This Month's Green Home and Green Living Events
Upcoming Green Home Events - July 2008
See below for details on:
(1) Sustainability Summer Workshop Series - July & August
(2) Southwest Washington Sustainability Conference & GreenFest - July 10-12 (Thu-Sat)
(3) Bull Run Watershed Tour - July 12 (Sat) 8:30am - 4:30pm
(4) Gardens of Natural Delights Tour - July 13 (Sun) 10:00am - 4:00pm
(5) SolWest Fair in John Day, OR - July 25-27 (Fri-Sun)
(6) Recycle your Compact Fluorescent Bulbs
(7) Home Performance Testing
(8) Greening Your Tax Rebate
(9) Essay: "What Would the Flintstones Do?"
Highlights of events like these are always on our home page events calendar. You'll also find many great resources and design concepts on our site.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(1)
Sustainability Summer Workshop Series
July & August
Green Empowerment shows you energy saving skills you can put to use in your own backyard or in helping abroad. Celebrate growing energy independence. Attend one or all of these hands-on workshops.
July 5 (Sat) Wilderness Skills ($40)
July 6 (Sun) Intro. to Permaculture Design ($40)
July 12 & 13 (Sat-Sun) Earthen Oven Construction ($75)
July 25 to Aug 3: Community Connection Tour to Tziscao, Chiapas, Mexico ($1200 excluding airfare)
Each workshop (except tour to Mexico) is 9:00am - 5:00pm, includes lunch, and is bike accessible. Space is limited. To register, contact Ian or Jason at 503-284-5774 or jason@greenempowerment.org.
For more information visit the Green Empowerment website.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(2)
Southwest Washington Sustainability Conference & GreenFest
July 10-12 (Thu-Sat)
The first two days feature speakers sharing knowledge and practical experience in three tracks: climate, commerce and community. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will be speaking Thursday evening. On Saturday there will be a public festival along the Columbia River with free workshops, food, and music.
For more information visit the City of Vancouver's website.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(3)
Bull Run Watershed Tour
July 12 (Sat) 8:30am - 4:30 pm
Don't miss this opportunity to see Portland's tap water at its source. Learn about the protected resources that provide Portland with uniquely high quality drinking water.
Advance registration required; $10 fee. Sponsored by the City of Portland Water Bureau. Wheelchair accessible by arrangement.
For more information about the tour contact Jody Burlin at 823-7437 or Jody.Burlin@ci.portland.or.us
Visit the Portland City website for more information about Portland's water resources.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(4)
Gardens of Natural Delights Tour
July 13 (Sun) 10:00am - 4:00pm
On this free tour by Metro you can peek into the beautiful backyards of passionate home gardeners and learn their secrets to chemical-free gardening. There are many gardens throughout Portland, so there are some near you. Five of the gardens in the Northeast are connected by the Pedal to Petals cycling route.
Natural gardening keeps our yards safe for people, pets and wildlife, and it helps protect our rivers and streams from harmful and polluting garden chemicals. Learn how to let nature handle some of your gardening chores.
Call 503-234-3000 to reserve your spot. For more information visit the Metro website.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(5)
SolWest Fair in John Day, OR
July 25-27 (Fri-Sun)
SolWest is an occasion for learning, networking, and supporting all types of renewable energy. This three-day event at the Grant County Fairgrounds in John Day, Oregon offers engaging activities for all ages and knowledge levels. Participants from around the western region come to SolWest to learn about energy efficiency, solar and wind energy, and alternatively fueled vehicles.
For more information visit the SolWest website.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(6)
Recycle your Compact Fluorescent Bulbs
You can bring your burned out compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs) to IKEA, ACE Hardware, or Home Depot to ensure that they are safely and responsibly recycled.
While there are some low-mercury fluorescent lights, they all contain a small amount of mercury--less than in a watch battery and less than a power plant pollutes making the extra power for an incandescent bulb. So CFLs are good, especially if the mercury is kept out of the waste stream by recylcing them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(7)
Home Performance Testing
After the free in-home audit offered by Energy Trust, you can take home energy efficiency to the next level and have your home's energy systems tested through the Home Performance program. Specially trained Home Performance contractors offer this fee-based service that includes a whole-house energy-efficiency plan, installations and testing. They will look at air sealing, duct sealing, insulation, windows, doors, appliances and lighting. The fee for this test varies among contractors but is in the $400 range. There are a list of qualified Home Performance professionals on the Energy Trust website and along with a list of available rebates.
We would love to hear from anyone who has a Performance Test done on their home. Let us know what you learned and what the experience was like.
For more information visit the Energy Trust website.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(8)
Greening Your Tax Rebate
What are you going to do with your "green rebate"? ... Ok, so the government calls it an economic stimulus rebate, but the fact remains that many people are going to have $600 in unanticipated funds starting this summer. The State of Washington has been encouraging people to use the tax rebate towards making their homes more resource efficient. $600 to $1200 of weatherization is not insubstantial, and with some matching funds of your own, you may be able to significantly cut the energy and water your home uses by implementing the most cost effective conservation strategies (see essay below). Alternatively there are many wonderful non-profits doing important work to improve the lives of people and creatures that could surely benefit from a financial contribution. Consider hosting a "Rebate Repast" where you gather your friends to discuss over local organic food how to make a greener and better world through conscious use of rebate monies. Here's an opportunity to help green the world one rebate check at a time.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(9)
Essay: "What Would the Flintstones Do?"
In this month's essay we learn from the Flintstones, and some for the Jetsons, about effective ways of reducing energy use in your home.
"What Would the Flintstones Do?"
Pop quiz: Can you name the three areas of a typical US home that use the most energy?
Select from the following:
Lighting, Refrigeration, Heating and Cooling, Television and Computers, Water Heating
You can find this essay and other writing in a section for Essays and Articles on our website.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
These monthly updates on green home and green living events are from:
Eric Storm & Beth Meredith of Living Spaces
www.LivingSpacesDesign.biz
Please pass this along to other interested people.
To subscribe or unsubscribe, send an email to
with your name, email address and your request.
