Platt Auto Group, specializing in the sale of used electric vehicles (EVs) at 18720 SE McLoughlin Blvd, will be opening a service facility for all makes and models of EVs, including hybrids, this fall. The new 5,000 square foot facility is at 17325 SE McLoughlin Blvd Suite B. It will be equipped with the same service equipment as used at any of the factory authorized dealerships. In addition, their technicians will have the same training and certifications as those found at the new car dealerships. This new facility will enable Platt Auto to offer quality service not just for their customers but also for any EV owner looking for service…
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Gratitude
What will you remember most about this last year in which all of us were faced with a pandemic that abruptly put a halt to “normal” everyday life? I have to admit that it was pretty unnerving at the beginning when it was all an altered reality. Simple activities such as going to the grocery store made us anxious, and we rushed to get our food and leave as quickly as possible, and then we washed the food when we got home. It was stressful, no doubt about it. My husband and I both felt such gratitude that we were retired and not having to figure out work, educating children,…
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Urban Singles and Food Waste;
How to Use What You Already Have As someone who wastes an extraordinary amount of food, The Earth Day celebration during a pandemic and economic uncertainty has me changing my ways. No more pretending “cleaning out the fridge” every two weeks doesn’t impact others and the natural world we share. My love of food and the joy of cooking leads me to make frequent complicated meals while living alone. My raccoon-like interest in the next shiny thing kept leftovers I’d already eaten a few times in the back of the fridge. Even if I did want some of that marvelous vegetable lasagne, I wasn’t sure if it was safe to…
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Native Plants in the Pacific NW
& How You Can Incorporate Them Into Your Garden The last twenty years have seen a growing interest in gardening with native plants. The term “native” has several meanings, depending upon the context. “Native” is used to mean a plant species that has been in a specific region for hundreds of thousands of years and continues to be present in the landscape. Dinosaurs were surrounded by Araucaria, known today as Monkey Puzzle trees, and other conifer species; ferns, rhododendrons, and horsetail. So, these plants may be as old as 135- 180 million years. It doesn’t get more native than that. Another definition of “native” plants is that the species has…
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It’s Not Easy Being Green
When I first went through the Master Recycler class in 1992, I was so excited to learn all about the Three Rs: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. I wanted to share with everyone how they, too, could recycle more and reduce their waste (and their expenditures), and help the planet. I mean, wouldn’t everyone want to know how to do that?! Sometimes, it’s hard to know a lot about impacts and not be able to share that knowledge with others. It pains me: To see food wasted at all levels of production and consumption, knowing how many people go without, as well as how much water and fuel is also wasted. …
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Signing Up for Community Solar
My Experience Community solar just had its first birthday in Oregon. While the program was years long in the rulemaking, it has been slow to roll out, and COVID then threw a wrench in the works. The first PV projects are now steadily moving forward and will go into the ground and catch solar photons next year. Oregon is one of a handful of states which currently have policies that support community solar. Some states (in green below) have programs in the works or about to launch, while others (in blue) have live, active community solar programs you can sign up for now. Advocates see community solar as an important…
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The Greenest Ending
ADAPTED FROM HERLAND FOREST WEBSITE On May 1, 2020, Washington State became the first state in the US. to allow natural organic reduction (NOR) as an alternative to cremation services and traditional burials. This law defines “natural organic reduction” as “the contained, accelerated conversion of human remains to the soil.” Think composting. Walt Patrick, steward of the Herland Forest Natural Burial Cemetery in Wahkiacus, Washington holds the state’s first NOR facility operator’s license and on December 20, 2020, he and his staff performed their first NOR investment. The term investment refers to the process of placing someone’s remains into a natural organic reduction vessel encased in the organic matter and…
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Invest in the Future:
When is the Best Time to Plant a Tree? As I sit in my recliner, looking out at our yard through rain-streaked windows, I am overcome with pride and a wonderful sense of accomplishment at what I see. What was an abandoned field 18 years ago, today has raised beds for vegetables, four different types of berry bushes, plus a wide variety of other flowers and plants that are colorful and beneficial to wildlife. But it’s the trees that we have planted over the last 18 years that amaze me the most. They are an eclectic group of paulownia, ash, apple, plum, fig, locust, cedar, maple, and mimosa trees, all…
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Magicians in the Air:
Hummingbirds and How You Can Support Them Who of us have not marveled at the tiny hummingbirds who inhabit, or at least visit, our gardens? Weighing less than a nickel, they can travel at 33 miles per hour, beat their wings from 720 to 5400 times a minute when hovering, and eat their weight (or more) in food every day. John James Audubon recorded human feeding of hummingbirds in his book “Birds of America 1840-1844” and by 1950, commercial bird feeders were available. Thousands of feeders are sold each year worldwide. But, are we really doing them any favors by placing sugar water in safe, cool areas? It is true that they can digest…
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Why You Should Consider Keeping a Garden Planner & Journal
Whether you have a container garden on your patio or a 4000 sq. foot garden like me keeping a garden planner and journal is one of the best investments you can make. At least, that’s what all the experts say. I have a confession: I have failed miserably at this important task. I have tried all kinds of planners: purchased and self-made, simple and complex, paper, and digital. But usually around June, I have abandoned my efforts to keep records. In the dark days of winter, I lament my absence of notes, relying on my mid-life brain to recall things that quite frankly, it can’t. But this year is different:…
