He is the director of a new program, the vested interest in preserving what’s here.”

Martha’s Vineyard Atlas of Life, that is The project hinges on the unprecedesigned to foster a growing community dented availability of useful citizen-science of amateur naturalists, and to harness tools, chief among them a biology database their collective efforts to inventory the and social network called iNaturalist.

Island’s flora and fauna.

Jointly run by the California Academy of “The point of the Atlas of Life is Sciences and the National Geographic twofold,” Pelikan said. “The direct one is Society, the website and its accompanying cataloguing and studying and documentapp have amassed millions of users, and ing the biodiversity of Martha's Vineyard, become the primary venue for amateur which is distinctive, both in what we have and professional naturalists alike to share and in what we don’t have. Because the observations and identify species.

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Pelikan takes careful photos of the insects he finds, and after our walk he uploaded several sightings to iNaturalist, with a photo and coordinates.

Some, including the dusted skipper and the pygmy grasshopper, have since been labeled “research grade” on the app, which means that other users agree with Pelikan’s identification. This label represents the good stuff, from a scientific standpoint — it’s an observation reliable enough to be pulled into regional, national, and international databases that are used by researchers of all stripes. iNaturalist relies on an active community of people who engage by logging their own encounters and confirming identifications made by others.

In the coming months, Pelikan will lead group training on field identification, as well as on the basics of iNaturalist. He led his first, a webinar on Vineyard butterflies, in May. He’s also developing simple, Vineyard-specific identification guides: so far for butterflies in the hairstreak and elfin groups, and tiger beetles.

Skill-building, with pointers on identification, places to look, and basic ecology, is his priority, and he is eager to share his love for the search. “It’s what gives me the most satisfaction in life, learning about the natural world,” he said.

“Even if it’s negative information.

If you go looking for something and you don’t find it, even that is satisfying. I want to proselytize, to give people the gateway drug and get them started.”

The gateway drug, according to Pelikan, is often a butterfly. “People like colorful things, they like things that are big enough to look at easily, and easy to find,” he said. “Butterflies and dragonflies and moths, and vertebrates of course, birds and other vertebrates, are where people tend to gravitate initially.” Pelikan, who himself started as a birder, said, “a common progression is butterflies, and then dragonflies, and then everything else.”

PHOTOS, PAGES 48-49, ROW 1: JAMIE CHRISTIE, NATHANIEL SHARP , MATT PELIKAN, MATT PELIKAN; ROW 2: MATT PELIKAN, NATHANIEL SHARP, NATHANIEL SHARP, MATT PELIKAN; ROW 3: MATT PELIKAN, BITSY THOMAS, MATT PELIKAN, MATT PELIKAN; ROW 4: MATT PELIKAN, NATHANIEL SHARP, JAMIE CHRISTIE, JAMIE CHRISTIE; ALL OTHERS: SAM MOORE

BUILDING THE M.V. ATLAS OF LIFE • FEATURE

FEATURE • BUILDING THE M.V. ATLAS OF LIFE

Pelikan is at the “everything else” stage, and it’s an “else” that includes the smallest, most nondescript flies I have ever seen.

At one point on our walk, he trailed off mid-sentence, and zeroed in on a fly. “So that fly is a blowfly, I could tell you that,” he said. “I think it’s in the genus Lucilia.”

Looking closer, he said, “They spend a lot of time grooming. People say they’re filthy animals, but like most insects, they’re actually pretty clean in their personal habits.”

Some of these flies are difficult to identify, even for him. When he hits a wall, he gets help online. “Twenty-five years ago, if you wanted to study flies, you needed to trap them, and you needed to use scientific keys to identify them,” he said. “Now you can take pictures and put them up on iNaturalist, and some graduate student in Ukraine identifies them for you!”

As he says, it didn’t used to be so easy. The first real field guide for birds came out less than a century ago, and specialized guides to many taxa are much more recent. And yet, in many places, communities of amateur naturalists thrived even without these resources. In the 19th century, the study of insects, and of natural history in general, was not only popular — it was posh.

“I think being a little bit of a naturalist was a genteel interest for a rich person to have,” Pelikan said, “and one of the ways that you could display that gentility would be to have people come and visit with you and spend the summer netting moths or looking at the isopods in your ponds or something.” A redux for today’s Vineyard? “I’d love to see it,” he said.

Gone are the days of the entomology aristocracy, when people were dressed to kill (bugs), and crystal glasses clinked over trays of finely preserved orthoptera. But an element of congeniality is still present, and it doesn’t sound half bad. “People have

mothing parties,” Pelikan said, “where you get together with a bunch of beer and a white sheet and a black light.” Sign me up.

On the Vineyard, some taxa have held a steady grip on public interest, notably fishes, birds, and of course, our often-seen mammals. “There are studies of fish on the Vineyard going back into the 19th century,” Pelikan said, “and something like 350 species of bony fish are documented here, including these wacky things that

“

these are “research grade.” About 40 percent of the species observed were insects, but there are a myriad of observations of plants too, followed by birds, spiders, fungi, and mammals.

Tapping the well of natural history enthusiasts on the Island is a task not limited to the present. Pelikan is also thumbing through Vineyard history for observations made years ago, sometimes many years.

“Albert P. Morse,” he said, “my main man.” Morse was an entomologist in the early 1900s who “traveled all around the Eastern United States just collecting grasshoppers and visiting other people who had collections, and taking notes on their specimens. When I found one of his books, it instantly added like four species of orthoptera to the checklist that I was working on, because he had been to the Vineyard a couple of times.

That was back in the day when it was all farmland, so it was great habitat for grasshoppers.”

A quality observer like Morse, and a quality observation that matches the habitat you would expect for the time — well, Pelikan says, “you can take it to the bank!”

He’s also working on digitizing “Island Life,” a compendium of local species published a decade ago by naturalists Alan Keith and Steve Spongberg, who drew heavily on the historical record to flesh out a list of known organisms on the Vineyard.

On the reliability of old observations, Pelikan said, “It’s interesting, because while some of it is certainly apocryphal, the standard of performance in amateur naturalists a hundred years ago was actually very, very high. The taxonomy has changed, so there is some reconstruction of what they’re actually talking about sometimes. But these guys were doing it the old-fashioned way: They were getting specimens under microscopes, and drawing sketches and

The Island is a distinctive place.

It’s got distinctive geology, distinctive land use history; climatologically and in terms of weather it’s unique. All of these things have, over the centuries, added up to a very unusual place. It’s a hotbed of rare species.

–Matt Pelikan

”

come up on Gulf Stream eddies.” Birders, too, are a dedicated community here, who report their sightings, and have a long institutional and communal memory for the comings and goings of species over time.

But there are other limbs on the Vineyard’s ever-branching tree of life. A look at the Atlas of Life page on iNaturalist shows that dedicated hobbyists have already started tiptoeing out onto some.

The last time I checked, iNaturalist showed more than 8,000 observations on the Island, across an astonishing 1,920 species, and more than half of

Continued on page 63

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Greg Martino harvests sugar kelp, pulling up a rope, then tugging or cutting the seaweed off.

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FEATURE • CAN SEAWEED SAVE THE WORLD?

Dan Martino describes seaweed farming as "zeroinput farming." It's all grown with natural phytoplankton from the open ocean.

Can Seaweed

save the world?

The Martino brothers are taking a gamble that there’s an appetite for the sugar kelp they’re harvesting right off our shores — both as a climate change fighter and a tasty addition to what’s on our plates.

S

Story by Catherine Walthers • Photos by Randi Baird

eaweed isn’t a weed — it’s a sea vegetable. And it can be grown, harvested, and enjoyed. It’s growing here in Oak Bluffs, the first seaweed farm licensed in Massachusetts. A few more have followed on the Cape and Nantucket. Scientists are looking at its potential to help heal the oceans’ ills, and hope more can be grown up and down the East Coast.

To visit this farm, I hop in a 26-foot, 1970s Whaler named Babe with Dan and Greg Martino and we make our way under the drawbridge near the hospital. Minutes later, we arrive at a square of buoys bobbing in the ocean. We can see Eastville Beach and some waterfront homes about 300 feet away. To the right, the Steamship ferry comes and goes from the Vineyard Haven docks.

This is the site of the Martino brothers’ Cottage City Oyster

farm, where they have raised millions of oysters for market since 2014. It made sense for them to consider adding seaweed farming when initially contacted by marine biologists at both the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute and the MV Shellfish group. In fact, there’s a name for this type of marine farming or aquaculture: 3D farming. (It is also referred to as regenerative farming.) In these small coastal underwater gardens, seaweed can grow near oysters, mussels, or clams, utilizing the space from the ocean floor, up to where the oyster cages sit, vertically up to the surface using ropes and buoys. The seaweed typically grows on horizontal ropes stretched between buoys. To feed a growing world population, marine biologists hope we can shift some farming from land to the vast sea, which can be a model of sustainability. Seaweed — and shellfish for that matter too — need only naturally occurring nutrients in the water to thrive and grow.

“It’s zero-input farming,” says Dan. “We don’t have to feed

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CAN SEAWEED SAVE THE WORLD? • FEATURE

Like trees, seaweed absorbs carbon dioxide from water through photosynthesis and, in the process of converting it into its own food, releases pure oxygen back into the ocean.

Having these kelp farms or forests can also help protect coastal areas by lessening the impacts of storms and surges.

And it creates habitat for fish, crabs, and sea animals. any of the species on the farm. It’s all grown with natural phytoplankton from the open ocean.”

“Mother nature does its thing,” adds Greg. “Our job is to find the best growing environment for it so it can flourish.” Their office is a solar-powered raft floating on the two-acre farm.

Dan lifts up a length of rope from the water, with the other end still attached to the buoy, exposing a line of dangling seaweed blades glistening in the sun as the water falls away. There are many types of seaweed, but this is sugar kelp, a variety native to the East Coast. It’s golden, thin and translucent — though it turns a light green if blanched. There are dozDan lifts ens of varieties of kelp and, as Dan a length explains, like farming on land, kelp of rope takes on slightly differing qualities from the depending on where it’s grown water, with and the local conditions. For the other land-based agriculture, the term is end still called terroir. For ocean growing, attached to there’s also a term: merroir. Here, the buoy. it means Martha’s Vineyard kelp differs from the kelp now grown in Chatham or from Connecticut waters where one grower harvests kelp blades 10 feet in length, partially because of the amount of nutrients available. It can change from year to year — this year, it grew to only half the length as last. Kelp grows best during the coldest months, and this batch has been growing since December, just over four months. It’s now ready for harvest. Dan puts on gloves, grabs a handful and gently tugs to dislodge the bunch from the rope. He moves quickly, and plops each handful into a nearby white bucket, which is filling up quickly.

The brothers maintain three lines

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of growing kelp, and this section produced some 20 to 30 pounds.

Last year, they raised and managed to sell about 400 pounds — despite its novelty.

Dan hands a few strands to their guests (me and photographer Randi Baird) who nibble on the samples. Dan had given me two pounds of the fresh sugar kelp a few weeks earlier, so I had been eating and experimenting with it already. I had some advantage and experience using seaweed, graduating from a chef ’s school focused on food and healing. We had a whole culinary segment on the nutritional benefits of seaweed, experimenting with types like wakame, arame, and nori, the dried sheets used for sushi. Most of what I tried in the past was in a dried form, and needed to be reconstituted in water before using. I wasn’t prepared for tasting this fresh seaweed, almost like lettuce. It was tender, mild and super fresh tasting, with the hint of the sea or an ocean breeze. It was completely different, and as a chef, I could appreciate the newness, flavor, and possibilities.

Seaweed is considered a superfood, containing iodine, boron, iron, zinc, magnesium, folate, and protein, among other nutrients and vitamins A, B1, B2, C, D, E, and K. Kelp contains the highest concentration of calcium of any food, including milk. There is also a natural fiber called alginate in seaweed that may act as a fat blocker, stopping absorption of fat in the gut. “It’s ridiculous for you,” says Greg.

There’s potentially one major drawback to their business plan.

Outside of Asian cuisines, there’s little demand or market for sea-

weed. Customers who don’t know what to do with it are probably not going to buy it. Western consumers might guess at what to do with seaweed, but don’t really have much experience cooking or using it. More on this below.

GETTING ONTO THE WATER Dan Martino, 38, came to the Island first, hired by Plum TV as a camera person. He still operates Kelp varies, a video production company on depending the side. Greg, 35, a finance major where it's in college, with job offers lined grown. The up from a few banks, followed his Martinos, below, older brother’s advice, and came off Oak Bluffs. to the Island as well, getting a job at MVYRadio. A story that took Dan to New York City to film the Billion Oyster Project, opened his eyes to this growing field of oyster farming and resonated with both brothers. “After the shoot, I called Jack Blake from Sweet Neck Oysters in Edgartown to learn from a local how it’s done,” Dan says. “I think we both felt oyster farming was something tangible that we could get involved in that would help combat climate change and benefit the local community and environment.” Neither had ever owned or operated a boat, and neither were biologists or even fishermen. They started by working on Jack Blake’s oyster farm before starting their own farm in OB. As the business grew — oysters were having a heyday both here and elsewhere — their own skills came in handy. Greg’s finance background helped with loans, accounting, insurance, and inevitable paperwork; Dan’s art degree contributed to website design and all forms of marketing.

During this time, they both married, had kids, got involved in community life here — and still hung on to their side jobs.

When they were contacted by the MV Shellfish Group about the potential to add seaweed to the mix, they were equally responsive. The Shellfish Group was in contact with Scott Lindell, a research specialist in marine farming for the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI), who had been experimenting with growing kelp and looking for potential farms in Massachusetts. (Lindell and his work can be viewed in a TEDxCambridge talk titled Farming the Ocean to Feed the World. On the Island, they tried a few locations, including Menemsha, inside

the lagoon, and at the Martino’s oyster farm, and compared notes at the end of the season. “That first year was trying to find a good site to see how it would grow and where it would grow,” says Dan. “We realized quickly this was something where we were in the right place at the right time with all the players,” notes Greg.

If they could grow it, the benefits to the local environment seemed important. What makes seaweed helpful as a climate solution is that it absorbs carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas and by-product of burning fossil fuels.

Our oceans absorb about ⅓ of the carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere. As a result, they are not only warming but have become about 30 percent more acidic because when carbon dioxide dissolves in water, it creates carbonic acid. That acidification, in turn, has all kinds of negative impacts on shellfish, coral, and plankton making it more difficult for them to form their shells and skeletons, and dissolving existing shells. Like trees, seaweed absorbs carbon dioxide from the water through photosynthesis and, in the process of converting it into their own food, releases pure oxygen back into the ocean. Having these kelp farms or forests can also help protect coastal areas by lessening the impacts of storms and storm surges. And, they create habitat for fish, crabs, and sea animals.

“I don’t want to paint too rosy a picture,” says Greg. “I don’t think this is the solution, but I think it’s part of the solution, in a multi-faceted way. For one thing, he says, it’s zero input. “You’re creating food, and as a sponge, you’re removing carbon. Oysters are absorbing phosphorus and nitrogen, and seaweed is absorbing excess carbon out of the ocean and you’re applying [those] to something else, like gardens or food. It’s a good way to grow sustainable choices that can supplement a growing population.”

Put another way, says his brother Dan, “if you go to a restaurant and order spaghetti and meatballs, that one pound of beef is 2,500 gallons of water, 12 pounds of grain, 35 pounds of soil, and a gallon of gasoline to make. If you just chose clams, instead of beef, you’re going to remove all of that out of the equation.”

Once they realized sugar kelp could grow here, Greg and Dan set out to get a license from the state to grow it. This was

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CAN SEAWEED SAVE THE WORLD? • FEATURE

Martha’s Vineyard kelp differs from the kelp now grown in Chatham or from Connecticut waters, where one grower harvests kelp blades 10 feet in length, partially because of the amount of nutrients available. It can change from year to year — this year, it grew to only half the length as last.

new to everyone — the state had never granted a license for seaweed aquaculture; nor did they have any regulations in place for growing, handling, or selling. The brothers worked closely with and credit Chris Schillaci, formerly of the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, for helping to implement the new process. Cape and Islands Senator Julian Cyr and the MV Shellfish Group were also instrumental in the process, and Cyr has visited the farm. In 2016, Cottage City received the state’s first license to grow and market kelp. Not far behind them were kelp farmers in Chatham, Harwich, and Wareham.

They also received help from Thimble Island Farm kelp and oyster grower Bren Smith, a kelp evangelist who’s been on 60 Minutes, in National Geographic, and honored for being a pioneer in regenerative ocean farming. Smith had gone through the permitting/regulatory process in Connecticut and shared information, especially in the food handling and harvesting aspects of seaweed. Smith founded GreenWave, a non-profit developed to help expand kelp farming — imagining farms up and down the eastern coast and a potential multi-billion dollar market. Worldwide, the seaweed market was already an $11 billion industry, primarily in Asian countries. Why not here?

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Smith, who had been turned off by the negative excesses of fish farming, saw the benefit that farmed seaweed and shellfish could play in addressing climate change and as a food source, and gravitated toward, as he puts it, “growing things that don’t swim away and that you don’t have to feed.”

The work Smith and others are doing should help pave the way for the Martinos and other 3D marine farmers to come. At first, Smith called kelp the new kale, an early slogan. But he soon recognized some difficulties in marketing to chefs and the public unfamiliar with incorporating seaweed into their diet. Through GreenWave, Smith has turned his sights onto something bigger — turning kelp into the new soy. Instead of using soy as a base for products, Smith wants kelp, with its nutritious and sustainable growing profile to be used everywhere — as an ingredient for animal feeds, base for foods, cosmetics and even bio-plastics. They may be onto something with the potential addition to animal feed. A recent study out of the University of California, Davis showed how adding just three ounces of seaweed to animal feed could reduce by up to 82 percent the polluting methane gas emitted into the atmosphere by cows.

To feed a growing world population, marine biologists hope we can shift some farming from land to the vast sea, which can be a model of sustainability. Seaweed — and shellfish for that matter, too — need only naturally occurring nutrients in the water to thrive and grow.

HOW DOES IT GROW? Through GreenWave, Smith also sells the seed spools that Dan and Greg use to grow the kelp. The brothers take the spool string, which comes by ferry, and wrap it around their own ropes, attached to the buoys on either side where it grows, absorbing ocean nutrients.

To care for the seaweed, Dan and Greg will occasionally check on the ropes, especially in that first week to see if the tension is right, not dragging anywhere near the ocean floor. And they check after any major storm to make sure it’s growing well.

“That’s it,” says Dan. “It’s kind of like watching grass grow.”

At the same time, they are checking on their growing clams and oysters as well. The day we Dan Martino accompanied them, they pulled with the up several of the 400-pound golden oyster cages and harvested those sugar kelp. ready for market, in addition to harvesting the sugar kelp. “It also benefits our oysters,” explains Dan, who says some seaweed breaks away normally or during a storm. “They’re eating some of the seaweed we’re growing.”

As part of regulations, and being a test site, the brothers periodically send in water samples.

“We have some of the best water, quality wise,” notes Greg about the Vineyard. And they’ve been contacted by Southern Connecticut State University, which is also studying the process. This means ferrying guests from the university to the site and sharing data.

The brothers said at first they weren’t sure how to sell or market the seaweed. They laughed

and joked that some of their first early deliveries to friends and interested consumers felt like clandestine “weed” deliveries. Now, in addition to a fresh seaweed market when harvested in the spring, they freeze a lot of it to sell at the West Tisbury Farmers Market. They only joined the market during the pandemic year to sell their oysters when restaurants were closed but have found the market helpful and expect to continue. They sell the frozen raw kelp by the pound, dried kelp flakes and smoothie kelp cubes.

The key to selling oysters — and they predict the same might be true for the sugar kelp — is wholesale. And right now, the jury is out whether chefs will find it a useful product.

“You can sell an unlimited amount of oysters,” says Dan. “But with seaweed, there’s a limit because demand isn’t there.”

There are signs, however, that things may be changing. “At first it was ‘who would even want to even eat that,’” Greg says. “The marketing of seaweed is not all that appealing and appetizing.

People think of that low tide smell and all that seaweed. But when you start naming it sea vegetables or sea greens that’s when the marketing really matters.

“I think that what we’re starting to see, through our sales and deliveries, it is becoming more common. People have a good understanding of the eco-benefits of it. Everyone I’ve spoken to has found some way to eat it and enjoy it. We always have new clients that are reaching out.”

Right now, the revenue stream from selling the seaweed is “negligible,” says Dan. “If we sell what we have, that’s great,” adds Greg. “But overall, it’s a blip

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CAN SEAWEED SAVE THE WORLD? • FEATURE

on the radar.” Where the industry goes and whether it changes, remains to be seen. “We’re all just figuring this out, where does it all fit in,” he adds.

KELP IN THE KITCHEN I came home with a one-pound bag of kelp to begin experimenting. My goal was three good recipes for this magazine.

I ended up with about a dozen good recipes (getting another pound in the meantime).

It helps that I am a recipe developer by trade. But the truth is, I fell in love with the sugar kelp, especially this fresh version, ribbons of delicate kelp, with a sweet ocean scent, tender. And healthy!

I brushed up with suggestions from friend Roxanne Kapitan, who had been getting fresh kelp deliveries for at least two years.

She chopped it up and added it to scrambled eggs with tarragon, smoked paprika and other fresh herbs, which I recreated.

Delicious! It was wild watercress season, and she chopped the kelp and added it to a wonderful watercress salad with roasted red pepper and feta. Her favorite combination though was a kale salad massaged with garlic, olive oil, and salt with lemon zest, chopped kelp, and an herbal apple cider dressing.

“Anything that’s bitter, that seaweed goes fantastically with,” reports Roxanne. “It’s a textural complement to the bitter flavors.”

I figured it would naturally complement fish. I tried fresh crabcakes, lightly flavored with some lemon, chives, red pepper for color, and a dash of mayonnaise. I mixed in about ½ cup of the chopped kelp at the end. Honestly, it’s hard to gauge what flavor the kelp adds because it is fairly mild but I’ve made them two or three times since, and the recipe made the cut. With the leftover crab, I tried a kelp and crab fried rice (yum), and then a fried rice with kelp and veggies (ditto).

The Martinos stuck a few fresh oysters in my order and I figured I might help them in their raw bar catering business by creating a tiny seaweed salad topping for raw oysters. I blanched the kelp for 30 seconds and added some sesame oil, rice vinegar, ginger, and a few other ingredients. The blanching shrinks the kelp somewhat, makes the texture a little more slippery and turns it light green. Unfortunately, this seaweed accent did not enhance the fresh oysters in this case, though I think a seaweed topping, with experimentation, would work.

What did work was a kelp butter, made earlier in the day

with softened butter, lemon, shallots, and tarragon, then refrigerated. This makes an instant sauce later for fish. It worked perfectly with the panko-coated fluke that I sautéed. I’ve made this for friends who raved, and am sharing that recipe here too.

Kelp can be dried and used as a flavor booster or added to salt as a nutritional enhancement. Cottage City dries some of its kelp for sale. Drying it — removing the water — intensifies the salty and sea flavor. So the dried kelp is different from the fresh raw kelp and both are different from the blanched kelp.

One Friday, before heading off Island, I decided to dry some of the kelp in my fridge so it wouldn’t go to waste. I had remembered a crispy seaweed snack we made in cooking school with maple syrup and sesame seeds. I separated the strands and rubbed them with maple syrup, then placed them on parchment paper and sprinkled with sesame seeds. I put the oven on 200°F and let the kelp dry for 30 minutes or so. I happily munched on the results on the boat ride — a crispy dried kelp with a sweet and lightly salty flavor.

I never looked up kelp or seaweed recipes, but I know seaweed is commonly added to many Asian soups, including miso soup. So I made a miso soup with leeks, ginger, kale, and kelp.

I felt virtuous with each spoonful. Later, when clients gave me some homegrown shiitakes to use for one of their meals, I made a kelp shiitake ramen noodle soup. I highly recommend this.

This all led to one of my favorite uses, a kelp clam chowder — perfect for Martha’s Vineyard. My friend Jessica Roddy had already adapted a New York Times chowder recipe and I used that. She, though, had dug the clams, and shucked them herself, and added the raw chopped clams to the hot broth. We enjoyed her version around a firepit during COVID, and the group consensus was that it was the best chowder we had ever eaten. I later used that same adaptation (but lightly cooked the clams to open them) and added a handful of chopped kelp ribbons with the clams. I’ve made that chowder a half-dozen times. It worked so well, I rushed a quart down to the Martinos, and said ‘you guys need to make and sell this,’ especially since they grow clams as well. I pictured a chowder cart in OB: Cottage City Kelp Chowder. They thought of the Farmer’s Market and asked if I had a commercial kitchen.

What do you think? Do you think it would be a success?

We’ll see what the future brings. But good luck to the Martino brothers and all those who are thinking and caring about the future of our oceans and food.

TOUR THE COTTAGE CITY OYSTER FARM Greg and Dan offer boat tours of their oyster farm during the summer months. Their new, 31-foot custom open-deck boat can take up to 20 people. Billed as a floating raw bar experience, this education-

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al tour, which lasts about 1½ hours, teaches guests about the process of growing oysters from seed to market, and they can enjoy oysters directly from the source. The tours are perfect for events, oyster

aficionados, and those seeking an understanding of where their food comes from. Children must be at least 13 years old and accompanied by an adult. For details and dates, go to cottagecityoysters.com.

18-oz f rozen package of Jonah or rock crab, thawed (about 1½ cups)

1 egg, mixed with a fork

¼ cup mayonnaise

⅓ cup panko breadcrumbs 3 tbsp. scallions or chives, green section, finely chopped

¼ cup minced red pepper

⅓ cup chopped fresh or fresh-frozen Martha’s Vineyard kelp

1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice

1 tbsp. fresh chopped dill ¼ tsp. each salt and pepper Remoulade sauce, your favorite recipe, to serve

Squeeze any additional liquid from the crab after it has thawed, and add to a mixing bowl. Add the egg, mayonnaise, panko breadcrumbs, scallions, red pepper, kelp, lemon juice, dill and salt and pepper. Mix gently. Let sit about 10–15 minutes before forming into cakes to let breadcrumbs absorb extra moisture.

Form into cakes about 2 to 3 inches in diameter. Add some butter and olive oil to a skillet and gently cook until each side is golden. Serve with a remoulade sauce or salsa.

COTTAGE CITY KELP CLAM CHOWDER This simple, yet delicious chowder has both clams and kelp seaweed and is a match made on Martha’s Vineyard. I adapted it from a recipe I first tried at Jessica Roddy’s Chilmark home, after she adapted it from a New York Times recipe by Sam Sifton.

RECIPES

Note about kelp: I created all of these recipes when I had fresh kelp this spring. If you are unable to get fresh kelp, try the freshfrozen kelp Cottage City sells at the West Tisbury Farmers’ Market. The volume or texture after freezing could be different, so use your cook’s judgment when measuring.

EASY KELP CRAB CAKES You can usually find the freshest crab in the frozen fish case at one of the local fish markets. These go so fast, I usually start by doubling the recipe. If you catch and pick your crabs, lucky you. Makes 6 2½inch crabcakes. Serves 3–4.

3 to 4 dozen medium-sized clams, cherrystones work nicely 3 tbsp. butter

2 med. onions, diced 4 med. Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into approx. ½–inch dice

¾ cup white wine

4 sprigs thyme 2 bay leaves

2 cups cream

1 cup chopped fresh (or fresh frozen) Cottage City Kelp Freshly ground black pepperChopped parsley Oyster crackers, optional

Cook the clams in batches. Use a large wide-bottomed pan with a lid, and bring about 1½ cups of water to a boil. Add the clams in one layer, cover, and steam until the clams open (4 to 6 minutes for littlenecks or cherrystones). I lift the lid a few times and remove

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CAN SEAWEED SAVE THE WORLD?• FEATURE

til ready to serve. Just before serving, remove the thyme sprigs and bay leaves, and heat gently but do not let chowder come to a boil. Garnish with chopped parsley. Serve with oyster crackers, if you have them.

KELP LEMON BUTTER FOR FISH This makes a great sauce for fish. I’ve used it on crispy local fluke and scallops, but try it with your favorite fish preparation. Makes enough for 2 dinners for 4. ½ cup fresh Martha’s Vineyard kelp, chopped

1 stick of butter, room temperature

1 tbsp. shallots, minced

2 tsp. fresh tarragon, chopped

1 tsp. lemon zest (from about 1 lemon)

1 tbsp. lemon juice

any opened clams to keep them as tender as possible. When all the clams in the first batch are open and removed, pour the clam broth into a measuring cup, leaving the last bit of sandy water in the pan.

Rinse the pan and repeat, adding another 1½ cups of water until all the clams are cooked. Reserve 4 cups of clam broth.

Let cool slightly and remove from the shell. Pour the reserved clam broth through a fine mesh strainer, coffee filter, or paper towel to catch any remaining sand.

Put a soup pot on medium-low and melt the better. Add the onions and cook, stirring frequently, until they are soft but not brown, about 10 minutes. Stir in potatoes and wine, and continue cooking until wine has nearly evaporated and the potatoes have just started to soften, about 5 minutes. Add 3 cups clam broth. Potatoes should be covered by the liquid, so add more clam juice, if needed. Add the thyme and bay leaves.

Partly cover the pot and simmer gently until potatoes are tender (make sure they are tender), approximately 10–15 minutes.

Meanwhile, roughly chop the clams (not finely chopped).

When potatoes are tender, add cream, and stir in chopped clams and chopped kelp. Add black pepper to taste. Let sit un-

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Place all the ingredients in a mixing bowl. Using a fork, press the butter and other ingredients together until evenly combined.

I place the mixture on a piece of plastic, in the rough shape of a stick of butter. Roll up and twist the ends together. Refrigerate until ready to use.

To use: If the piece of fish I’m using is cooked in a heavy skillet, I usually wipe out the skillet when the fish is done before adding the compound butter. Usually the sauce serving is 1 to 2 Tbsp. of the kelp butter compound per serving. Melt the compound in the pan and cook on medium-low a few minutes so shallots are cooked. Add additional lemon juice, if needed.

Spoon sauce around the fish.

KELP RANCH DRESSING This is a great dressing for any summer salad, and also perfect as a dip for fresh-cut veggies. For the dip, you can add a dollop more of mayonnaise to thicken, if desired.

⅓ cup low-fat buttermilk ¼ cup mayonnaise 2 tbsp. yogurt 1 clove garlic, finely minced 1 tbsp. apple cider vinegar 2 tbsp. canola oil ¾ tsp. Martha’s Vineyard

kelp flakes pepper 2 tbsp. minced fresh chives

In a bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, mayonnaise, yogurt, garlic, and vinegar. Whisk in the oil until creamy. Season generously with salt, lots of pepper, and chives.

‘KEEP-THIS’ SIMPLE, SMART, SUSTAINABLE HANDBOOK

RECYCLING

All six towns have the same rules for what can and can’t be recycled.

CAN

METAL CANS • Primarily food and beverage cans • Empty and clean wash PLASTIC CONTAINERS • Bottles, jars, jugs and tubs • Empty, wash clean • NO caps or lids GLASS CONTAINERS • Bottles and jars • Empty, wash clean • NO caps or lids • NO ceramics, NO window panes PAPER AND PAPERBOARD • Office paper, junk mail, newspaper, magazine, paperboard boxes • Empty and flatten, NO shredded paper • NO pizza boxes • NO books with bindings CORRUGATED CARDBOARD • Empty and flatten • Remove packing tape • NO pizza boxes • NO waxed boxes

CAN NOT

• Recyclables in a garbage bag • Garbage • Plastic bags or plastic wrap • Food or liquid • tyrofoam items or packaging materials • Clothing or linens • Tanglers (hoses, wires, chains) • Electronics

TRANSFER STATION RULES • Aquinnah, Chilmark, Edgartown, West Tisbury • Dual sorting system • Cardboard and paper go together • Plastic containers, tin cans, aluminum cans and glass go together • Oak Bluffs (local drop-off ) • Dual sorting system • Cardboard, newspaper and paper go together • Everything else single stream • Tisbury (local drop-off ) • Dual sorting system • Cardboard and newspaper together • Everything else single stream • Oak Bluffs Bruno’s Drop-Off • Dual sorting system • Separate cardboard • Everything else single stream

Aspirational Recycling • If you’re unsure about whether some thing is or is not recyclable, it’s better to throw it out. If recycling bins are contaminated with too many non-recyclable materials, the entire bin will be thrown out. “When in doubt, throw it out.”

• ABC’s & Bruno’s • No-waste policy: if there is any nonrecyclable material, bin is thrown out • MVRD • Similar, but more materials-dependent.

Food waste and oil contamination are more no-tolerance, whereas materials like plastic bags and styrofoam are more tolerated.

• The biggest mistake Don Hatch of MVRD sees: • Putting plastic bags, plastic wrap or cellophane plastic in recycling

COMPOSTING

Bruno’s and ABC’s Pick-Up Recycling Rules: • Single bin, don’t need to separate materials

Recycle, compost, volunteer, write your rep, buy secondhand.

HOW-TO • ACCEPTED ITEMS • All meat and fish (including bones, lobster shells and egg shells) • All dairy • Grains, nuts, seeds, flour products • Fruits and vegetables • Tea bags (staples removed) • Coffee grounds and coffee filters • All flowers • Paper napkins and paper towels • Unless they have toxic products that will not break down with high heat on them • UNACCEPTABLE ITEMS • Large amounts of oyster, clam, little neck, mussel shells. Contact the Martha’s Vineyard Shellfish Group to recycle these!

• Fat/oil/grease

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‘KEEP-THIS’ SIMPLE, SMART, SUSTAINABLE HANDBOOK

• Small amounts in the form of leftover prepared foods is fine • Compostable serviceware • IGI piloting this in August • Plastic or trash of any kind • Compost buckets available for free at IGI’s offices in West Tisbury or at town transfer stations. To request a bucket, email office@igimv.org or call 508-687-9062 • Drop-off locations (currently all free) • Transfer stations in all towns except Aquinnah • Chappy ferry dock • IGI’s farm • Best way to reduce food waste is still to shop and cook mindfully, repurpose foods that are close to expiring (smoothies! soup!), and even reorganize your fridge to be more aware of perishable items

VOLUNTEERING

• Polly Hill Arboretum grounds volunteer Volunteers are welcomed to work with staff staff at the 70-acre West Tisbury public garden on activities like planting, pruning, weeding and mulching. Volunteers can learn more about gardening and apply their new skills to their own landscape. PHA will provide tools, but volunteers should bring gloves and wear outdoor attire. Volunteers welcome from 9 am - 12 pm on June 3, July 1, August 5, September 2 and October 7. Contact Ian Jochems for more information at ian@pollyhillarboretum.org. Have fun getting in touch with your green thumb!

• Glean with Island Grown Initiative Located in West Tisbury, Island Grown Initiative is a non-profit organization that works to build a regenerative and equitable food system on Martha’s Vineyard. Volunteers can help Island Grown Initiative harvest fresh local produce for Islanders in need. No experience is needed as your field captain will provide a harvest demonstration and tools. Gleaning lasts for around two hours and volunteers may even keep a share of the harvest for themselves. To sign up, go to igimvg.

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org/volunteer.php. Happy harvesting!

• Great Pond Foundation The Great Pond Foundation is a nonprofit organization focuses on enhancing the health of the Edgartown Great Pond.

While volunteer opportunities are currently limited due to COVID-19, future volunteers are encouraged to assist with their Ecosystem Monitoring Program and educational outreach events. Potential volunteer opportunities include aiding in water quality and biodiversity data collection, conducting surveys of pond species, helping staff with demonstrations of scientific concepts and assisting with science communication.

These opportunities are especially perfect for anyone with an interest or background in STEM! For updates on volunteer opportunities, email science@ greatpondfoundation.org.

• Community Greenhouse of Martha’s Vineyard Community Greenhouse of MV is a community organization in Oak Bluffs to gather and grow food and plants and learn together. They have a range of year-round volunteer opportunities for all mobilities and level of expertise. On Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 am 12 pm, volunteers can work inside and outside to help with weeding, pruning, seeding, planting and beautifying plants - really any activity that nurtures thousands of beautiful plants and vegetables. Members have the added benefit of picking fresh produce!

There is no need to sign up for these days, one can simply show up. Toni Kauffman, who helps with volunteers, has described this opportunity as “soil therapy,” so make sure to check it out!

REPRESENTATIVES Got something to say about pending legislation? Want your voice heard?

STATE

• Governor Charlie Baker 617-725-4005; Twitter: @MassGovernor; Instagram: massgovernor

• State Senator Julian Andre Cyr 617-722-1570; Julian.

Cyr@masenate.gov; Tw: @JulianCyr; • State Representative Dylan A. Fernandes 617-722-2013; dylan.fernandes@mahouse.gov; Tw: @RepDylan; Insta: dylan1fernandes

FEDERAL • Senator Ed Markey

617-565-8519; Tw: @EdMarkey; Insta: edmarkey • Senator Elizabeth Warren 617-565-3170; Tw: @SenWarren; Insta: elizabethwarren • Representative William R. Keating 508-771-6868; Tw: USRepKeating

SECOND-HAND STORES Reuse, repurpose, refashion.

Chicken Alley Thrift Shop 38 Lagoon Pond Rd, Vineyard Haven, MA 02568 Hours: Sunday - Monday, closed; Tuesday - Saturday, 11 am - 5 pm Sells, nearly everything! Clothing, furniture, dishware, glasses, decor, knickknacks, etc.

Martha’s Closet 79 Beach Rd #9, Vineyard Haven, MA 02568 Hours: Sunday - Monday, closed; Tuesday - Friday, 11 am - 5 pm (Sat. to 6) Sells women’s clothing Second Treasures MV 61 Beach Rd, Vineyard Haven, MA 02568 Hours: Sunday, 12 pm - 5 pm; Monday, 10 am - 5 pm; Tuesday - Wednesday, closed; Thursday - Saturday, 10 am - 5 pm Sells antiques, collectibles, jewelry and artwork Want something else included?

Email us at editor@bluedotliving.com

FEATURE • BUILDING THE M.V. ATLAS OF LIFE

Continued from page 51

writing detailed descriptions, and a lot of that information is pretty darn good.”

For lovers of history or seekers of treasure, the Atlas of Life offers a tantalizing combination of detective work and scavenger hunt. Pelikan told me about one butterfly, a species of wetland skipper called a black dash, which hasn’t been seen on the Island since the 1930s. “That doesn’t mean it’s not here,” he said. “It just means that maybe somebody hasn’t looked in the right place.”

There are many species like this, and the question they pose is one that has driven some birders to the brink of madness: Is it truly gone, or are we not looking hard enough? “One record is all you need to demonstrate the existence of something in a place,” Pelikan said. “Demonstrating absence is of course, logically, a lot harder.

As the number of total records increases without that species being among them, the odds of it being here get steadily lower, and lower, and lower.”

“If we can find a little population of black dash,” he said, “that would be great to know, because we can try to protect it, we can learn what sort of resources are characteristic about that site, and maybe that will suggest some other places to look.”

A little can go a long way. “If we could get 20 people looking at butterflies, and posting pretty much every butterfly that they saw on iNaturalist,” Pelikan told me, “I would think that would give a very good distribution map for where you could find them, and how widely distributed each butterfly species is. That’s not a huge amount of work, and it’s not unrealistic to think of that happening over the next few years.

And then you would have a sense of which species are rare and where they occur.”

Pelikan draws inspiration from the Vermont Center for Ecostudies, whose Atlas project has more than 5 million records, and has identified species new to the region, rediscovered ones, and generated a volunteer-driven tapestry of biological communities around the state.

Community observation, especially coupled with solid advice from professional naturalists on the Island, is an avenue toward building a core competency in the Vineyard community that might come in handy in all sorts of ways.

For example, Pelikan pointed to the popularity of regenerative or restorative agriculture on the Island, where farms try to manage their land in a way that benefits the ecosystems in which they are enmeshed. “It would be great to have a bunch of people who had the skills to do the monitoring

to support that,” he said, “so a farm could introduce some kind of change in how they manage their land, and we could have people who had butterfly skills to do periodic butterfly surveys, as volunteers, to document any changes that were occurring.”

These observations do more than nurture a personal checklist. They start to trace, faintly at first, the comings and goings of an immensely variable community of life.

Biologists can use them to track the arrival of invasive species, to evaluate the richness or peril of a landscape for a given creature, and to track which conservation measures are having a positive effect on the landscape.

“The main take-home for the project for me would be the social engagement,” Pelikan said, “and how important it feels to share my love of studying the natural world. I can say that of the 82 species of butterflies that are known for Martha’s Vineyard, I’ve had 44 in my yard. And it’s a humble yard; it doesn’t take much to get impressive biodiversity if you’re paying attention. Taking pride in that sort of thing would be such a huge step in terms of protecting what we’ve got, and getting to understand it better.”

For info, visit mval.biodiversityworksmv. org, or email info@biodiversityworksmv.org. email info@biodiversityworksmv.org.

Supporting the Island’s biodiversity The M.V. Atlas of Life project is funded by the Betsy and Jesse Fink Family Foundation, which has strong Vineyard ties, but supports conservation initiatives in many other places. Warren Adams, a strategic advisor for the foundation, wrote, “With the growing impact of climate change and the omnipresent pressure of development, protecting the Island's biodiversity is a Herculean task that will require the concerted effort of many individuals and organizations. We hope our work with the Martha's Vineyard Atlas of Life and other initiatives the foundation is supporting — to increase the supply and use of native plant species, study and protect endangered species both on land and in sea, and build community with online and on-the-ground education and outreach — will make a material difference. And we hope that any successes here on Martha’s Vineyard can be exported off-Island."

Betsy and Jesse Fink have been using their Island property Refugia as a living laboratory and have utilized iNaturalist to catalog its biodiversity. Betsy wrote, "I feel that being able to identify and connect with what’s around us helps us better appreciate the uniqueness of a place, and in turn, encourages us to take greater care of the land. We are thrilled that Matt Pelikan, whose knowledge on this subject runs so deep, is leading the Martha’s Vineyard Atlas of Life initiative at BiodiversityWorks. Matt is an Island treasure unto himself and we are proud to support him as one of our current Fink Fellows.”

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LOCAL HEROES

LOCAL HERO

In the community

JEREMY DRIESEN

“The community work I do is just seeing what is happening and finding a place where I can be helpful in getting people together to make a change. The work I do in Aquinnah is on all these different levels, starting at our own house and trying to move toward being a fossil-fuel-free home. We are looking at a ten-year timeframe and we are in year four.”

NOLI TAYLOR In her quiet way, Noli makes a powerful difference.

By Lucas Thors Noli’s bona fides • At Island Grown Initiative, Noli started Island Grown Schools and spearheaded IGI’s food waste programs and its focus on regenerative agriculture • Founding member of the Island Climate Action Network • In Aquinnah, she has gathered a diverse group of townspeople to plan for, mitigate, and respond to climate emergencies (CERT) • She and her family are on year four of a ten-year plan to make their home fossil-fuel free

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With the Community Emergency Response Team “Bill Lake and I came together to form our climate and energy committee, to reduce fossil fuel use in town. Then there is adaptation: how do we get ready for the changes that are coming?

Third is emergency preparedness work.

I organized a community meeting with our emergency manager and a great cross-section of people in town. There are many challenges ahead: more extreme heat, more extreme rainfall events, big winter storms and hurricanes. The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) work is some of my favorite work. It’s a wonderful, diverse group of people — tribal members and non-tribal members, regional emergency services personnel, moms, grandmas, and young people. Instead of it feeling depressing or scary, it makes [us] feel like here we are together with our townspeople and we are doing something — creating daytime sheltering and an overnight emergency shelter, in partnership with the tribe.”

Bill Lake, co-chair of the Aquinnah energy and climate committee told us, “Noli is always going full speed and often carries a lot of other people along with her. Aquinnah is the first town on the Island to create a CERT. That

team has done terrific work in getting the town ready for a climate emergency.

Even though the problems we deal with are challenging, Noli is not only always energetic, but she is always so upbeat and optimistic. She has kind of a pied piper quality where she wants to charge off and tackle these problems and she leads people in that same direction.”

At Island Grown Initiative

“Noli has been the heart and soul of Island Grown Initiative,” IGI Executive Director Rebecca Haag said. “She started our Island Grown Schools programs. There are gardens at every school — the next generation of children will know why we need a sustainable food system, the importance of healthy eating, and know how to grow their own food, and have their own gardens.

As a result of her efforts, all the meals at Island schools are provided by local chefs. When I joined IGI about five years ago and we launched a strategic plan, Noli was the visionary around our commitment to regenerative agriculture, such an important part of addressing climate change. She has also been a big advocate for food waste reduction and redirection. She oversees a lot of our programs around food equity where we are basically rescuing food out of some of the grocery stores, our gleaning program, she works very closely with Kayte Morris at the Island Food Pantry. I would define her as a quiet leader. Someone who attracts people because of her passion and her vision. She really does her homework, and believes in what she speaks about. Not only that, but she is an incredible listener.

She incorporates other people’s ideas. She speaks softly, but everyone listens.”

Vineyard Haven 508-693-4457 • West Tisbur y 508-693-2234

Vineyard Haven 508-693-7097

Farley Built, inc. www.farleybuilt.com

508 645-7800