• Crafty Wonderland logo
    EVENT

    The Crafty Wonderland Holiday Art + Craft Market!

    Saturday, Dec 14th + Sunday, Dec 15th  from 11am – 6pm  The Oregon Convention Center – Exhibit Hall D  777 NE MLK Jr. Blvd. Portland, OR  Featuring art and handmade goods from over 250 amazing vendors!!  OPEN TO THE PUBLIC – FREE ADMISSION:  SPECIAL PRE-SHOW TICKETED SHOPPING EVENT:  Friday, Dec 13th from 5pm – 9pm

  • Net Zero Home Tour
    BUILDING,  Education,  ENERGY,  Energy Conservation,  EVENT,  Heating & Cooling,  Solar

    Solar Oregon Net Zero Homes Tour

    Saturday October 19, 2019  9am – 5pm  2105 N Webster Street, Portland  Join Solar Oregon, Passive House, Green Hammer and Earth Advantage to see what it’s like to live in a Zero carbon home and learn all the surprisingly simple, accessible and innovate strategies that homeowners use for getting to zero.  The Tour will feature homes in North and South East Portland and will be co-hosted by some of the leading green builders and architects in the area. Lunch will be at the new Tillamook Row Net Zero Apartments in NE Portland.  Suggested Donation – $10 Solar Oregon members, $20 for general public  For more info: https://solaroregon.org/event/net-zero-homes-tour/

  • Garden Home Sustainability Fair
    COMMUNITY,  EVENT,  Repair

    Garden Home Sustainability & Repair Fair

    Friday, October 4, 2019 5:00 pm 7:30 pm  Garden Home Recreation Center Gymnasium  7475 SW Oleson Rd, Portland  Embrace Green Living  Learn about sustainable topics from gardening to recycling to water conservation & much more all from local experts.  Repair Fair is Back  Repair your hopusehold items and small appliances. Limit two items per person.  Free Admission – All Ages Welcome  For more info: Heather Waisanen, 503-245-9932, heatherw@co.wccls.org 

  • tools
    COMMUNITY,  Community Projects,  EVENT,  Repair

    Repair Cafes

    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,…

  • Columbia Gorge Discovery Center
    COMMUNITY,  Education,  EVENT

    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 

  • Sand Cranes
    COMMUNITY,  Education,  EVENT,  Nature

    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…

  • Community Readiness,  Safety

    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…

  • Herbs,  Home Garden

    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…

  • Nature

    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…

  • Publisher's Page,  Think Piece

    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…