The first shipments of chicks have just arrived in local farm stores, so it’s time to start building your new fuzzy friends a home. While a Frank Lloyd Wright knockoff might not fit the budget, what could be more Portland than building a chicken coop from upcycled materials? Upcycling, reusing old lumber and construction waste for better quality final products, is the perfect way to show our city’s love of recycling and more...

With a tradition stretching back as far as written history, felted wool fell mostly out of fashion in the 20th century. For much of the last two decades, felt goods were displaced by the average consumer’s love of synthetic materials and the low cost of imports. But felt products have experienced a revival in Portland over the past few years. Felt can be produced more sustainably than synthetics, and it doesn’t require the more...

The second week of 2011 there are three flood warnings and two storm warnings flashing little red triangles in the corner of my screen. In a macabre bit of irony, The Oregonian crumpled on my coffee table just told me “By 2015, typical Portland homeowners will have seen their monthly city utility rate rise from $42.58 to $116 in 15 years.” The solution is so obvious it’s almost like we’ve been standing in more...