• All Aboard the Bike Bus! How to Get Kids to School with Safety in Numbers.
• Spring Home Remodeling: Plan Now for a Cheaper Winter Bill
• Green Question? How Can I Tell What Fish is the Best Choice?
• Free Online Coupons to Cover Your Basics at RedPlum, Smart Source, and RetailMeNot
• The World's Greenest Paper? Not When Made From Conventional Cotton.

Image: Flickr/CreativeCommons

From our Twitter:

• Fun party idea! A Zipcar powered birthday scavenger hunt with Mini Coopers. http://budurl.com/ybkl
• Now following @TownshendsTea, the local tea and mate shop
• Remember, if you review Community Cycling Center, you can win their 20% off coupon http://budurl.com/4wbu Right now, no competition!  More...

Many houses have heaters, fireplaces, woodstoves or a combination of all three, yet are still uncomfortably cold inside. Aren’t we smart enough to keep ourselves warm? Even beavers build their dens to stay incredibly toasty and dry, so what’s going on with us? You may have taken one look at your heating bill over the last few months and wondered the same thing.

Spring is finally here and we can use this time to prepare and remodel for next winter. Here are some ways to manage staying warm, saving money and being green (besides wearing that green thrift store sweater you bought for St. Patrick's Day). More...

Your number one green building resource is the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability, which is hosting an Ecoroof Vendor Fair free to the public on April 25th. But we know that these times call for cash, so we've gathered your top money back options to aid your green remodel.

4 Areas to Check
Have you used our Personal Energy Analyzer yet? If you don't own a Chinook Book, you can download it right here. Reducing your water heater temperature, lowering your thermostat (or raising it this summer), and eliminating phantom power suckers can save you money with zero cost up front.

Cash and Tax Incentives
Review the list of cash incentives from Energy Trust for home weatherization, heating and cooling, water heating, and renewable energy.

• Clothes washer: $75-$100 back
• Refrigerator: $50 and $30 to recycle your old model
• Solar water heating: Up to $1,500
• Duct sealing: Up to $400 (Use Energy Star's DIY guide to insulation and sealing)

Energy Trust can help you navigate the Oregon Residential Energy Tax Credit, where you can save up to $1000 on appliances and heating improvements. Finally, be sure to check the Energy Trust allies page for incentives on installation of windows, heaters, and more.

Using water also uses the electricity needed to pump it to you and through your home. Apply for a $100 WaterSense toilet rebate if you purchase a certified toilet and install free faucet aerators, low-flow showerheads, and toilet displacement bags from the Portland Water Bureau.

Get a Professional Audit
Get a free 1 hour home energy review, conducted by a professional, through Energy Trust. More...

It's a busy Thursday here while we work to get out our September newsletter and coupon offers (you can sign up in that box in the upper right corner), so this time we'll inspire you and send you on your way to local salvage shops.

Recently, a Martha Stewart email caught our eye with this crafty repurposing of window shutters as an entryway organizer. Salvage stores always have oodles of weathered, sunbeaten old shutters which would look great for this project. Secure the slider and screw them to the wall, then slip cards and notes in. Vintage hooks could be affixed to the bottom to hold keys. I plan to use an even number of shutters to create a trompe l'oeil style window in my windowless entryway. Below are your local salvage shops and coupons, including a free online coupon for paint! More...

If you have the DIY bug, then you're familiar with the appeal of those dilapidated, lost looking chairs found in garages, thrift stores, and curbs everywhere. Instead of purchasing a new chair, find one with good bones that needs a little TLC, and give it a new life. With a little elbow grease and our listings of local fabric and paint stores, you'll be able to turn a $5 (or free!) find into a beloved home project. All kinds of wood furniture--tables, dressers, desks--can be painted and revitalized with these tips and resources.

We've got your local coupons, too, to help inspire a project. Anyone can use our free online coupon for Rodda Paint for 2 for 1 gallons. More...

Sitting in the Urban Grind Coffeehouse talking about natural building with Lydia Doleman, owner of the Portland-based natural building company Flyer Hammer Productions, I could feel my jealousy of her job coalescing. I had just completed her class An Introduction to Carpentry for Women, which I’d taken through The Rebuilding Center, and was ready to trade in my computer – my current primary tool – for a table saw. Inspired and empowered by the possibilities that my new skill presented, I was compelled to find out what it’s like to be a woman in a (stereo)typically male profession and to understand the spin that natural building puts on the construction trade.

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Need building materials, craft materials, or maybe just to get out of the house? Have you heard of the ReBuilding Center? Trust me, once you visit this place, just off Fremont, at 3625 N. Mississippi, you will never go back to that horror of all horrors, Home Depot.

This weekend, Jeremy, Selah, and I all piled in the Volvo and headed out. Jeremy needed some building supplies for a volunteer project he is heading up, and thought he would at least start at the ReBuilding Center. I was just curious. Selah is an involuntary participant in whatever we do. More...

Having my family shut up inside of my house with all of the windows closed reminds me of one of the grim environmental stories of this country that I’ve recently become more aware of: the slow-motion disaster caused by our use of lead-based paint in homes. There’s an entire history of the lead paint industry that will read with eerie familiarity to anyone who knows the histories of the tobacco, automobile, or asbestos industries in the United States. In a nutshell, the companies who made and sold lead paint managed to delay the restriction or banning of their product by the government for decades. They pulled this off in the face of overwhelming evidence that their product was dangerous and was affecting the health of children and adults. More...

You’ve seen them all over town, so why not have your own green roof? Top your home with a native plant garden to counterbalance residential development, filter the air, and insulate. Plus you’ll be the talk of the neighborhood. More...