Bring Your Rugs to Life ... With the Oxford Punch Needle!
Environmental Mission
We live in rural Vermont and the environment is very important to us. Our home has been powered by the wind and the sun since 1979. We have a 120 foot-tall tower with a wind generator that provides our electricity. We also have photovoltaic solar panels, and our passive solar house gets 80% of its heat from the sun. The rest of our heat comes from fallen wood on our land. We do have a back-up propane generator, just in case we have cloudy days with no wind. We are completely “off grid,” and my husband, Peter Oxford, who designed our house, keeps the whole thing going. I call him “Oxford Power and Light.”
The Oxford Company started in 1995 and is based in our home. My office and studio have always run on alternative energy, my books have been written on a wind-powered computer, and I think it’s pretty awesome that our punch needles begin their lives being powered by the wind. Maybe that’s why they’re so fast?! Our punch needle handles are made for us by a small company in Maine that practices sustainable forestry methods.We use recycled paper for our punch needle boxes and handbooks and try to save energy wherever we can. We even “turn off” our house and business each night – the whole house! We have a super insulated refrigerator so our frozen food doesn’t melt, and the passive solar system keeps the house at a comfortable temperature until morning. Peter drives a car that gets 75 mpg… I cook on a beautiful antique style wood cook stove… There is always more that we could do, and would like to do to protect the natural world.