It doesn't take a genius to understand how the manufacturing process of any product can take its toll on the environment through things like the release of chemicals down the drain, which often end up in our rivers and/or oceans. It's just something we often don't think about.

Right here in our backyard, the period lighting store Schoolhouse Electric has a manufacturing process committed to reducing the impact of chemical processes we take for granted when admiring items like brass. Schoolhouse Electric’s high standards are evident in details like their closed system manufacturing, recyclable fixtures, and reusing of chemicals. More...

Decorating our personal spaces with the earth in mind is a green city attitude that Portland dwellers are famous for. Almost every neighborhood in the urban zone boasts some kind of used furniture and home accessories vintage store (including the well-known Rebuilding Center, coupon here) that is in no way boring or dull. Quite the contrary. These boutiques are hip, fashionable, stylish, affordable, and most importantly are considered green, keeping unnecessary items out of the landfill.

For example, the mid-century modern, retro, used furniture, and home accessories boutique Lounge Lizard (1310 SE Hawthorne Blvd.) is a funky place for people who don't want their home decor to come from the same catalog as their neighbor's. The store is packed from top to bottom with velvet couches, ceramic lamps, retro coffee tables, psychedelic wall art... and that's just the entrance! As owner Christopher Twombley says, "Each piece tells a story. More...

After dusting off my snow packed boots and entering the fair trade gurus Ten Thousand Villages (coupon) Portland store located in the center of the Pearl District (914 NW Everett Street), I suddenly felt myself traveling through exotic lands far, far away. The rich colors in the fabrics of Pakistan and the dark wood grains of Indonesian wood tables made my heart sing.

I could almost feel the beating heart of the various nations represented in the vast array of beautifully handcrafted home accessories and furnishings.

Behind the volunteer-based non-profit organization that boasts 150 stores nationwide, and 50 in Canada, is an intimate story connected to each fairly traded and sustainably handcrafted item, that when purchased serves to help others (often women) in third world countries earn a living wage. That translates to the ability to make a huge difference in the lives of others with little cost to you and I.

Here are some highlights. 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...

Each Thursday we'll bring you our favorite gems picked out from scouring local craft markets, Etsy, Lov.li, and local craft sites. We'll also give highlights from our other EcoMetro cities. Materials must meet our environmental criteria, which include recycled/reclaimed materials and eco fabrics such as organic cotton, hemp, and soy fabrics and yarns.

Catch the maker of this lamp and other local artists at the Summer Artisans Fair August 19th and 20th, 8am-3pm at 2701 NW Vaughn.

Chandelier Lamp by Phoebe1, $180
Celebrate life before Flickr with this lamp made from slides taken by a traveler in 1960s Europe.

More of this week's crafters after the jump... More...

A new home eco store is opening, run by the Oregon Center for Environmental Health and stocked with goods such as glass bottles (with no bisphenol A), hemp shower curtains, and our personal favorite: laptop lunchboxes! Proceeds support the center's goal to eliminate toxic pollutants through community action. Saturday, June 21, 2008
10am-1pm, 4819 NE Fremont St. Portland. Memberships begin at $25.


More info after the jump. More...

I love having books recommended to me. It doesn’t mean that I always like the recommended book, but it usually takes the work out of trying to decide what book to read next. 

Check out the interview by Jonathan Maus on BikePortland.org where Rejuvenation President Alysa Rose discusses the plan to reduce emissions by giving a bike and gear package away each month to employees who agree to bike commute one day a week. The program is in partnership with the Bike Gallery, and is a key factor in the company goal to reduce the company's carbon footprint by five percent per year. Rose also discusses the current program to give employees $30 per month for walking, biking or busing to work.

Read it on BikePortland.org.

View the Rejuvenation coupon for $10 off any regular priced item.

View the Bike Gallery coupons for $5 off $20 and $5 off any tune-up. More...

As I mentioned in one of my last posts, I have been converted by the PBS special, Escape from Affluenza. I already knew that I occasionally struggle to balance our household finances with living green. Sometimes I want to save money, and am tempted by cheap, pesticide-sprayed produce and plastic junk from Taiwan instead of locally produced, pricier products.

Image credit: lanuiop via flickr

Jeremy and I have started to notice our shrinking collection of wine glasses. When we got married, we registered for a 24-piece, cheapo set of goblets (We got them at Macy's, though he always thinks we got them at Target, much to my irritation). Today, less than five years later, we have...six. Two white and four red. (We hardly ever drink white wine, too--go figure why those ones are nearly gone). Our dishwasher beheads them more often than not, and sometimes they have broken in the sink or on the floor. Either way, I decided we needed a few more, in the name of not offering our guests wine in sippy cups. More...