Carbon Footprint Workshop

My Basic Carbon Footprint: A Free Workshop

Saturday, June 18, 2016  10am-noon  1905 N. Alberta St.
How much carbon are you personally dumping into the air? Figure out what your carbon footprint is (individual or household) at this free workshop. Instructor Mike O’Brien was for 10 years the city of Portland’s expert on green building, and built a showplace low-energy house right here in Overlook.  

Everyone welcome. Max 20 participants, please register below.

Gather and bring five pieces of information to the workshop. All of the electricity, natural gas and heating oil consumption figures can be gotten from your utility.
1. 12 months total of electricity used

PGE Customer Service: 800-542-8818

Pacific Power Customer Service: 888-221-707
2. 12 months total of natural gas consumed (if gas heat) or 12 months total of heating oil consumed (if oil heat)

Northwest Natural Customer Service: 800-422-401
3. 12 months total auto miles traveled (each car)
4. automobile gas mileage (each car)
5. 12 months total air miles travelled

Air travel distances: http://www.worldatlas.com/travelaids/flight_distance.htm

Register here

Questions? Email sustainable@overlookneighborhood.org

Presented by Sustainable Overlook

Resilience Summit a Success

Last Saturday, more than 100 neighbors and other Portland residents gathered for Sustainable Overlook’s second annual Resilience Summit, co-sponsored with the Overlook Neighborhood Emergency Team (NET) on the theme of preparedness. The morning began with a terrific keynote presentation “Surviving a 9.0: Lessons from Chile and Japan,” by geotechnical engineer Allison Pyrch.

That excellent – and sobering – presentation was followed by four speakers: Captain Corey Wilson from Station 24 spoke about Portland Fire & Rescue’s response strategy after a big seismic event; Ernie Jones from the Portland Bureau of Emergency Preparedness spoke about PBEM’s NET and BEACON programs; Mitch Bixby (Overlook NET team lead) reviewed our team’s efforts; and Leslee Lewis Overlook NET lead and Sustainable Overlook spoke about the map your neighborhood block preparedness program and preparing your own home.

After a terrific lunch catered by New American Restaurant, there was more information and conversation at tables for NET, Phlush (the 4-bucket Emergency Waste System) and Thrive (freeze-dried foods); and an area with some ideas for your emergency food and supply stash. The day wound up with four more presentations: Emergency Radio Communications by John Beaston, Staging Areas and How They Work by Mitch Bixby, Food Prep Using Freeze-Dried Foods by Angie Smith, and Knowing Your Neighbors and Mapping Your Block by Josh Cabot.

There was plenty of food for thought, and neighbors went home with some concrete ideas on how to increase their preparedness. Luck favors the prepared.

See more photos from the event.

Save the Date! Resilience Summit 2016

Overlook Resilience Summit

Preparation:  Where Resilience Begins

Saturday, February 20, 2016

Following up on last year’s sustainability summit held at Beach School, Sustainable Overlook is partnering with Overlook’s Neighborhood Emergency Team (NET) and Multnomah County’s Schools Uniting Neighborhoods program to present a second summit that will focus on resilience.  This is an open invitation for neighbors to come together and discuss how we can prepare our homes for the unexpected, connect more closely as neighbors to serve as mutual safety nets, and adapt to changing conditions using specific plans that are being collectively-developed by NET (Neighborhood Emergency Teams). Mark your calendars now and click here for details!

Home Seismic Retrofit Workshop

Interested in Earthquake preparedness and learning how to attach your house to its foundation?

Join Sustainable Overlook, Overlook NET (Neighborhood Emergency Team) and Earthquake Tech to get the scoop. The workshop filled quickly so a second session is being offered the same day:

Saturday, December 5th 

Session 1 10 am – 11:30 am FULL

Session 2 12:30- 2 pm

$10 suggested donation (no one turned away)

Sustainable Overlook the Home

Earthquake Retrofit Workshop with Steve Gemmel

from Earthquake Tech (who taught our workshop

3 years ago) will teach us how to bolt our

houses to their foundations, and go over other

ways of making our houses more seismically

stable. A PERFECT winter DIY project!

Will be held at a residence in the neighborhood

with a live demo.

Email sustainable@overlookneighborhood.org to register and for more information.

Natural Gardening Workshops coming up

Learn more about urban weeds and rain gardens

Registration is now open for free and practical how-to workshops on rain gardens, native plants and urban weeds. Workshops are offered  through the East Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation District and community partners.  Three workshops will be held in the North Portland Neighborhood Services area:

In Overlook (at Trillium Charter School, 5420 N Interstate Ave

  • Urban Weeds, Wednesday, Oct. 21, from 6:30  to 9 p.m.
  • Rain Gardens 101, Saturday, Oct. 24, from 9 to 1 p.m.

In Cathedral Park (at BES Water Pollution Control Lab, 6543 N Burlington Ave)

  • Native Plants, Sunday, Sept. 20, from 1 to 3:30 p.m.

Registration is required. For more detail and to register online visithttp://emswcd.org/workshops-and-events/upcoming-workshops/.  Additional questions? Call 503-935-5368.

Yard Sale and Free Share!

Yard Sale and Free Share 2015 is coming up soon!

Saturday and Sunday, July 18 and 19.

Over 50 households participate in this fun annual event. It’s a great way to meet your neighbors – and reduce, reuse and recycle! We have online registration this year that is open now. Households that sign up will be marked on the map and on our website, and in published listings. Suggested donation $10 to cover printing and advertising costs.

The map will be available here July 15th so you can plan your treasure hunting route!

More info and registration HERE. 

2014 Overlook Yard Sale - Free Share Flier

Garden Tour Locations

For those who like to plan ahead, here are the locations of the garden tour stops for the Sustainable Overlook Garden Tour this Saturday. Please note Trillium School is open only from 10 to 11 am. Please respect the privacy of our generous tour hosts by only visiting during tour hours. Hope to see you on the tour!

Map/Tour Guide PDF here:2015_garden-tour-guide

Open 10 am to 11 am:

Tour stop 1: Trillium Charter School 5420 N. Interstate Ave. – Kid’s garden activities

Open 10 am to 3 pm:

Tour stop 2: 1624 N. Emerson St –  Mason Bee demo from 11-12

Tour stop 3: 1930 N. Skidmore St.

Tour stop 4: Attunement Center 1722-1723  N. Blandena –  Seed swap and Plant Exchange, Village Building Convergence Site

Tour stop 5: 2311 N. Blandena St. – Backyard Habitat Certification Information

The tour is self-guided, feel free to start at Trillium School or any location. The route this year is easy to walk or bike. Kids and service animals are welcome but please leave pets at home. Please contact us if you have questions about accessibility: sustainable@overlookneighborhood.org

Sustainable Overlook Garden Tour

This Saturday! June 6th

Trillium Charter School, 5420 N. Interstate Ave. 10-11 am

Four Neighborhood Gardens 10 am to 3 pm

The Sustainable Overlook Garden Tour is this Saturday, June 6th from 10 am to 3 pm. Start at Trillium Charter School (open from 10-11 am) or one of the four garden sites nearby (open from 10 am to 3 pm, map available here soon.) Get ready to be inspired by pesticide-free gardens that with showcase edible landscaping, mason bees, chicken keeping, an outdoor kitchen, a permaculture homestead, backyard habitats and much more!

  • See Trillium Charter School’s organic roof top garden where outdoor education and food production happen.
  • Mason Bee demos and learn how you can encourage pollinators in your yard
  • Seed and Plant Swap as part of the Village Building Convergence at the Attunement Center, a permaculture homestead site
  • Visit a Certified Backyard Habitat and learn how each of our yards or balconies can offer valuable habitat

Suggested dontation $5

Contributions benefit the Pesticide Free Neighborhood Project

More details here soon.

May Meeting 5/21

Join Sustainable Overlook for the next general meeting on 3rd Thursday, May 21st from 6:30-8:30 pm at New American at 2103 N. Killingsworth Ave.

We’ll be discussing the upcoming Sustainable Overlook Garden Tour (6/6), reviewing recent events and discuss neighborhood sustainability topics. Summit agenda items to sustainable@overlookneighborhood.org or just come to the meeting!

Everyone welcome.

Food and beverages available for purchase.

Urban Plants Walk with Rewild Portland

Tomorrow! Sunday, May 3, 10 am to noon

See the our neighborhood flora in a new way as Rewild Portland’s Sarah Hill interprets the weeds and wild plants along our bluff and around the neighborhood. In this intro level walk, participants will learn the principals of gathering wild plant foods, focusing on harvesting ethics, basic plant ID, and common edible ‘weeds’. At the end of the walk, participants will be able to sample a few dishes made with locally harvested wild foods, and have the tools and resources to begin exploring the world of foraging. Rewild Portland aims to reconnect people with the ancestral skills and knowledge we were all once rooted in, and by doing so spur regeneration for the land, community and self. Suggested donation $10.

Dress for the weather, bring gloves and a small digging tool (optional) and let us know if you have any dietary restrictions when you register if you want to try recipe samples.

Meet at 10 am at the picnic shelter at Overlook Park. We’ll end up at the Historic Oak meadow on the 3900 block of Overlook Terrace.

REGISTER HERE.