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...

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...

It’s fitting that the word “eco” comes from the ancient Greek “oikos” meaning home. Our homes use significant energy. Whether you are building a home or remodeling, there are myriad ways to go green, increase your comfort, and lower your bills.
We’ve included some info for renters, too. For inspiration, learn the impact of your home energy use by calculating your CO2emissions at carboncounter.org, and use our newfangled EcoMetro Decoder in our book to record your results. More...