SeeingGreen ™

Pinch me, I must be dreaming. Three of my favorite things - beer, pizza and green building - have come together in a perfect storm named “Hopworks Urban Brewery.”

HUB is located in a revamped concrete building that was a former fuel distributor’s headquarters. Although I’m usually a fan of the […]

My days of lusting after old Portland bungalows may be over (I’ve moved on to mid-century ranches), but I recently stopped by a new store that rekindled the flame, at least for a few minutes. Located on SE Division, east of 39th Ave., is an artfully organized outpost for vintage fixtures, lighting, windows and […]

Food co-ops are often the epicenters of communities large and small. They are beacons for people who care about what enters their stomachs, where their dollars go and how commerce is conducted. Food co-ops are not only a great place to purchase organic and healthy groceries, but also a resource for connecting to […]

Over the past few years, many of my friends have been making little friends and I often find myself on the lookout for a gift to celebrate the new arrival. I also want the token to be meaningful, useful and of course, easy on the earth. Fortunately, Portland is teaming with baby and environment-friendly […]

Last year I was searching for a replacement gasket for a canning jar I use to store coffee. In earnest, I visited all the various kitchen supply stores in Portland, from the upmarket Sur La Table to the locally owned Kitchen Kaboodle. No luck. Finally, I saw an ad in the […]

My first job was working as a page in the library in the town where I grew up. Shelving books, mending torn pages and showing patrons how to navigate the Dewey Decimimal System was my simple charge. It was then that I developed a love for libraries that has never vanished. I […]

If you consider yourself a “vegan,” and don’t follow that statement with “but I eat eggs and fish,” then you are in luck. Portland is home to the mothership of vegan outposts, Food Fight, a compact grocery store hidden in the base of a retro office building on the less traveled half of SE […]

According to pizzaware.com, “Americans eat approximately 100 acres of pizza EACH DAY, or about 350 slices per second.” Imagine what it would mean then, if all the ingredients needed to make a pie were local, fresh and organic? Hundreds of dairy and vegetable farmers could be supported by the pizza industry alone. […]

As a vegetarian, I eat a lot of burritos. The protein-rich mixture of beans, rice and cheese is a filling, easy and affordable way to subsist. Although Portland has a lot of opportunities to gorge on these rolled up food cartridges, few make it a healthy experience. Not the case at Laughing […]