Blogs

Wednesday August 28, 2010, was a very special day for Portland.  That's the day Danish giant Vestas announced that it is moving its permanent North Americni headquarters to Portland's Paerl District. 

Vestas' relocation to the Pearl District means the creation of not only 670+ construction jobs, but also the creation of as many as 200 long-term engineering, sales, marketing and administrative jobs for the Portland area.  But more than that, it further solidifies us as the nation's leader in green-energy businesses. 

Why do so many green energy businesses choose to locate their headquarters here?  Among the many great reasons, it's the forward-thinking people and open attitudes prevalent in our area that really stand out. 

Keep Portland Wired?  I say Keep Portland Gren.

"Hey, what do you want to make for dinner tonight?”

“Ugg, nothing. It’s too hot to cook.”

These are exciting times in the world of sustainability right here in Portland! City commissioners have recently given permission for the start of design work on what will be the world’s greenest large-scale building – right here in stumptown. The planned $75 million Oregon Sustainability Center will be a mixed-use building that showcases local green expertise, and will be part of the Oregon University System. 

Fact: The average American throws away about 68 pounds of clothing and textiles per year.

When you bring a new piece of clothing home, it becomes a part of your life. It says something about you; it lives with you. That’s why you’ll never get rid of that halter you were wearing the night you met him. And that’s also why men can never bear to part with underwear older than your relationship (c’mon, he and those boxers have history). When it comes to sustainability there are green ways you can look for new clothes, take care of what you have and recycle the rest.

Know What You Want

Sometimes we go clothing shopping with only a foggy idea of what we need. The end result: we buy a bunch of junk we don’t need. Then we choke our closet with three new black shirts, realizing we already had five other black shirts. Streamline your bulging closet with just stuff you know you got to have.

Take Care of Your Threads

If you’ve been wondering what has been happening with orders for the very first Nissan electric car … Nissan Leaf … well you are not alone. I’ve been wondering myself! I’ve been receiving email notices from Nissan re: my application / order for months now, with little or no real update, however yesterday I received notice that I now have a “reservation” for November 2010. Hey, this is progress.
 

According to Nissan Leaf’s Facebook page - http://www.facebook.com/#!/nissanleaf?ref=ts
 

“Those Reservationists who were eligible to fill out a survey for a free charger during the Nissan LEAF sign up process as part of the US Government sponsored "EV Project" should be receiving a message today from their partner, ECOtality, via a Nissan email. This communication will detail the results of their evaluation for the unit…”
So I did receive a message or two and here’s what those messages had to say …

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They are difficult to recycle and we go through dozens of them each month. They’re the plastic grocery sacks you get at the supermarket. Ever notice how sometimes the grocery bagger will put just one item in a bag, like a dozen eggs? Sure, the eggs need protection, but man, with the special egg bag and baggers’ tendency to double bag, once you put away the groceries you discover you have two fists full of plastic bags. And those can’t just go into your recycling bin. That’s why Portland Mayor, Sam Adams is looking to institute a plastic bag ban like the one used in San Francisco.

 

“Finish everything on your plate. There are starving kids in China.”

This little phrase, socio-economically incorrect as it is, was always mom’s response when we asked to get up from the dinner table after pushing our Tater Tot Casserole around the plate. While mom might have been wrong about China, she was right about the food wasting thing.

It’s bad news.

In America, we really know how to do food excess. Plates and portions at restaurants have grown exponentially over the last half of the 20th century. Modernization in food growth, harvesting and processing continually drove the price of food down, and thus putting more on our plates than we need became irresistible.

Oregon is expanding a rebate program to help you get energy saving appliances. Originally started to replace old furnaces and heat pumps, the newly expanded program now includes refrigerators, water heaters, clothes washers and dishwashers on the list of appliances eligible for rebate. If you replace your energy sucking old appliances with a new Energy Star rated model, you could get a voucher redeemable for up to 70% of the price.

Rebates will be issued on a first come-first serve basis and are only open to household with an annual income 60% or less that of the statewide median. Also, your old appliance must be recycled to receive the rebate.

 

For more info, go to http://go.usa.gov/OTx
 

 

For some reason, when I was a kid, I didn't really like pizza. Maybe it's because (as my friends will tell you) I have a contrarian streak and a kid's favorite food is supposed to be pizza. Or maybe it's because the pizzas one eats as a kid -- pepperoni, cheese, mushroom and olive if you're really adventurous -- just aren't that exciting.