Repair Cafes are free community events where participants can bring broken or damaged common household items and have them fixed for free by skilled volunteers! Volunteers fix bicycles, small appliances, small electronics, jewelry, sharpen tools/knives, and do sewing repairs. Portland Area Repair Cafes Sat, September 21, 10am – 1pm Robinwood Station Community Center 3706 Cedar Oak Dr, West Linn, OR Fri, October 4, 5:00pm – 7:30pm Garden Home Recreation Center 7475 SW Oleson Rd, Portland, OR Sat, October 28, 10am – 12:30pm Multnomah County Library – Gresham 385 NW Miller Ave, Gresham, OR Vancouver Area Repair Cafes Sat. September 14, 12pm- 2pm Clark County Habitat for Humanity Store 10811 SE 2nd St,…
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Columbia Gorge Discovery Center & Museum Upcoming Events
5000 Discovery Dr The Dalles, OR Columbia Gorge Discovery Center & Museum in The Dalles is the official interpretive center for the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. Open daily 9 am – 5 pm. Hiking trails, live raptor presentations, children’s activities, and exhibits from the ice age through Lewis and Clark, early explorers and 10,000 years of Indigenous cultural heritage. CURRENT EVENT Through December 31 – Woman of Vision exhibit For more info: www.gorgediscovery.org
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20th Anniversary BirdFest & BlueGrass Celebration
Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge & Downtown Ridgefield WA October 4 & 5, 2019 Workshops, hikes and walks all catered to teach you how to use the Refuge. You can learn how to listen for bird species, identify plants, about the geology of the area, the peoples who came before us and still tend to the land, how to take photos of it all, paint the landscape, and much more. Sandhill Crane Tours Bluegrass Pickers Festival Audubon Wild Birds of Prey Naturalist Led Hikes Cultural Activities Big Canoe Tours Birders Marketplace Local Food and Business Booths 20th Anniversary Celebration on Oct. 4th at Ilani BirdFest events in town include- shopping, food, and…
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Resilience
“Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass. It’s about learning how to dance in the rain.” – Vivian Greene “SPROING!’ That sound came to mind when I was thinking about Resilience. Resilience means being able to bounce back in the face of a challenge, being able to adapt and make changes, and even to innovate. Whether the power goes out, or your job is eliminated, or there is a glitch in the kitchen, resilience means figuring out how to adjust and reorganize in order to cope with those new conditions. Developing resilience is essential to enjoying well-being. Figuring out a new or different way to solve a problem…
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Herbal Plant Companions
Herbs are typically hardy and resilient. In these times of unpredictable weather, herbs provide beauty, flavor, medicine and food for people and pets. One additional benefit of herbs is serving as good companions for your flower and veggie gardens. When certain herbs are planted near or among other plants, they help those plants be resilient, too. Companion planting with herbs attracts beneficial insects or draw unwanted pests away from more vulnerable plants. Here are a few examples of our favorite companion herbs. Calendula This cheery, sunny, fragrant flower (also known as pot marigold) pairs well with eggplant and tomatoes. It attracts a wide variety of pollinators, including striped bees and…
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From Godzilla to Earthworm:
Re-envisioning the Ecological Footprint The “ecological footprint” has come to be a widely used term in the sustainability community. Mathis Wackernagel developed the concept as a measure of the demands made by human societies on the ecosystem—a larger footprint represents greater demands and therefore more strain on the Earth’s capacity to sustain the living systems upon which we all depend (and by “all” it is meant not just all humans but all our companions in the wondrous process of life). As such, the term in common usage carries something of a negative connotation. People think of their ecological footprint as a source of guilt, a sort of environmental original sin…
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Resilience Today
Resilience is a frequent topic of conversation these days, especially after a major catastrophe or when planning for some future disaster. The Cascadia subduction zone earthquake comes to mind for the latter. We talk about the need for resilience in our personal lives, in our organizations, in our businesses, and in our city, state, and federal governments. We talk a lot about resilience, which is a good thing, since history has proven the value of human resilience. However, there may be another side to resilience that is not discussed An op-ed piece by Parul Sehgal in the December 1, 2015 issue of the New York Times Magazine, opens with the…
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Looking for a Side Gig?
Exciting opportunity to promote Green Businesses and offering Flex work schedule in the Portland/Vancouver area. The ideal person enjoys empowering business owners to reach their target market. This is a part-time opportunity, ideal for the individual that appreciates a flexible work schedule and a supplemental income. This position is based in the Portland/Vancouver area and can be a work from home situation. We are looking for someone excited about sustainable and green businesses, and who likes to work as a commission based, independent contractor. Join our team and help us build a better future. The ideal candidate would have sales experience, computer skills, great people skills, ability to meet deadlines,…
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A Healthy Home
Home is the sailor, home from sea, And the hunter home from the hill. — Robert Louis Stevenson Traditionally, “Home” referred to the roof over your head, be it a shack or a mansion. Regardless of what your home is, the belief that “A man’s home is his castle” is deeply rooted in our American way of life. Across the millennia, our homes have provided refuge from the outside world, a place of safety, warmth, and security. What is becoming more apparent as the years of the 21st century slide into history, is the reality that “home” can no longer provide refuge from the outside world. Centuries of progress, consumerism, population growth,…
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Why We Should Worship the Ground We Walk On
It’s one of nature’s most perfect contradictions: a substance that is ubiquitous but unseen; humble but essential; surprisingly strong but profoundly fragile. It nurtures life and death; undergirds cities, forests, and oceans; and feeds all terrestrial life on Earth. It is a substance few people understand and most take for granted. Yet, it is arguably one of Earth’s most critical natural resources – and humans, quite literally, owe to it their very existence. From the food we eat to the clothes we wear to the air we breathe, humanity depends upon the dirt beneath our feet. Gardeners understand this intuitively; to them, the saying “cherish the soil” is gospel. But…
