SeeingGreen ™

I recently drafted a post railing about all the items we accumulate to fill up our lives and don’t really need. I think my foul mood was triggered by the aisle of Christmas paraphernalia I saw at a local drug store when the calendar barely read September. I’ll save you the whiny details, […]

A little over a year ago, several Portland realtors were the first in the nation to convince the Regional Multiple Listing Service to add fields for green home features. This function allows sellers to identify efforts to increase the environmental performance and healthfulness of their property so that perspective homebuyers can search for these […]

Lately I’ve been considering purchasing a pocket-sized device that would give me instant access to my four e-mail accounts, favorite websites, thousands of music files and endless supply of amateurish videos. All this and more for only half a mortgage payment and a $70 bill every month. Turns out, I really need something […]

I suppose it is the holiday season that has me making a list like this, but I thought I would share some things that have me seeing green.

1. Portland Aerial Tram
Sure its budget ballooned and many pundits thought it would fail, but I really enjoy this new addition to Portland’s increasingly tower-filled skyline. I […]

When I first moved to the block where I still live, none of the neighbors would look at me. Or say hello. Or, I imagine, even knock on my door should my house be engulfed in flames. The problem wasn’t my own un-neighborly activities, such as hosting rowdy parties or supporting illegal […]

Every year around springtime, I perform a ceremonial ritual involving my legs and a razor. No, it’s not a reenactment of a turn your stomach horror movie, but instead a peaceful moment in the bath when I rid myself of winter’s hirsuteness. But yesterday in the grocery store when faced with making a […]

I just finished watching a short documentary about life without abundant oil in Cuba, a small Caribbean island that most Americans associate with two things: embargo and cigars. In contrast, “The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil,” presents a much richer portrayal of Cuba and the ways it transformed itself from oil […]

While recently preparing black bean and brown rice burrito #3,261, I came across three simple words that changed things in my household in a significant way. These words have appeared on other items before, such as garments and electronics, but until now I had never seen the dreaded expression on the food that sustains […]

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 […]

Ever thought you could change the world? Well Ryan Christensen, founder of the social and fashion enterprise Sameunderneath, does. The concept behind his blossoming clothing business is relatively simple. No matter the color of your skin, what boxes you select on election day or how you wear your hair, we are all […]

A coworker of mine recently married and true to office form, we all pitched in and bought her a present. No, we didn’t get her a gift card to a department store or purchase anything off her registry, but instead we offset all the carbons generated by the act of saying “I do.”
In order to […]

Seeing Green is part lifestyle, part ethos, but mostly it is about having fun while living consciously and sustainably. Here are a few tips to help you start Seeing Green.
* Paper or plastic? Neither. Bring your own bag. While you’re at it, bring your own travel mug for coffee and skip […]

This past summer I had the chance to interview someone about a noble effort to raise funds to support Portland’s notoriously cash-strapped schools. After hearing from her parents and teachers about her school’s financial woes, Reed, a 7-year old second grader at Buckman Elementary decided to do something about it. Her first idea […]

Portland has an admirable transit system for a city its size. My neighborhood alone is serviced by light rail and 3 bus lines that will either take you downtown or across town. That’s not to say that you’ll get to your destination faster than if you were to drive, but you will get […]

There aren’t too many stores in this world where you can purchase a stack of surplus greeting cards, a half dozen metal tins, a leftover roll of packaging labels from a product called “Hot Cheddah Sticks” and fifty legal sized envelopes for a modest $4.00. If this sounds like your dream come true, […]

When I first moved to Portland in 1994, the city was a weird place. I lived in the downtown area (where I thought you lived when you move to a city) before the light rail extended past Pioneer Square and where the only people who lived downtown were “junkies, convicts, and perverts” (she says […]