Like organic farmers, they don't use pesticides or other chemicals harmful to people and the environment.

Unlike organic farmers, they add herbal and mineral preparations to their compost and field sprays. Biodynamic agriculture also employs an astrological sowing and planting calendar that tracks cosmic rhythms throughout the year.

"This is way beyond organics," Ms. Haspel said. "It's the only thing that will save the earth."

An organic farm the size of the Haspels' would use about 200 bags of organic fertilizer, Ms. Haspel said. But as a biodynamic farmer, she uses only 12 bags. The secret is the compost, mineral regulation and cosmic rhythms, which lead to a healthier earth and, consequently, healthier crops, she said.

Ms. Haspel said biodynamic farming is a smarter method of farming because it adds nutrition to the soil, leading to better crops and a more sustainable agriculture.

Biodynamics doesn't just take from the earth, she said, it feeds the earth.

"It's just common-sense stuff," she said. "I encourage everyone to start a garden. Don't just buy local, grow local," she said. "If everyone had their own garden, then they wouldn't dump miracle grow on everything.

"Growing a garden raises consciousness of how bad these chemicals are, for us and the earth," she said.

Dan House

MELANCHOLY RELIEF

That's how Claire Jannuzzi feels about closing her store, The Natural Choice, after seven years on Main Road in Southold.

She'll have more time to spend with her 2-year-old son, she said, but she's sad to let go of her business.

A commitment to natural, wholesome organic food was more than the store's niche.

It was Ms. Jannuzzi's life philosophy.

It's the end of an era, but it's not the end of the store, she said.

Locals keen on organics, including Ms. Jannuzzi, are planning to keep the storefront open as an organic food cooperative. With some luck the co-op will occupy the vacant storefront by the summer.

Continuing Ms. Jannuzzi's tradition, the co-op plans to sell organic food, including produce from local organic growers.

Consumers would benefit from the convenience of buying at one location and by having other items, such as organic grains, available at the store.

"To the layman, it would seem as though nothing had changed, but there would be a group of people who are members of the co-op, working cooperatively to provide organic food and other items a health store provides," Ms. Jannuzzi said.

Ms. Jannuzzi is elated that her quaint little shop will continue providing people with organic foods. Eating wholesome food free of artificially engineered ingredients has had a profound impact on her quality of life, she said.

It's also opened her eyes to greater environmental issues.

She hopes that a community-run market will spur the same development for others, she said.

"Eating organic is better for the earth, better for us, better for the community. It's better for everything," she said. "It's really quite a ripple effect. It broadens out beyond personal health and provokes a whole chain reaction of environmental awareness," she said.

Dan House

HIS SMALL CAR, HIS SMALL PART

Driving an environmentally friendly Smart Car on the North Fork is sort of like being a movie star in the Hamptons.

People stare, look in wonder, and, of course, want to chat.

But Glen Sherman doesn't mind when a Sunday trip to the bakery turns into a 45-minute, 13-person public debate on the Green Movement.

"I try to give as much time as possible," Mr. Sherman, 47, of Riverhead, said of the curiosity seekers who approach him when he's in his new ride, which looks like a cross between a Mini Cooper and a golf cart.

Mr. Sherman said he enjoys that his supercompact car, introduced to the U.S. market just last year, gets people talking about the environment.

Aside from wanting to take a peek inside, he said, many locals like to debate about the environmental benefits of the Smart Car versus hybrid cars, such as the Toyota Prius.

Unlike the electronic hybrids, the Smart Car, made by a division of Mercedes-Benz, uses only gas.

It gets about 40 miles per gallon -- not quite as fuel efficient as the hybrids.

"But of course with [the hybrids], you have to deal with the environmental and cost issues of manufacturing and disposing batteries," Mr. Sherman said, adding that he appreciates the benefits of both types.

Forever environmentally conscious, he also appreciates the dialogue.

"It's good that people are starting to ask questions," he said.

Besides, Mr. Sherman said, he's used to being looked at with suspicion.

Twenty years ago, he said, people stared slack-jawed every time he purchased the more expensive, energy-efficient compact fluorescent light bulbs.

"Now you see everybody pushing compact fluorescence," he said.

Michael White

LET THE SUN SHINE IN

She didn't do it for the money, but Nancy Dillingham of Aquebogue relishes getting a check every month from the Long Island Power Authority.

On a recent tour of her Shade Tree Lane home, she proudly noted that the reading on her electric meter has gone backward since she had 40 shimmering solar panels fastened to her roof in 2006.

"You can see the meter going down," she said. "Now we look forward to getting our LIPA bill.

"It's amazing."

She sold about $200 worth of power to LIPA last year and is motivated to top that figure for 2008 as she does her part to decrease the country's reliance on oil, she said.

The system cost Ms. Dillingham about $25,000 after rebates and incentives from LIPA and the state and federal governments.

"It's a big investment," she said. "But when you look at buying a new car, when you drive it out of the showroom, what is it worth?

"I have an investment. It's saving oil from oil plants, coal and all that. It's saving carbon emissions and helping the environment."

Ms. Dillingham has lived an environmentally friendly life since she was young, she said, partaking in the first Earth Day celebration in 1970 as a student at SUNY/Oneonta.

In further trying to reduce her so-called carbon footprint, Ms. Dillingham recently bought an electric-powered cart to commute to her business in Aquebogue and run errands.

The cart, commonly called a GEM (Global Electric Motorcars) car, is fueled by a battery, which is charged by her own solar electricity, she explained.

"I go back and forth sometimes 20 times a day; that's where I'm going to save all this gas," she said, noting she has yet to hit the road in the cart. "And when I go to the store, I'll use reusable bags, with reusable energy -- my plug-in car."

Michael White

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