Solar Ulm Germany

The city of Ulm Germany is a green traveler’s delight. It is biker friendly and boasts its own solar energy foundation. My hosts in Ulm live in one of the surrounding towns and they both bike to work every day in the city – in fact they don’t own a car. They have studded winter tires on their bikes and one bike has clocked over 150,000 km in just a couple of years.
My hosts occasionally borrow their parent’s car and between the two families (my hosts and the parents) they have put a whopping 2,500 km on the car in just over a year. This was slightly embarrassing for this green traveler who at home puts between 25,000 and 30,000 miles per year on her car – over ten times what they do. My miniscule off-set was riding a borrowed bicycle to and from the city with them.
Germany has a Solar League – www.solarbundesliga.de - where cities and towns compete to get the highest solar rating in the league. Ulm and Freiborg vie for 1st place in their large city size grouping and they are considered to be the two most solar cities in the country. Freiborg is considered the greenest overall and has a Green party member for mayor.
The city of Ulm leases roofs to companies who want to put solar photovoltaic electric panels on them, and Ulm works with schools to use more solar and renewable energy. The German government also provides generous subsidies to any homeowner or farmer that wants to put solar hot water or electric panels on their property. Many parking garages have photovoltaics on their roofs as well. The largest passive office building in the world is near the Ulm University. And nearby, there is a development of passive, single family homes built during the Project 2000 Expo. Everywhere we were – in the city and in the countryside – solar panels were on many house and barn roofs.
Ulm’s Solar Foundation can be found at: www.solarstiftung.de - Solarstiftung, Muncherstrasse 4, Ulm; 071-161-6080. They offer a self-guided solar tour through Ermingen, which includes 12 houses with solar photovoltaic and/or hot water panels. The Foundation operates a solar ferry and solar-infomobil in Ulm during the summer months.
My last day there – a very foggy day - we went to see the source of the Blau (Blue) river that runs through Ulm and the surrounding villages. It really is Blue at the source and comes from deep underground limestone caves which adventuresome divers have discovered. In the car we went on our own solar tour – easy to do in that area, and then came to six, ghostly, gentle giants in a huge pasture – with the slightest whoosh as the windmill arms turned. It took my breath away. I was thrilled to see the windmills so close through the mist and fog.
My tours of health food stores in Ulm turned up some delicious items including milk chocolate made with organic sheep milk instead of cow’s milk -
www.Chocolina.com ; and the same but with organic Goat’s milk - www.chocolisa.com. Both are made by H&H Chocolade Manufactur in Vienna, Austria.
There were lots of organic wines, and organic and gluten-free beers. Natural cosmetics and personal care products are abundant in Germany with special standards overseen by the BDiH - Bundesverband deutscher-Industrie-und Handelsunternehmen – the certification seal for natural cosmetics in Germany. Websites at: www.kontrollierte-naturkosmetik.de and www.bdih.de.
On a non-green note, I went to the opera in Ulm. The arts are heavily subsidized. The most expensive ticket to the theater is 33 Euros, a far cry from the cost in the states. The audience was incredibly well behaved, punctual and there were no cell phones glowing during intermission – everyone had turned them off for the evening - how refreshing. The opera was Verdi’s Macbeth – thank goodness I know the story since it was sung in Italian with German subtitles.
My three days in Germany went quickly – and now off to Switzerland.

Alternative Gift Giving This Season

This season you can "Think Globally, Act Locally" AND Act Globally by focusing some of your gift-giving towards helping people around the world gain access to clean water, sustainable farming practices, and other services. Listed here are some alternative, non-material, gift-giving options:

There are a number of organizations that offer gifts of service and support to people in need around the world. Two organizations that make this type of giving easy are Oxfam International and the Seva Foundation. Both organizations will send a card to your gift recipient telling them what service or support you have purchased in their name.

Oxfam Unwrapped is a program of Oxfam International administered by each country’s chapter. Oxfam Unwrapped offers gifts to help people in need around the world in the form of safe drinking water, training and support for women, livestock & farming, fair-trade and micro-business support, and more. The U.S. website is: www.oxfamamericaunwrapped.com where you can conveniently order online.

The Seva Foundation was founded by a group of World Organization doctors in 1978. Seva means service in Sanskrit. The foundation works in 10 countries, particularly helping women and children have access to clean water and health care. Like Oxfam, Seva offers easy online ordering at www.seva.org.

With wishes for peace, happiness and Happy Holidays.

Awesome Gear

Osprey Back Packs

Osprey makes a full line of backpacks. Each style comes in 2-3 different sizes based on torso length and gender, so these packs are especially comfortable for women since you can buy one that actually fits your body!

Trying out a range of backpack brands, Osprey was the only one that made me "ooh and aah" when I put it on - not the usual response for a backpack. It felt like it was custom built for my body.

Osprey's brand new line of day-packs, the Resource Series, are constructed using fabric made from recycled PET bottles from all those water and soda bottles that get tossed. The fabric produced is durable, lightweight and feels just like the nylon used in Osprey's other packs.

Check out all the different Osprey packs at: www.ospreypacks.com

You can purchase Osprey's Recycled ReSource Day-Packs and the Women's Aura 35 Backpack at the Traveling Naturally website - www.travelingnaturally.com - under the Great Gear section.

Hidden Organic Treasures

If you are in Switzerland, a visit to the Appenzell canton of Northeast Switzerland, a region known for its beautiful farm land, progressive health laws, and rural traditions, is highly recommended. There are countless farms and fabulous “wanderweg” hiking trails throughout. A favorite farm and farm store is in Gais, but if you don't know it's there, you wouldn't be likely to find it.

From the city of St. Gallen, you would take the Appenzeller Bahnen, a small, red train which, as its name implies, travels through the canton with trains running about every 30 minutes. Take this train for about half an hour to the town of Gais. (If you are in Teufen, Gais is about half-way to Appenzell on the train.) Once off the train, you will walk about 1 mile. Cross Schulhausstrasse and walk along Zung St., then cross Stossstrasse and slightly to the right of where you have been walking will be Kehr St. Walk on Kehr for about one-quarter to one-third of a mile and take a right onto Bommes Road – looks more like a driveway - within 20 yards or so you will walk into the yard of the Biodynamic Hofladen Farm (Bommes 3, Gais, Tel: 71 793 37 85; www.hof-bommes.ch )where there is a little farm store.

The store’s entry-way has fresh organic produce delivered on Fridays. Further inside you will find a mini-health food store with organic and free-trade food and treats, including farm fresh, biodynamic dairy products from the Hofladen Farm. There is nothing quite like farm fresh yogurt in a glass container – seems from a lost world - perfect and delicious (my apologies to non-dairy eaters.) Fresh, organic spelt bread, made from spelt grown a few towns over (www.dinkel-stein.ch - they make their own spelt pasta, pastries, and bread - directions on their web site), is delivered Tuesday, Fridays and Saturdays. On those days the store is open from 9-11:30 am and then again from 3-7pm. Every other day it is open from just 6-7pm.

Not much English is spoken, but everything seems to get across just fine. Two tips: In Switzerland (and many other places in Europe), when buying fresh produce you are responsible for weighing and pricing it. There is a number by the name of the item – e.g. Red Cabbage #62 – take your red cabbage over to the scale (somewhere in the produce area) and weigh it – you will need to punch in that number. A sticker will spit out with the weight and price that you apply to the bag or item. In lower-tech establishments, you may have to write it on the bag.
Also, remember to bring your own bags – many stores either do not have bags or charge for them, and often they are flimsy – so just get used to having a stash of canvas bags rolled up in your daypack.

The farm belongs to the Langenegger family. The grandmother, Lilly Langenegger, is a local famous artist who writes children’s books with beautiful illustrations of traditional Swiss rural images and Appenzeller farm life. The books are available in German, English and French. Pictures and purchasing information are available at the publisher website (in German, but translatable): www.appenzellerverlag.ch/de/buch.php?IDath=15&actuel=1&asearch=3

Enjoy.