(First two photos courtesy SWS)
Thanks to Kate Kaemerle from Sustainable West Seattle for sharing updates from the “Presto Garden” project that’s now moved on to the planting stage at Westcrest Park P-Patch in Highland Park. It was just a couple of hours ago that volunteers were putting down compost, as shown in an earlier photo from Kate:

And a few hours before that, we caught up with Kate and Bill Reiswig getting ready at the West Seattle Tool Library:

(Photo by WSB co-publisher Patrick Sand)
Food grown organically and sustainably in the garden will be donated to the White Center Food Bank. Read more about the project on the SWS website; if you haven’t been by yet, head for 8th/Henderson; they’re scheduled to continue till 5, and the more help they have, the more they can get done.

ADDED: We went back around 4:40 pm to see something close to the “after” photo:

Now – it’s time to grow!

Story and photos by Keri DeTore
Reporting for West Seattle Blog

Sustainable West Seattle continued its “Successful Gardening with Nature” series Monday night with the second of three installments: “Designing the Perfect Garden.”

A walk-through of the Community Orchard of West Seattle included adding topsoil around existing fruit trees and planting seedlings that have been grown in South Seattle Community College’s greenhouse.

To demonstrate “companion planting” (placing plants that provide beneficial qualities within close proximity of each other) Stu Hennessey and Narcissa Nelson led forum attendees in a planting exercise.

Garlic and onion were placed around the fruit trees to repel voles with their odor, and other companion plants added included French Marigolds and vegetables from the Brassica family, including kale and broccoli, which also repel pests. A helpful chart to determine which plants make great companions can be found here.

An “Edible Yards and Structures” presentation by Stu Hennessey followed, providing members with information regarding starting an edible garden in the residential yard. Stu began by reflecting briefly on the tragic events of the day in Boston. He noted that when it comes to security — including food security, it’s not something we can take for granted. Food security is however, “something we can have control over.” This includes harvesting rainwater and creating your own compost, as well as edible gardening.

The big announcement of the evening was the winning site of the “Presto Garden” — an edible garden that will be built by Sustainable West Seattle Members in one day using lasagna gardening techniques and benefiting the community. The winning site is the Westcrest P-Patch in Westcrest Park. The garden will be tended by P-Patch members and produce from the Presto Garden will be donated to the White Center Food Bank.

Other upcoming events at the Community Orchard of West Seattle include Thursday’s Health & Harvest in the Orchard from 3-5 pm, and Explorer West Middle School’s Horsetail-pulling Contest on April 23rd.

Sustainable West Seattle is taking a new approach to its monthly member meetings by focusing on a particular theme each quarter. Last night kicked off this quarter’s “gardening with nature” theme with a focus on soils.

Due to our region’s glaciated geological history, our soils can be challenging to work in, and often take time, energy and amendments to create an environment where plants can thrive. Stu Hennessey (right) demonstrated the work that has been done at the Community Orchard of West Seattle – site of part of the meeting – to improve the soil, taking it from a compacted lawn to a healthy, nutrient-rich soil supporting edible plants and fruit trees. Much of the resulting produce will be shared with the Delridge Grocery, announced last night as one of three SWS Green Grant Recipients (we reported on the grant recipients here, before last night’s meeting was over).

The healthy soil was created using a method called “layering” which is also known as “lasagna gardening.”

It’s pretty much what it sounds like — laying layers of cardboard or burlap, leaves, manure, compost, grass cuttings, and other organic materials and allowing it all to biodegrade together creating a humus-rich soil on top of the more challenging soil. A handout was provided describing the different layers and their functions so members could begin this soil improvement practice at home.

More information on Lasagna Gardening can be found here: squidoo.com/lasagna-gardening-method

Attendees were further educated on soil improvement while watching the film “Permaculture Soils” by Geoff Lawton, which demonstrated the use of composting and mulching to enhance and enrich soils using natural materials as a more sustainable choice over stripping and fertilizing soils.

Upcoming Sustainable West Seattle workshops will focus on this natural-gardening theme, with the West Seattle Tool Library hosting a Fixers Collective this Thursday (March 21st) from 6 pm to 9 pm, offering local gardeners the opportunity to sharpen their tools and repair wheelbarrows.

Building on the gardening theme, April’s SWS meeting will focus on garden planning.

In May, the group will spend one day building a garden, what Stu Hennessey calls their “legacy,” in a yet-to-be-determined spot in the community. SWS is currently accepting nominations for a garden installation for a community group, school or church. To nominate a garden site, go to sustainablewestseattle.org and leave a comment. You can also watch Sustainable West Seattle’s website for more details on their next meeting, Monday, April 15th.

Sustainable West Seattle‘s annual membership meeting is Tuesday, January 22nd from 7 – 9 pm at the West Seattle Senior Center.

You’ll hear about SWS programs for 2013 and ways that you can get involved as a volunteer. We’ll be introducing our new and returning board members plus appreciating our outgoing board colleagues.

You will also learn about the kick-off of our 2013 SWS Green Project Incubator Grant with $1000 generously donated from the CoHo Team of Windermere Agents. SWS will offer this grant to a West Seattle resident who applies with an idea to foster sustainability in our neighborhood. Come to the meeting for more details.

We estimate around 60 people filled the upstairs hall at the Senior Center of West Seattle, surprising one panelist, City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen, who had brought only 20 copies of a handout he wanted to circulate. Though the panel was prepared to discuss a wide range of transportation topics, the Metro changes/RapidRide C Line debut dominated, and when one attendee asked everyone from Arbor Heights to stand up, that covered about half the room. Metro planner Victor Obeso acknowledged the transition had been rocky and when asked by one attendee to apologize, did so. Later he also confirmed they expect to make some changes to address problems like Arbor Heights’ dramatic reduction in service, and that they are trying to get the RapidRide service to the promised 10-minute spacing, rather than multiple buses in a row after longer gaps. The forum ran the full two hours, and we have it all on video:

ADDED 6:57 AM TUESDAY: Video added. Text to come later this morning today.

ADDED 6:40 PM: Our full story, after the jump:

Despite the rain and the traffic, more than 50 people filled the seats at the Senior Center of West Seattle last night for Sustainable West Seattle’s transportation forum.

Though it was originally pitched as an opportunity to talk about a variety of transportation/transit topics, it quickly became almost entirely about the Metro changes launched concurrently 2 1/2 weeks ago with the start of RapidRide C Line replacing the 54/55 bus line. That’s been the most-discussed topic here on WSB – as one panelist even noted – these past few weeks.

If you don’t want to watch the entire 2-hour video clip above – here’s how it went:

SDOT‘s Peter Hahn started off talking about the coal-train controversy, saying the city is talking with the port. He then noted that the city doesn’t have enough money to handle the maintenance needs of the roads and facilities it has. He did mention they had just opened bids for the South Delridge repaving project and “we have some pretty good bids.” (Hahn did not elaborate.) He then rattled off some of the recent paving projects completed in West Seattle. As for the remaining unrepaired section of Beach Drive, with “legal issues (that) appear to be getting resolved,” he reiterated that when the slide repairs are complete, some “spot repairs” will be done on the road in that area. He also noted that SDOT worked with the county in planning the changes along the RapidRide C Line route, “because bus rapid transit isn’t so rapid” without changes.

In the future, he said, SDOT “may be asked to participate in another rapid transit round,” but that will take a long time, Hahn noted, observing that Sound Transit was voted on in 1996 but didn’t open light rail till 2009.

Metro planner Victor Obeso was next to speak. “We’ve just made the most comprehensive and significant changes that we have ever made in a service change before,” he said, acknowledging that meant “upheaval” for some transit riders. He says that while there was an “investment” made in Metro service because of Alaskan Way Viaduct construction-related mitigation money, most of it was made last year, and that’s why increases in service weren’t seen with these changes.

He mentioned 22 percent ridership increase to and from West Seattle between spring of 2009 and spring of 2012. (Here are the stats Metro shared with WSB recently.) During that same time, he said, Metro ridership overall grew 6 percent.

Then he recapped the King County Council’s imposition of the “congestion-reduction charge,” and warns that financial trouble may still lie ahead; they have had to make efficiency improvement, he said, and that is part of what went into the West Seattle changes. “We were looking at the places that were not carrying as many (passengers) as the others.” He says the intent for RapidRide is to be a seven-day-a-week 20-hour-a-day frequent-transit corridor. “We recognize that many of the problems that have been occurring are occurring in the peak commute periods.”

Making a big change brought in “several dynamics,” Obeso continued, and noted that they had asked riders to be patient. “We know it takes a while for our riders to understand what all their options may be,” he said. He said Metro “fully recognize(s)” it was “not a pleasant scene” in the early days of RapidRide in West Seattle. “Within the first week we were putting in place two standby coaches, adding more peak trips, and by Monday of last week we had permanently added two buses to the RapidRide (C and D Line).” That uses up 25 percent of their “reserves,” he said, though some reserves remain for “additional adjustments” if needed. Overall, Metro believes things have “smoothed out” but “we know it can better” and they know they “may have to add additional trips” – on RR, or “a route like 55.” He says they are still collecting data on the route, and the buses are 25 percent fuller than they were last spring, and they believe that means there’s been a ridership bump.

Third to speak was Chris Arkills, a West Seattleite who works on transportation issues for King County Executive Dow Constantine. “I have been passed by a 120 or a RapidRide that was too full to load me … so I share your frustration and your pain,”he said, but “every day we learn to make the system better.” He said, “It was a huge learning curve for all of us” – despite training, “until you get into the real world, you don’t know what’s going to happen.” He insists that Metro – contrary to criticism – does care about its riders though their task “becomes more challenging every day.” His job, as had been explained in the beginning, is to look ahead to the future and new options.

He notes that the city has decided to give money to speed up Sound Transit studies of getting light rail to Ballard, but not to West Seattle, because it’s going to be more difficult to get light rail here. “We look at RapidRide as a good intermediate step.” He reiterates that Route 120 remains a top candidate for future RapidRide conversion. “Executive Constantine is very concerned about both the bus changes and the long range future and is working on another Sound Transit package” for the future, he summarized.

City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen followed. He too is a West Seattleite and chairs the council’s Transportation Committee right now. He recapped the unsuccessful push for voter approval of a $60 license-tab fee last year to fund more transportation projects. He explained that’s one of the few options the city has for seeking funding. He too spoke to the $20 fee for Metro – saying it only has a two-year authorization, and if it goes away, the funding goes away, so “we are going back to Olympia to ask for another way to fund Metro.” He also pointed out that he is affected by the recent changes in a big way – Route 37 served his neighborhood south of Alki. He also talked about transit being such an important topic that it brought more comments on WSB than anything but snowstorms.

Rasmussen also spoke to the Beach Drive slide problem and a host of other traffic and parking issues, including a parking study now under way in The Triangle. And he wrapped up his opening remarks by saying that he was amazed at the turnout – probably 60 or so people by the time he finished speaking – he brought a handout but only about 20 copies because he didn’t expect so many people! (Earlier, he had called attention to the fact that here on WSB, the transit situation had become the single-most-commented-on issue, outside of major news stories like snowstorms.)

Also on the panel, Martin Duke of the Seattle Transit Blog. He said that he’s 36 years old and expects to be able to retire in 2044 or so but isn’t very hopeful there’ll be light rail in this area by then. He says he also was disappointed by the defeat of the roads/transit measure.

ATTENDEES’ QUESTIONS, PANELISTS’ ANSWERS

First question was from Jon Grant, who, as reported here, launched a petition last week (here) to bring back Route 21 service to Arbor Heights. “There is no bus service to get home from this meeting tonight.” He handed comments and signatures, printed out, to the panel. He says RapidRide is great but he gets to SW Barton “and that’s as far as I can get … there’s no way for us to get to the transit hub.” He said he is worried about safety walking from the nearest bus stop later in the fall and winter – especially considering Arbor Heights’ lack of sidewalks in many areas. “Hopefully there’s some room in that area to reinstate some of that service.”

The second question from Steve – standing with several people at the back of the room – who also remarked on all the WSB comments but said he had written letters and many had commented but there was no response. He remarked on “Metro’s failing on the implementation of this admittedly huge transition but … your lack of response … your silence is what’s really frustrated.” He said, “We would appreciate an apology – (such as) ‘we’re sorry, we didn’t plan as well as we should have, we’re doing what we can’ …” He said, “We’re hearing one now, but we didn’t hear one for 10 days.”

Victor Obeso offered that apology.

Obeso said he “appreciated Steve’s comments … I am truly sorry that those changes have not gone as we planned … I think that we have made some efforts at communication over that time, trying to balance communicating with information over communicating without information.” He says they are trying to determine the difference between problems in the design and problems with for example the demand – which, he said again, was a surprise to Metro. “We’re making the best of the resources we have and working hard to try to correct (the early problems).” Steve followed up by saying that he thought Metro should participate in online discussion more frequently.

Councilmember Rasmussen rose at that point and said he wanted to hear if anyone ever wrote the city and did not get a reply – if that happens, he said, let him know.

A woman who also identified herself as being from Arbor Heights said she too had gathered petition signatures – almost 90 – and she lives all the way south at 112th and would have to walk half an hour to or from a bus. “Even if that’s just two or three people a day, that’s real people. Seems a shame to cut service so severely in that neighborhood.”

And the next woman too was from Arbor Heights – she asked everyone from AH to stand up, and it appeared to be close to half those in attendance.

Rebecca spoke next, a Lowman Beach-area resident who talked about the Water Taxi and its shuttle drivers, who, she says, wait between boat runs. “Can we incorporate those little shuttles to broaden the (bus) service?” And another woman jumped in from the audience to say that if it were easier to get to the Water Taxi dock, more would use it.

Arkills, noting that the Water Taxi is not a Metro service, picked up the answer. He said the boats and shuttles have to work together – “the boats don’t leave till the shuttles are there, the shuttles don’t leave until the boats are there.” He said they looked at trying to use the parking area under the bridge, but it was too tight an area for the shuttles to turn. Arkills added that the Water Taxi “has its own funding challenges.” And he said it is not as well-utilized as it could be. Meantime, “every community in the county is clamoring for more transit service,” he added. “We have to balance a lot of competing needs.” He said he thought the “mix in Arbor Heights” could be improved on, though.

Seattle Transit Blog’s Duke at that point posed a question to Arbor Heights attendees, engaging them on ideas for improving even limited service, and some ideas were offered – Grant explained it wasn’t the distance as much as the danger in AH without sidewalks. “What are you gonna do about those sidewalks?” county rep Arkills joked to city rep Rasmussen at that point.

Then Marty from Fauntleroy spoke up and talked about pothole problems and streets that have been torn up by utility work over and over. He talked about a challenge his son faces getting to a high school outside West Seattle – doubling the trip to 90 minutes instead of 45. “One thing the transit planners forgot are all the people who make connections – they didn’t change the connections,” they just changed the way people were getting on them. He told the tangled tale of how his son and their visiting exchange student had to change routines and make some contorted maneuvers just to get between points.

The next question came from another Fauntleroy resident who pointed out that many stops were taken away in the 54 to RapidRide changeover – like one at Cloverdale (on Fauntleroy) that she would like to see returned.

Wolf from Fauntleroy, a former SWS vice president, also talked about how dramatically his commute time had changed, up to 2 hours to get home. “That’s killer, I can’t do that.”

The next speaker said the bus schedule didn’t match what was really happening, and that a driver was very rude to her. Arkills said it’s important to make sure that is reported. She said she had been a fulltime Metro rider for 25 years, even gave up her car 4 years ago, but if she stays downtown beyond 6:40, she ma be “signing up for a mile and a half walk home.”

An Arbor Heights woman said the changes are a hardship for her mom.

Next – someone from Admiral pointing out the service they lost in the recent changes. Her husband works regular business hours, she says, “so the 56 works for him both directions” – but for her, after 9 am, there are no more buses, and that is difficult because she works three part time jobs, including one downtown where she is on her feet all day. She also suggested that the Water Taxi make more runs when the Viaduct is closed. She also said it seemed as if RapidRide had taken money away from other neighborhoods. Obeso said that’s not true – the service has just been moved to major arterials “rather than spreading it to the neighborhoods.”

“Admiral has no service, Arbor Heights has no service, the 51 is cut out, what neighborhoods have service?”" someone asked.

The Admiral resident said she will be driving and parking in front of somebody’s house in the winter when it’s cold and dark so she can catch a bus that she used to be able to walk safely to.

Gatewood resident Andy then spoke up and said he is one of the few for whom service probably got better. He said what he was hearing sounded like an opportunity for the circulator buses that Sustainable West Seattle had discussed in the past. “One of those small shuttle buses could run through every 15 minutes -” “Every hour!” someone interjected. “Every half-hour!” said someone else.

Obeso then said “We would rather be adding service than moving it around … (but) we don’t have the resources to do that. The challenge I’ve been given is have more people use our transit system without having more resources to put out new services, to reorganize the services we have. It’s a significant callenge. But I believe we would be putting more people on buses if we had buses to put them on.”Circulators still cost money and need drivers, he said.

He was then asked why Route 133, which was “packed,” was cut. Obeso countered that it cost almost twice what other buses cost, per person, and did not carry full loads all the time – averaging 17 people, he said.

SWS past president Bill Reiswig then talked about traveling in other countries and seeing small buses “that were absolutely everywhere” in non-automobile-centric societies.

Obeso’s reply boiled down to “costs what we don’t have.”

Duke then jumped in and said that he thought Metro’s development of “frequent corridors” like RapidRide was moving in that direction.

Morgan Community Association president Deb Barker, describing herself as a retired land-use planner, asked if there is any way to get impact fees (though she didn’t use that phrase) from all the developments in the works that will be adding more people to roads and transit – or other ways to get funding.”

SDOT’s Hahn said he has worked in places that had those kinds of fees, and that there is a “huge long history” behind why the city does not have such fees. But he said the city does get benefits from some things that developments have to do – it’s just not a simple calculation. “It’s probably something that’s been talked about over the years and there’s probably good reasons why it hasn’t been done, but it’s not like developments get away for free.”

Rasmussen said employers are encouraged to pay for bus passes and other “trip-reduction” measures.

Cindi Barker, also from Morgan Junction, said that maybe private companies like taxi services could be brought into a circulation system of some sort. King County’s Arkills said that they are always interested in city-county partnerships, and they are indeed looking at alternative service deliveries.

Ben from Morgan Junction said he’s glad to be on the corridor but his travel time has indeed increased. He’s been a transit rider for 12 years but it’s hard to advocate in front of his friends because of the capacity problem: “Over-full buses are a big problem.” Obeso said they are continuing to work on the 10-minute spacing rather than “two at once.” He said that while some wish RR had schedules, its lack of schedules enables them to make changes when needed. Buses off-schedule create those crowding conditions, he acknowledged.

Also noted in the event’s waning moments: The publicly accessible bus-tracking programs are not working for West Seattleites right now.

And moderator Redmond asked the last big question, wondering why RapidRide was even rolled out for Ballard (D Line) when, unlike West Seattle, most of the infrastructure was not in place. Obeso didn’t have a clear answer except that they roll out service changes three times a year and basically had to decide go or no go – and they decided go. Overall, he said, RapidRide is a gradual improvement – and, “A year from now, I hope to hear that RapidRide is working better.” He said the county was getting some comments from those who are happy with it, and said that people who are not upset “are generally not motivated to come to a meeting on a rainy Monday night.”

That’s when he said they would look at “ways to give you [Arbor Heights in particular] more than you have today.”

]]> http://westseattleblog.com/2012/10/metro-apologizes-promises-arbor-heights-changes-sustainable-west-seattle-transportation-forum/feed 37 http://westseattleblog.com/2012/08/sustainable-west-seattle-honors-a-hero-celebrates-a-milestone http://westseattleblog.com/2012/08/sustainable-west-seattle-honors-a-hero-celebrates-a-milestone#comments Tue, 21 Aug 2012 04:24:16 +0000 WSB http://westseattleblog.com/?p=119224

When the campaign to stop the Tox-Ick Monster burst onto the local scene last year, the unsung hero behind it was Cate White, leading Sustainable West Seattle‘s education and outreach efforts to get people to take action, little by little, to make a big difference in Puget Sound’s water quality. Cate is unsung no longer – tonight, during SWS’s annual summertime picnic at Lincoln Park, president Christina Hahs announced her as the group’s 2012 Sustainable Hero:

In case you couldn’t watch the video – Cate is leaving West Seattle soon, headed for the Bay Area, but the fight against Tox-Ick will live on – Cate has helped secure several major grants, and was there to celebrate the $10,000 the campaign is getting for Laura James‘ recent win as a Cox Conserves Hero.

Another celebration at tonight’s picnic: SWS is celebrating its fifth anniversary this year. We went back into the WSB archives and found our first mention, a quick announcement of its first meeting in spring of 2007. Christina brought homemade green-iced cake tonight to mark the milestone:

And if you did see/hear the video – the dogs who were “cheering” for Cate were Christina’s Corgis, Sedona and Piper:

The picnic took the place of this month’s regular membership meeting, so there were announcements, too, including Saturday’s Duwamish River Festival in South Park and tomorrow’s weekly Health and Harvest event at the Community Orchard of West Seattle, 5-7 pm on the northeast side of the South Seattle Community College campus. SSCC is also where SWS plans its September meeting, which will focus on winter gardening – watch for details and lots more on its frequently and thoroughly updated website, sustainablewestseattle.org.

]]> http://westseattleblog.com/2012/08/sustainable-west-seattle-honors-a-hero-celebrates-a-milestone/feed 4 http://westseattleblog.com/2012/07/congratulations-laura-james-wins-cox-conserves-heroes-award-gets-for-sustainable-west-seattle http://westseattleblog.com/2012/07/congratulations-laura-james-wins-cox-conserves-heroes-award-gets-for-sustainable-west-seattle#comments Thu, 26 Jul 2012 04:16:04 +0000 WSB http://westseattleblog.com/?p=116607

Just got the news, and that photo, from a proud Laura James – best known here as “Diver Laura,” who has often shared video of amazing underwater sights as well as news of cleanups on sea and shore: She won the Cox Conserves Heroes award, which means a total of $10,000 for Sustainable West Seattle, her chosen nonprofit! We first told you in June that she was a finalist in this year’s contest. Then, voting ensued – till one week ago – and today, Laura was announced as the winner. (She was the only West Seattleite among the finalists, who are all shown here; the other two will each earn a $2,500 grant for their chosen nonprofit.)

(Laura with Cate White, Sustainable WS Tox-Ick fighter)
ADDED 9:49 PM: We asked Laura for a comment. Her reply:

A huge thank you to KIRO 7, Cox Enterprises and the Trust for Public Land for helping fight the Tox-Ick Monster! Many many thanks to my Friends and Family – Facebook or otherwise – who voted, My dive buddies who make the dives possible; a special thank you to Kelle Fitzpatrick for nominating me; and West Seattle Blog for your relentless support! I could not have done it without all of you!

“Tox-Ick,” you might recall, is the “face” of the Sustainable WS toxic-runoff-fighting campaign (read about the “monster” here and about simple actions YOU can take to fight it).

ADDED THURSDAY MORNING: Here’s the official announcement, now published on the Cox Conserves Heroes website.

]]> http://westseattleblog.com/2012/07/congratulations-laura-james-wins-cox-conserves-heroes-award-gets-for-sustainable-west-seattle/feed 10 http://westseattleblog.com/2012/07/west-seattle-tool-library-goes-mobile-deliverypickup-trailer-debuts http://westseattleblog.com/2012/07/west-seattle-tool-library-goes-mobile-deliverypickup-trailer-debuts#comments Wed, 11 Jul 2012 17:00:34 +0000 WSB http://westseattleblog.com/?p=115001

(Photo courtesy West Seattle Tool Library)
As its third year of operation gets under way, the nationally renowned West Seattle Tool Library is adding mobile service – and you can take a peek firsthand during tomorrow night’s “Ask an Expert” event at the WSTL. Here’s the Tool Library’s official announcement:

The West Seattle Tool Library is pleased to announce that we are going mobile. Thanks to a few generous sponsorships and the ongoing support of our growing 700-plus member community, the tool library has purchased a trailer and refurbished it to serve as a mobile extension of our well-loved collection of tools.

The new mobile unit, sized seven- by 14-feet, will be stocked with a variety of the most popular tools. The trailer will allow for members who do not have a vehicle, who need a tool that doesn’t fit in their vehicle or simply want the convenience of having it delivered, to do so for a fee of $10 each way. The mobile tool library will also be available to community groups who are working on a project and need a large number of tools on site.

Members will be able to request a pickup or delivery by contacting the library by e-mail at library@wstools.org or by phone at (206) 317-4671.

“This mobile unit will dramatically increase accessibility to the West Seattle Tool Library for a number of our neighbors who, for one reason or another, can’t always make it down to the tool library itself during open hours,” said Patrick Dunn, tool library founder. “It’s a really exciting opportunity to reach out to the community and ensure that everyone has access to the tools they need to take on projects of all sorts.”

The bright red unit, which resembles a horse trailer and was purchased in used condition and refurbished to a pristine state by Tool Library Director Micah Summers, will be officially rolled out to the public Thursday night, July 12, at the Tool Library’s regular DIY community meetup and “Ask an Expert” night. It will then be on display at the GreenLife exposition (part of West Seattle Summer Fest ) this weekend in the West Seattle Junction.

Held at the tool library’s permanent location in the Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, 4408 Delridge Way, the “Ask an Expert” event runs from 6-8 p.m. and offers area residents an opportunity to bounce project ideas off fellow DIYers and receive advice from experts in a variety of home improvement and sustainability fields.

The mobile unit was made possible by grants from the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods, the West Seattle Garden Tour and other donors.

The West Seattle Tool Library officially opened its doors in June of 2010, offering free community access to a variety of more than 100 tools out of a small storage closet. Just two years later, that modest collection has grown to over 1,500 mostly-donated tools, serving a membership of around 700 people from a renovated workshop space at Youngstown.

The tool library also hosts a wide range of educational classes and workshops, a fixer’s collective and social events geared toward the Do-It-Yourself community. Besides Summers, an intern and a number of volunteers help keep the library open and humming on weekends and Thursday nights.

You can check out the WSTL inventory via its website – wstoollibrary.org.
ADDED: Another reason to go!

Also visiting the Tool Library this Thursday evening are the folks from ‘Spark Truck.’ Out of Stanford Design School, they’ve created a mobile unit filled with 3d printers, laser cutters, and other tools to help promote hands-on making and design to youth. They’re currently on a nationwide roadtrip.

]]> http://westseattleblog.com/2012/07/west-seattle-tool-library-goes-mobile-deliverypickup-trailer-debuts/feed 5 http://westseattleblog.com/2012/06/vote-for-diver-laura-help-sustainable-west-seattle-win http://westseattleblog.com/2012/06/vote-for-diver-laura-help-sustainable-west-seattle-win#comments Mon, 18 Jun 2012 18:00:31 +0000 WSB http://westseattleblog.com/?p=112310

Congratulations to Laura James, also known as “Diver Laura,” whose underwater adventures and sea/land volunteer work – like “The Great Battery Roundup of 2012” – are often featured here on WSB. She is one of the finalists for this year’s “Cox Conserves Heroes” award, and online voting is open now. Here’s what’s at stake, from the Cox/KIRO TV announcement:

A total of $15,000 will be donated to local environmental nonprofits on behalf of the finalists. By being a finalist, each individual has secured a $2,500 donation for his or her nonprofit of choice. The finalists are now competing for an additional $7,500 – bringing the total donation on behalf of the winner to $10,000. The winner will be chosen through an online public vote.

Laura’s chosen nonprofit is Sustainable West Seattle. To vote (and to see who she’s up against!), go to kirotv.com/heroes.

(West Seattle has had a finalist once before – Fauntleroy Creek steward Judy Pickens in 2008.)

]]> http://westseattleblog.com/2012/06/vote-for-diver-laura-help-sustainable-west-seattle-win/feed 29 http://westseattleblog.com/2012/05/sustainable-west-seattle-energy-fair-tea-fundraiser-with-coolmom http://westseattleblog.com/2012/05/sustainable-west-seattle-energy-fair-tea-fundraiser-with-coolmom#comments Tue, 22 May 2012 10:36:20 +0000 WSB http://westseattleblog.com/?p=109841

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.

]]> http://westseattleblog.com/2012/05/sustainable-west-seattle-energy-fair-tea-fundraiser-with-coolmom/feed 3 http://westseattleblog.com/2012/04/cupboard-runneth-over-sustainable-ws-collecting-mugs-glasses http://westseattleblog.com/2012/04/cupboard-runneth-over-sustainable-ws-collecting-mugs-glasses#comments Thu, 19 Apr 2012 14:31:50 +0000 WSB http://westseattleblog.com/?p=106505 Spring cleaning? Sorting through things in preparation for WSCGSD? Maybe you have mugs and/or glasses you never use, just cluttering the cupboard. Sustainable West Seattle would be happy to put them into service:

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.

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