A busy few days for Sustainable West Seattle – with two events in three days. Monday night, the group brought a powerful lineup of energy education and experts to the monthly SWS Community Forum at the Senior Center of West Seattle. Above, Craig Jones from Sustainable Works, which specializes in energy audits and retrofits. Energy audits are also big for Community Power Works, whose Greta Hutchinson was on hand:

Now that winter’s finally past – just might be the right time to evaluate how to make your home more energy-efficient for next year. Or even do something more dramatic – go solar!

Eric Thomas from West Seattle-based Solar Epiphany was there to talk sun power in the form of the EcoLEAP program – with multiple options for going solar either big or small.

Ahead, our photos from the SWS/CoolMom tea party on Saturday:

As West Seattle-founded sustainability-focused groups, SWS and CM often work together. Both are relatively new groups – less than a decade old – but have accomplished much in terms of rallying the community around issues on a more personal level – how can YOU change YOUR life, even in a small way, to make a difference? The event on Saturday was a celebration – as well as a fundraising auction:

And a chance to chat and laugh – as did Amanda Goodwin and Chas Redmond:

The tea was held on the grounds of a private home north of Morgan Junction. Attendees also included past SWS president Bill Reiswig and LD Arch Design (WSB sponsor) proprietor Parie Hines, a green-architecture specialist:

Look for both groups out and about as summer gets going with more community events; you’ll usually also find SWS at the West Seattle Farmers’ Market twice a month, and presenting the GreenLife sustainability expo at West Seattle Summer Fest July 13-14-15.

Sustainable West Seattle is excited to announce that we are creating a reusable dish collection. Our goal is to create a large collection that can be used for events, like parties, so that disposables will not need to be used. We are currently accepting donations of mugs, drinking glasses and wine glasses. Donations must be in good condition and not have any chips or sharp edges. Our current goal is to collect 100 mugs, drinking glasses, and wine glasses.

Donations can be left at the following locations:

*West Seattle Tool Library – 4408 Delridge Way SW – Thursdays from 6-9 pm, Saturdays from 9 am-2 pm and Sundays from 1-5 pm
*Think Outside the Car event on Saturday, April 28th, from 10 am-2 pm at Westside School playground – 34th and Holden Street
*Sustainable West Seattle table at the West Seattle Farmers Market on May 6th

After the collection has been established, we hope to lend it out to other groups in West Seattle to reduce the amount of disposables used in West Seattle.

Our photos are courtesy of diver/photographer Laura James, who was there as Sustainable West Seattle‘s toxic-runoff-fighting Tox-Ick Monster presentation brought in a big crowd at Sanislo Elementary on Thursday night – beating, Laura says, the 50-person goal, which means that an environmental project at Sanislo gets a $1,000 donation. Everybody who came was a winner – free pizza, free native plants:

And you can join the fight too – next chance, 7 pm March 22nd at West Seattle High School, which also gets a $1,000 grant if at least 50 adult community members turn out for the presentation!

(Photo courtesy Laura Elfline)
On the second Thursday every month, the West Seattle Tool Library invites do-it-yourselfers to not just come check out tools, but come get free expert advice on projects/ideas you might be pursuing or considering – now or in the future. And tomorrow’s the January edition. From the announcement:

Our coaches have expertise in a variety of areas, including solar power, water harvesting, green architecture & building, permaculture, and urban gardening. This month’s lineup includes experts from: Mighty House Construction, Urban Land Army, Solar Epiphany, LD Arch Design, Alki Bike and Board, as well as members of our community at large

These open and informal community meetups offer an opportunity to bounce project ideas off fellow DIYers and maybe receive some advice in the process, if you like. It’s also a great time to show off what you’ve been working on. You bring your inspiration and your inquiring minds. We’ll bring the experts and the pizza! See you there!

The Tool Library is on the northeast side of Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, 4408 Delridge Way SW.

As of a little more than an hour ago, Sustainable West Seattle was already on its fifth box of Christmas lights brought in for recycling at its West Seattle Farmers’ Market booth. Till 2 pm, you’ll find them there – along with the meters comparing LED lights to incandescent:

Just around the corner from the Farmers’ Market, the Hometown Holidays (co-sponsored by WSB) Belgian-mule-drawn carriage rides (free!) – we caught up with them as they headed north on 44th before turning onto Alaska by the market:

The carriage rides continue till 3, as do take-it-yourself Santa photos at City Mouse. One Farmers’ Market reminder – NO market the next two Sundays, since it’s Christmas Day and New Year’s Day, BUT there’s a special nighttime edition at Junction Plaza Park this Thursday (December 22), 5-8 pm. (Sustainable WS plans to roast chestnuts, providing leader Christina Hahs’ test run tonight goes well!)

4:23 PM UPDATE: Got the final tally from the Christmas-lights-recycling collection:

That photo’s courtesy of Chas Redmond, who staffed the SWS booth today with Hahs (in the photo) and Patrick Dunn (best known as award-winning manager of the WS Tool Library). By 2 pm, he says, they had filled the pickup-truck bed with boxes of ready-to-recycle lights, and they had finished the old-vs.-new lights comparison: “The results of our demo showing the electricity draw of conventional, incandescent mini’s and the LEDs – with a string of 100 LED lights and another string of 75 incandescent mini lights running for three hours, the LED lights drew 3 watts and the incandescents (even though there were fewer) drew 300 watts – roughly 1 watt/hour for the LED string and 100 watts/hour for the incandescent string.” One more sustainability P.S. – for Christmas-giving/stocking-stuffing, the Tool Library is suggesting gift memberships (raffle ticket included!).

As explained on the SWS website, you should be able to find their booth fairly easily, since they’re also promising a demonstration comparing the power-usage difference between LED lights and the old-fashioned type. As always, the Farmers’ Market is 10 am-2 pm Sunday, 44th/Alaska. And remember the special nighttime Farmers’ Market coming up this Thursday, 5-8 pm; after that, no market for a few weeks, since the following two Sundays (12/25 and 1/1) will be holidays.

(WSB photo by Tracy Record)
It’s been almost two years since our first report that Sustainable West Seattle was starting a tool library. It’s been going strong for a year and a half now, drawing users, generating buzz (Popular Mechanics!), and tonight, winning a big award. Sustainable Seattle, celebrating its annual fundraising gala and awards dinner at the Duwamish Longhouse, honored the West Seattle Tool Library for Sustainability in Innovation in a Social Environment. Accepting the award were (from left) Micah Summers and Patrick Dunn. Haven’t been to the tool library ever – or, lately? It’s open Thursday nights, so you can drop by tomorrow, 6-9 pm (it’ll be another session of Ask the Expert, too, till 8). It’s on the northeast side of Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, 4408 Delridge Way SW.

P.S. Here’s who else was nominated for the Sustainable Seattle awards.

THURSDAY P.P.S. Click ahead for full list of winners, just received:

Social Environment

Leader in Sustainability: Community Kitchens NW

Innovator in Sustainability: West Seattle Tool Library

Personal Environment

Leader in Sustainability: Pomegranate Center

Innovator in Sustainability: Sarah Elwood

Built Environment

Leader in Sustainability: Charlie Cunniff

Innovator in Sustainability: Green Plate Special

Natural Environment

Leader in Sustainability: Stewardship Partners

Innovator in Sustainability: Reed Painting

Happiness Award: Cathy Tuttle

The first offerings on display when we dropped by the Sustainable West Seattle-presented WS Barter Fair in the early going included these two tables abounding with art:

Your chance for a “money-free shopping spree” continues till 8 at Camp Long Lodge (5200 35th SW, right inside the gates); how it works is explained on the SWS website.

Introduction to Holiday Canning
Nov. 29th, 7-9 PM

Learn how to preserve your harvest. We’ll cover all the basics of using a hot water bath canner. Each participant will get to take home a few jars of what we can in class.
Instructor: Christina Hahs
Cost: $20 plus $5 for materials

Introduction to Backyard Booze
Dec. 6th, 7-9 PM

Learn to use fruit and simple ingredients to make homemade specialty liqueurs such as Fig Bourbon, Rumtopf, Cranberry Spice Vodka, or Pineapple Rum.
Instructor: Vanessa Primer
Cost: $20

Introduction to Jewelry Making
Dec. 13th, 7-9 PM

Learn the basics of beading and wirework. Techniques learned include crafting clasps, wire wrapping and beading to begin creating a bracelet or necklace to complete at home.
Instructor: Jill Sundberg
Cost: $20 plus $5 for materials

Introduction to Soapmaking
Dec. 20th 7-9 PM

Homemade soaps make great gifts! Join us as we demonstrate the basics of traditional soap making using all-natural herbs and essential oils. These are tried and true, simple methods you will be able to use at home. If there’s enough time, this class will also cover the basics of making bath salts, scrubs, teas, and oils.
Instructor: Vanessa Primer
Cost: $20 plus $5 for materials

The West Seattle Tool Library and Community Workshop are in the Youngstown Cultural Arts Center at 4408 Delridge Way on the east side of the building. (Its regular hours are Thursdays: 6 pm till 9 pm; Saturdays: 9 am till 2 pm; Sundays: 1 pm till 5 pm.) For more information, contact Kate Kaemerle at 206.743.4468.

P.S. Speaking of handmade gifts – you’ll be able to trade for some at tonight’s Sustainable West Seattle Barter Fair, 4-8 pm at Camp Long Lodge. Read more about it here (and comment on the SWS site if you’re planning to participate!).

WEST SEATTLE BARTER FAIR: A unique way to find gifts – and share potential gifts – right after Thanksgiving. The date is set, 4-8 pmNovember 26th. From the Sustainable West Seattle website:

Join us for a fun and unique “money free shopping spree” geared toward the holiday shopping season on ‘Green Saturday’, the day after “Black Friday”. We’ll be enjoying a potluck at the same time, so bring a gift to share!

This unique event will be held in an equally unique setting — The Lodge at Camp Long. The object of the Barter Fair is to promote more meaningful gifting of products through exchanging services, or items made from raw materials

The “Money Free Shopping Spree” is gift trading. Categories include: Services, Art Crafts, Home Crafts, Food Crafts and Salvaged/Refurbished Items.

If you know what you will bring to trade, they would love to hear from you in the comment section on the SWS site.

(Photo of 2009 event, courtesy Eat Local Now!)
If you still haven’t bought a ticket to Eat Local Now! – the annual local-food dinner celebration that also serves as a fundraiser for local groups including Sustainable West Seattle and CoolMom – here’s one more reason: Getting home from West Seattle tomorrow, the first Viaduct-less weekday, is likely to be more of a challenge than actually getting out of WS in the morning. But if you attend Eat Local Now! at Sodo Park at 6 pm tomorrow (Monday), you should have a much easier time finding your way home in the mid-evening without traffic-jam entanglements (it’s on 1st Avenue South, so you can either head to the “low bridge” afterward or to the 1st Av. S. Bridge). We’re told tickets remain (buy online here) – read on for some highlights!

The menu is due to be revealed at any time and we will publish it here once it is. (ADDED MONDAY – Here it is!)

Teas: Choice Teas

Coffee (Regular & Decaf): Cafe Vita Coffee

WINE & BEER:

The Wine – 6$/glass: Our locally-produced wine selected by Bin-41
Reds: Lone Birch Red Blend; Olsen Estates Red Blend

White: Willow Crest Pinot Gris; Airfield Estates Sauvignon Blanc

The Beer – 5$/glass: Elliott Bay Brewhouse and Pub: Alembic Pale Ale

Big Al Brewing: Irish Red Ale

BREAD

Artisian Bread Rolls

with sweet cream butter & Herban butter
(Bread from Tall Grass Bakery, Gluten Free Breads from Great Harvest Bakery)

APPETIZER:

Beechers Flagship Cheese, Bosc Pears from Tonnamaker Farm

Our Signature Sweet Potato & Dungeness Crab Cakes
with chipotle remoulade & minced chives

Goat Cheese Mousse in phyllo
with house-made pepper jelly

Vegan Masa Cakewith local chanterelles
& sweet pepper compote

SALAD:

Organic Greens from Willie Greens Farm, Pear and Apple Salad

with smoked goat cheese, candied pecans tossed with maple-balsamic vinaigrette

ENTREE:

Cedar Planked Wild Salmon Fillets

with a citrus arugula coulis

Field Roast Italian Sausage (v)

with sauteed sweet peppers, onions & herbs
Contains gluten, no eggs

SIDE DISHES:

Full Circle Farms Herb Roasted Fall Vegetables

(V/GF)drizzled with smoked sweet paprika oil

Oregon Wild Rice “Easy Pieces” Pilaf
featuring dried Washington cherries, butternut squash & fresh herbs

Dessert:

Assorted Cookies
from Little Rae’s Bakery

Gluten Free Cheesecake Brownies
from On Safari Foods

Meantime, if you want to do some early holiday shopping – here’s the silent auction and “table basket” list:

From tasting tours to gift baskets and green goods, items include:

• Alki Bike and Board – Tutored Bike Tune-up
• Alki View Massage – one hour massage
• C&P Coffee Company – mug and a 10-punch beverage card
• Chinook Book – 2012 book and mobile app
• Clare Barboza Photography – food photography class
• Click! Design That Fits + Frances Smersh – jewelry and gift card
• Cucina Fresca – pasta, sauces and a tour
• Dabbawalla Bags — two colorful kids snack bags
• Ecofab – home energy audit
• Farmstead Meatsmith – butchery classes on Vashon farm
• Finnriver Farm & Cidery – custom cider, wine and cheese tasting at Finnriver
• Full Circle Farm — $50 gift certificate
• Garden Cycles – $200 gift certificate
• Gray Sky Farm – 4 weeks of CSA produce
• Mariposa Naturescapes – garden consultation and five edible plants – $150 value
• Mighty House Construction – $800 credit towards custom chicken coop with salvaged materials. 10hr – mentorship for the DIYer valued at $600
• Mixed Greens Blog – whole food photographs and silk screened-bag with 2012 photo calendar and notecards
• New Roots Organics – two $80 gift certificates for produce from CSAs
• Perche No Pasta & Vino Restaurant – $50 gift certificate
• PCC Natural Markets – gift certificate for PCC Cooks class for two
• Super Supplements – gift basket valued at $300
• Tonnemaker Farm – box of pears
• Urban Land Army – gift certificate for edible garden consultation
• Veraci Pizza – two $25 gift certificate
• Vegetarians of Washington – three books, gift membership
• Vital Medicine – craniosacral therapy
• Wallin’s Oysters and Clams – South Sound farm tour and tasting for 10, $350 value
• Wascha Studios – architectural feasibility study and consultation
• West Seattle Nursery – gift certificate
• World Pizza – pizza, wine, and salad for two

There will also be table baskets being auctioned off with an array of donations:
• C&P Coffee Company – mug and a 10-punch beverage card
• Chinook Book – 2012 Mobile App
• Edible Seattle — magazine
• Living Harvest – hemp milk
• Natural Awakenings – magazine
• Produce from local farms
• Rockridge Orchards – apple cider
• Seattle Bagel Bakery – Bagels
• Sustainable West Seattle, Brian Allen – honey

The photos from tonight’s Sustainable West Seattle-presented “Don’t Feed the Tox-Ick Monster” event at Pathfinder K-8 School are courtesy of Laura James – yes, undersea Laura! – who reports that the community rose to the challenge: Get at least 40 adults into the room, and the night’s prize (each of these presentations feature prizes) goes to a runoff-reducing cistern for Pathfinder’s Earth Project. Laura says the final count appeared to be more than 70! Maybe it was the free, donated Proletariat Pizza …

If you haven’t yet learned the secrets of fighting the Tox-ick Monster, you have two more chances – November 12th, in Spanish, at St. James Annex in South Delridge, and November 19th at Alki UCC - times, addresses, and more information here.