Two nights ago, I stopped by the Northshire Book Store in Manchester, Vermont to read from Greasy Rider. I was expecting the place to be empty, given that the Red Sox were playing that night, and since I don't know anyone in the area, so I couldn't pad the crowd with friendly faces. Fortunately, Manchester is one of those places where the locals think of author events at the hometown bookstore as a big social event, so a good crowd (for me) appeared. They asked questions. Some drove veggie cars. Some farmers even came--so Vermont. One dairy farmer grows oil crops so that he can press his own oil to power his diesel equipment, and then he uses the byproducts to feed his cows. He also drives a veggie powered diesel Mercedes wagon. Amazing. It's a sustainable setup just like Rudolph Diesel dreamed about when he invented the engine that bears his name.
UPDATE: the Northshire's sustainable efforts include a recent retrofit of lighting fixtures, so that they can use highly energy efficient bulbs throughout the store. They also have plans to add solar panels to the roof.
