Recycled Arts Festival
Recycled Arts Festival
If your mantra is Reduce, Reuse, Recycle; you’ve got to find time to check out the Recycled Arts Festival at Esther Short Park this weekend in Vancouver.
Over 70 artists specializing in everything from jewelry to clothing to metal arts and more will bring their Green goods.
The Recycled Arts Festival is sponsored by the Clark County Department of Environmental Services as part of their ongoing effort to encourage waste reduction, reuse and recycling in Clark County, Washington. Pretty darn awesome.
HARO
Help A Report Out, or better known as HARO, is a great and wonderful thing. It’s a way for reporters and journalists to find experts and sources on whatever they’re writing about. It also allows experts and sources a way to get exposure for their product or service.
Don’t feel like an expert? HAROs motto: everyone’s an expert at something.
Oh – and did I mention, all this connecting is FREE. Awesome.
Gozaic
Gozaic
Gozaic, a site about cultural and heritage travel, is part of the National Trust for Heritage Preservation.
On Gozaic you’ll find cool travel destinations that have some cultural significance. For example:
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Florida Carriage Museum in Weirsdale, Florida
The Florida Carriage Museum & Resort is home to one of the world’s finest collections of carriages. -
Cliveden in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
During the 1777 Battle of Germantown a small force of British infantrymen barricaded themselves inside Cliveden to successfully hold off thousands of American troops.
Awesome, eh?
Water
Drink Water
Water is one of the most awesome things around.
It covers 71% of the earth’s surface, is vital to every living thing and it makes up about half to two-thirds of our body.
The health benefits of drinking water are innumerable. It helps with digestion, energy, metabolism and about a million other things. And when you’re thirsty, nothing tastes as good.
Go on, have a glass right now.
Magnetic chalkboards
Magnetic chalkboard
Strolling about at Saturday Market in Portland I ran across these totally awesome magnetic chalkboards. The surface is magnetic–which is how it holds the cute little heart magnet and chalk holder–and you can write on it with chalk.
Fabulous idea. And to add the whipped cream and cherry, many of these boards are sporting positive messages. LOVE it.
You can find these at Saturday Market in the Oh My Stars! booth by Tonya Gray or at GrayGirlArt.com.
Portland Japanese Garden
Japanese Garden (photo by Roy McKeag)
The Portland Japanese Garden is breath-taking. 5.5 acres that are sure to induce a zen-like state in those who wander through its carefully appointed grounds.
Every pebble is intentionally placed, every tree masterfully pruned. The koi are mesmerizing and a blanket of moss covers rocks.
If you’re ever looking for something awesome to do with your day in Portland, a few hours at the Japanese Garden is it.
Reed Sandridge
Reed Sandridge (right) (by Katherine Frey/the Washington Post)
Many thanks to Melia Dicker (previously featured on 365 Awesome! herself) for this post suggestion.
Reed Sandridge dealt with being laid off a little differently than most. He began a year of giving away $10 a day to a stranger.
On his blog, Year of Giving, he explains why:
My goal is not to change the lives of those with whom I come in contact. Let’s face it, $10 dollars is not going to change someone’s life in and of itself. I do believe, however, that the act of giving will hopefully inspire others to pursue the ideals that the French philosopher Auguste Comte envisioned when he coined the term “altruism.” Whether that comes in the form of someone who reads this blog and wants to embark on their own Year of Giving or someone who uses the $10 to help someone else out, the specific results are less important than the overall good that we can achieve together.
Read more about Reed in the Washington Post.
Powell’s Books
Powell's Books
If you’ve been to Portland, chances are you’ve been to Powell’s Books. Powell’s is the definitive book store. One square city block, Powells is several floors and a myriad of rooms of books. New books, used books, audio books, you name it.
Looking for that out-of-print favorite? Interested in a rare find? Don’t want to pay too much for your school texts? Powell’s is the place for you. Their online site, Powells.com
The store is also host to many fantastic events and green initiatives. Have a bunch of books you don’t know what to do with? Sell them to Powell’s for cash or store credit and turn them into new books. It’s an awesome, endless cycle!
Gazelle.com
Today’s recommendation comes to is from Cathy Wellner of Hailey, Idaho. Thanks, Cathy!
Gazelle.com
Gazelle.com is an organization that will help get your old electronics off your hands and back into circulation. Using a “reuse first” model, gazelle will purchase usable items for resale. It will even help orgs set up electronics collections for fundraisers.
Recycling is great. Reusing is excellent. Getting paid for both is awesome.
Salerno sanitation department
This suggestion comes to us from Leslie Haramis (my aunt). We’re traveling together in Italy. When I asked her what we’d seen that was awesome, she didn’t say “temples” or “churches” or “the sea.” “I think the sanitation department is awesome!” She declared.
Salerno santiation worker
Every morning, we sit out on our patio and watch the world go by. People hang their laundry, go to work, walk their dogs. And each morning, the sanitation department comes by to empty whatever trash or recycling is picked up that day (they pick up different things on different days). This week, my aunt called to me to come see what was happening.
We both watched as the sanitation worker emptied the trash container and then proceeded to spray it down with disinfectant, rinse it out and wipe it off. What? I have to say I’ve never noticed an odor when I’ve walked by the communal trash cans on the street. I guess this is why. Awesome.
