sustainability—Far Southwest, Southwest (SW) Portland...

Bureau Briefs: Build It Green! Tour, Treebates, Motorcycle Parking Permits and Bull Run Land Exchange Public Meetings

Bureau Briefs: Build It Green! Tour, Treebates, Motorcycle Parking Permits and Bull Run Land Exchange Public Meetings

Green Tour de Force: 9th Annual Build It Green! Home Tour on September 25 Tickets are on sale for the 9th annual Build It Green! Home Tour on Saturday, September 25. Included in the 21-home tour is a straw bale house—the first to be permitted in Portland—and a Victorian home that received energy-saving upgrades from the Clean Energy Works program. There will be contractors and homeowners at each site to share their more...

9th Annual Build It Green! Tour and Fair

Event date: Sep 25, 2010

Event location: A tour of sites featuring green building applications around the city of Portland and free info fair at Ecohaus, 819 Southeast Taylor Street

9th Annual Build It Green! Tour and Fair

Presented by the City of Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability, twenty-two inspiring and innovative green residential projects will be open around the Portland Metropolitan Area. Chat with homeowners and contractors about small space living, Passive House, ecoroofs, rainwater harvesting, natural landscaping, affordable housing, aging-in-place, water and energy conservation, healthy building materials, alternative more...

Bureau Briefs: Gateway Neighborhood Park, East Side Big Pipe, Invasive Plant Ban

Bureau Briefs: Gateway Neighborhood Park, East Side Big Pipe, Invasive Plant Ban

Image courtesy of Google Maps PDC Kicks Off Gateway Park Development The Portland Development Commission officially kicked off the planning efforts for the proposed Gateway Neighborhood Park, the first park added to the neighborhood in the past eight years. The park will sit on a four-acre brownfield site near Northeast Halsey Street and 106th Avenue. The site is currently being cleaned up and removed of contaminants more...

Creating a Green Press: Portland's Book Publishers and Literary Magazines

Creating a Green Press: Portland's Book Publishers and Literary Magazines

Ooligan Press produces more than books—they create book professionals. Natalie Guidry is co-manager of the Sustainable Publishing Initiative at Ooligan Press, a student-run press at Portland State University. Guidry and her colleagues learn the business of publishing through acquiring, editing, designing and marketing books about the Pacific Northwest. Built into a master's degree program in book publishing, Ooligan is more...

Green Your Block: Throwing Sustainable Block Parties in Portland Neighborhoods

Green Your Block: Throwing Sustainable Block Parties in Portland Neighborhoods

The Grant Street Fayre in the Richmond neighborhood. Photo: Allen Field   Once school is out, block parties pretty much go steady from June until October. It’s all about encouraging good relationships with neighbors and creating community. When Southeast Portland resident Allen Field decided over a decade ago to help his neighbor plan a block party as a celebration for his birthday, he had no idea what was more...

Kill Your Grass: 6 Smart Reasons to Delawn

Kill Your Grass: 6 Smart Reasons to Delawn

The delawning movement is gaining serious strength and speed in Portland. Just look around town—in nearly every neighborhood this week, people came out (with the sun) to uproot tough turf, readying the parking strip or front yard to plant veggies and herbs, digging in the dirt to make way for more native species, creating gravel Zen gardens and designing outdoor patio space in anticipation of warm evening dining. My neighbor more...

White House Announces $20 Million in Recovery Act Funding for City of Portland, State of Oregon for Clean Energy Retrofit Program

White House Announces $20 Million in Recovery Act Funding for City of Portland, State of Oregon for Clean Energy Retrofit Program

Governor Ted Kulongoski and Portland Mayor Sam Adams today announced that the U.S. Department of Energy has awarded the City of Portland and State of Oregon $20 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act) funds for residential and commercial energy retrofits across the state. More than 150 communities submitted applications worth more than $3.5 billion for the $452 million available. The Portland and Oregon more...

Clean Energy Works Portland: Pilot Program Seeks Homeowners For Energy Efficient Home Improvements

Clean Energy Works Portland: Pilot Program Seeks Homeowners For Energy Efficient Home Improvements

A new energy efficiency home retrofit pilot program from the City of Portland’s Bureau of Planning and Sustainability is helping Portland homeowners reduce their energy cost, while also providing green construction jobs for Portland’s underrepresented communities. The program is called Clean Energy Works Portland. It offers Portland homeowners access to low-cost financing for energy efficient improvements, like more...

Portland Composts! City to Launch Food Scrap Curbside Collection Pilot Program in May

Portland Composts! City to Launch Food Scrap Curbside Collection Pilot Program in May

The City of Portland’s Office of Solid Waste & Recycling—a branch of the Bureau of Planning & Sustainability—has unveiled a new pilot program that will make curbside food scrap pick-up available to just under 2,000 households in four Portland neighborhoods (one in Northeast, one in Southeast, one in Southwest and one in East). Also during the pilot program, yard debris/compost material pick-up will move from more...

Get Growing With Metro's Natural Gardening Program

Get Growing With Metro's Natural Gardening Program

Time to get down and dirty with free seminars and workshops that give hands-on opportunities to learn how to garden naturally and safely this season Buds are sprouting, flowers are blooming and the grass is growing again—spring is here and Metro wants to help residents get outside and get growing. Throughout the summer, Metro and the Oregon State University Extension Service are teaming up with local organizations and more...