I remember when I moved to Portland more than seven years ago and thought that all the local grooviness was cute: people recycled everything, hiked religiously, and scarfed down honey-sweetened Indian pudding (or is it Native American pudding?) at the Common Ground Fair.Being macrobiotic, I sort of fit in; I was at least putting organic food in my body and preaching harmony with nature. Last year, I even bought a hybrid car. But my grooviness only goes so far; I watch Dr. Phil almost every day, and am ashamed to admit I don’t compost. But even if I fixed all that, I’d never go as far as some of the people I know in this town; I have friends who met the cow they ate last winter. Others who started a farm camp to help kids learn about the earth ‘n’ stuff. And a local midwife who runs a community supported agriculture farm with her husband. Al Gore would be proud.
Speaking of our ghost president, his recent film, An Inconvenient Truth, is hopefully raising the country’s grooviness alert to red, or at least orange. So, although seven years ago I might have found something like SunriseGuide merely cool, now, it feels urgent.
While on vacation in the Pacific Northwest in January of 2005, Portlander Heather Chandler saw a coupon book for healthy living: “I came across the Chinook Book and just fell in love with it. I thought, ‘We need to have something like this in Maine.’”
So, being a Portlander (i.e., deeply groovy,) she started one up herself: SunriseGuide, which will be making its debut later this fall. It includes six chapters (food and dining, home and garden, health and outdoor living, fashion and personal care, community and entertainment, travel and transportation), plus a special section on climate change — all dedicated to exploring what it means to live in a healthy and sustainable way. It also explains which resources are available to support that lifestyle.
Then come the coupons! All the products and services offered have to meet certain environmental guidelines that show the product or service is a better alternative for the environment, such as a regular hardware store offering a coupon for a compact fluorescent light bulb. These product-specific coupons make many Maine businesses eligible to participate and show off their green sensitivity.
It turns out Southern Maine is a good place to live a 21st-century, Al Gore lifestyle: we have a bunch of community supported agriculture farms (12 in York, Cumberland, and Sagadahoc counties alone) and thriving farmers’ markets. Says Chandler: “Portland definitely has a large percentage of folks who are interested in living in an environmentally sustainable way and I think that that is just becoming more and more so. Last year, we got some great national recognition: Outdoor magazine called Portland a dream town and Vegetarian Times named us one of the greenest cities in America.”
Which brings us to my favorite subject, food. Heather says she’s really excited about the response she’s had from natural food stores: “They have completely seen the value of the book, which is great because I think food is one of the things people will respond to initially.” I know I will. Apparently, SunriseGuide will carry coupons from every natural food store from Kennebunk to Brunswick (although they’re still working out a deal with Whole Foods) and when those $5 and $10 coupons are added up, savings on health food store items will pay for a SunriseGuide thrice over.
And after feasting on granola and yogurt, you can take the kids to the Children’s Museum (buy one, get one free), go to a free yoga (Whole Heart or Portland Yoga), buy some pet food (discounts at Fetch), get some clothes at Nomads (20 percent off), and then wash them with environmentally friendly detergents (Washboard Laundry). Later that night, you can go see a band play at the St. Lawrence Center for the Arts (bring a friend for free), and then float home on a Portland Metro bus ($17.50 off a monthly pass). And that’s just day one.
By the way, SunriseGuides will be sold for $20 apiece by schools and nonprofits, as well as local retailers.
There’s a saying in macrobiotics: one grain, ten thousand grains. It’s a reminder that nature’s economy is abundant — mind-blowingly abundant — compared to the economy that humans have created. So, when something is created with the spirit of nature behind it, the fruits reaped can be ten-thousandfold. Heather Chandler plants a seed that creates SunriseGuide. It is carried by schools and nonprofits who raise funds for kids and good causes. It is sold to consumers who get coupon value way beyond their initial output. Local, green businesses attract new and more customers. And if that’s not good enough, the whole time, the Earth is being handled with the tender care it deserves. One grain, ten thousand grains.
Jessica Porter is the author of The Hip Chick’s Guide to Macrobiotics and can be reached atzencomic@aol.com.
On the Web
SunriseGuide: //www.thesunriseguide.com/
