West Seattle, Washington
10 Wednesday
That’s the start of a trail into the West Duwamish Greenbelt — which covers many acres of eastern West Seattle but isn’t nearly as well-known as the trails of Lincoln Park, Camp Long, Schmitz Park, and so on. From that trailhead at 14th SW and SW Holly (map), we joined a group Friday afternoon on one of the free guided monthly hikes offered by the West Seattle-based Nature Consortium, whose executive director Nancy Whitlock led the way:
More photos, video, and what we learned about this semi-secret stretch of greenery that’s not very far off the beaten (and driven) path, ahead:Read More
Not quite as clear as the set of coyote photos published Friday night, but “Seacat,” who blogs at seacat.wordpress.com, added an interesting side note that made us want to share the pic:
This little coyote is a regular visitor in our yard; this picture was taken right outside my home office window. Since he’s been hanging around, we don’t have a problem with rats at the bird feeder–which also means the variety of birds has increased. That’s not just the coyote, of course, but he fills out a tiny eco-system in our backyard wildlife sanctuary and things are improved with his presence. We live over by Lincoln Park, and welcome our coyote co-habitants. It’s all good!
Water Without Waste’s founders from left to right: Elma Borbe with Sound Transit, Shauna Causey with Comcast, Felicia Kline with WaMu, and Paul Whyatt with Weyerhaeuser stand with Seattle City Council President Richard Conlin (center, seated) as he signs the Water without Waste pledge.
Since Water Without Waste kicked off its cut-your-plastic-water-bottle-use campaign earlier this spring (we told you about it after an Alki Community Council presentation in March), they’ve gotten pledges equivalent to 20,000 fewer water bottles. Here’s the full announcement:Read More
Those who worry that city leadership might not always have neighborhoods’ best interests at heart will be interested in that excerpt from the Sustainable West Seattle Festival speech by Jim Diers, former director of the city Department of Neighborhoods. From our vantage point next to the main stage for all five hours, Diers was hands-down the most energetic speaker of the day (gotta check out the NEIGHBOR POWER! bellow – that’s the title of a book Diers wrote). More from him, and four other clips to conclude our coverage, ahead:Read More
We’re just back from the first-ever Sustainable West Seattle Festival in The Junction, and by all accounts, and our observations, it was a smash hit. SWS president Bill Reiswig said in closing remarks less than an hour ago that what he found really “moving” was all the interaction going on, between exhibitors and participants and festivalgoers — a fulfillment of the “building community, creating connections” mission you may have seen on the posters for the SWSF.
That’s what we experienced too; we had a great time not only spreading the word about West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day, but also meeting so many people who are out there in WSB-land, including some folks we’ve “known” via e-mail for many months but never before met in person … thank you all SO much for stopping by to say hi. We’ll have a full wrapup later tonight with more festival pix and video. Congratulations to Sustainable West Seattle, which made a daring move by putting on a major event like this after less than a year in existence … and succeeded big-time.
(Our previous reports on the festival, under way in The Junction till 3 pm, are here and here.)
Just steps away from the Sustainable West Seattle Festival table that’s become temporary WSB HQ for the day, you can see the Westenders Scooter Club with those bright bikes. And though it’s not technically on the festival site, across the street by the northeast entrance to the Farmers’ Market, we spotted the “human-powered smoothie” maker:
The festival continues till 3 all around the Wells Fargo lot on the northeast corner of 44th/Alaska; we’re here mostly on behalf of West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day (just another form of recycling) — lots of folks have dropped by to say hi (thanks!). We’re just west of the “Main Stage,” where a variety of speakers have appeared throughout the day – later we’ll upload video from the speech by Jim Diers, former city Department of Neighborhoods leader, whose booming call for “NEIGHBOR POWER!” could be heard for blocks away!
Those are Duwamish Tribe members singing a song of welcome to open the first-ever Sustainable West Seattle Festival, continuing till 3 pm in The Junction (Wells Fargo lot and surroundings, across from the Farmers’ Market). Other scenes from the first hour:
That’s the Polar Bear getting ready for its closeup. Next, the popular “Undriver Licensing” booth:
Next, evidence many festivalgoers already were “undriving”:
Here’s an overview of the area north of Wells Fargo. There are also booths in and around the south and east sides, including the drive-thru (our table is next to the main stage just outside the north end of the drive-thru).
Something for gardeners too:
If you haven’t been yet, drop by the WSB table, say hi, and pick up a West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day (next Saturday — call it P2P recycling!) reminder. And remember the transportation/transit discussions happening inside ArtsWest, too.
First, a quick sponsor note that’s also a shoutout to a small-business success story: As advertised in our sidebar, Curious Kidstuff in The Junction is celebrating its 10th anniversary today with a one-day, 25% off sale. Happy anniversary! Now, the two other events, 
just a couple blocks from CKS: After less than a year of existence, Sustainable West Seattle is throwing a party for the whole community — the first-ever Sustainable WS Festival, 10 am-3 pm today, at two locations in The Junction: The Wells Fargo parking lot at the NE corner of 44th/Alaska, and ArtsWest, where a Transit/Transportation Forum has two sessions, 10:30 am and 12:30 pm. (Actually, three festival locations – bus tours to High Point leave at 11 am and 12:30 pm.) There’s a huge slate of workshops, speakers, and events; see it here. We’ll be reporting from a table at the festival all day (and promoting West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day). Don’t forget to bring donations for the West Seattle Food Bank! Speaking of food, this all unfolds right by the weekly West Seattle Farmers’ Market, 10 am-2 pm; plant lovers will want to check the Langley Fine Gardens (despite the name, which evokes a Whidbey town, they’re from Vashon) stand, where we spotted our favorite spiky solanums last week. Read on for the official “fresh sheet” from market organizers:Read More
Just the other day, we showed you early design proposals for the wayfinding kiosks along the newly mapped West Seattle Walking Trails; two months ago, project leaders asked for your thoughts on the first-ever map of those trails, and today they are looking for feedback on the text proposed for the back of the map. Quick turnaround – they would like to get comments by this Sunday night. The image is too big to efficiently show you here but you can look at it as a PDF by clicking here. Comments can be e-mailed to Seth Schromen-Wawrin at Feet First, seth@feetfirst.info – he’s going to start incorporating the feedback on Monday.
Polar bear loose in The Junction! Well, not so loose, really – Sustainable West Seattle unleashed the bear as a reminder of its first-ever Sustainable West Seattle Festival next Sunday, 10 am-3 pm in the Wells Fargo parking lot @ 44th/Alaska (here’s the WSB in-depth preview from earlier this week). Other less-furry members of SWS were working the crowd at the nearby West Seattle Farmers’ Market, including Gary Lichtenstein, who’s the person you can e-mail (energy@sustainablewestseattle.org) to find out how to help at next weekend’s festival (they’re still looking for more volunteer assistance). Two more West Seattle weekend scenes ahead — sports and scenery:Read More
That photo is courtesy of the members of Sustainable West Seattle, who gathered for a group shot outside Camp Long before their monthly meeting this past Monday night — a meeting like no other in their less-than-one-year history, because it’s the last one before SWS presents its first-ever Sustainability Festival, coming up Sunday, May 4, 10 am-3 pm in The Junction. A little while before that photo was taken, we sat down with three SWS leaders to talk about the festival (and how it’s not too late for you to pitch in, especially if you have some time this weekend) – read on to see why they, and many other folks around West Seattle, are so excited about it:Read More
Thanks to Arbor Heights Elementary School teacher Mark Ahlness for sharing that video of his third-graders (who can be found online at roomtwelve.com), decorating “Earth Day” grocery bags and then delivering them to the Roxbury Safeway. Ahlness says Arbor Heights kids decorated more than 300 bags this year, the 16th consecutive year of their Earth Day partnership with Safeway on this project, and the 15th anniversary of the Earth Day Groceries Project, which Mark notes began at Arbor Heights. If you shop at that store today, you’ll likely get one of these bags. Meantime, today is the day the five local students on “An Inconvenient Ride” are expected back in Seattle, with the homecoming festivities taking them downtown tonight for the “Global to Local” benefit at Benaroya Hall. 8:11 AM UPDATE: Just got word from the Southwest Precinct that the Inconvenient Ride-rs may have up to 200 bicyclists accompanying them on their last leg, and the precinct wants to alert you to their route, for safety’s sake – will post more on that a little bit later this morning.
SUSTAINABLE WEST SEATTLE: Last general meeting before SWS presents its first-ever Sustainability Festival (May 4, NE corner of Alaska/44th, right across from the Farmers’ Market, lots more info here) – tonight’s meeting is at 7 pm, Camp Long.
RESCHEDULED PARK MEETING: Quick reminder, the rescheduled Hiawatha Community Center open house/meeting to get your take on the Seattle Parks & Rec Dept.’s future (the original meeting was postponed a week ago because of floor fumes) is tonight @ 6:30. Last West Seattle opportunity is Thursday night @ High Point CC. What’s the meeting all about? See our report on the one @ Southwest CC last Thursday. (If you can’t attend a meeting, share your thoughts online by 4/30.)
Yes, yard/garden/habitat work can be fun — if you have company! That video shows just one of several merry mulch-relaying groups we saw in action during a brief visit to the EarthCorps– and Nature Consortium-organized Duwamish Alive! Earth Day event at Pigeon Point Park today. The restoration work at PP Park has really taken shape since we visited for this report a few months ago. After today’s cleanup work, the party was scheduled to move inside neighboring Cooper Elementary for indoor events (good timing; as our video shows, we were there during a sun break, but we all know that didn’t last long). One organizer told WSB today’s turnout numbered about 400!
Next Tuesday is homecoming day for the half-dozen local students (and their adult chaperones) who’ve been on a cross-country environmental-awareness bicycle trip dubbed “An Inconvenient Ride” (we interviewed them on video a few days before they left). Their trip officially ends with the Global to Local benefit for Project Earth Care (a West Seattle-based initiative) at Benaroya Hall downtown on Tuesday night. We just noticed a few new updates on the IR website — some humorous road musings on the main page, additions to the “trip log” page where the kids tell their stories, and added links on their media-coverage page. According to the route page, they’re in Northern California tonight.
Yeah, it’s supposed to be cold on Saturday (and probably sooner). That’s not going to stop the hardy West Seattle souls planning a huge slate of events we’ve been telling you about (see the Events page for most of ’em, and the West Seattle Weekend Lineup at midday Friday for even more), and here’s another one we wanted to preview — the Duwamish Alive! Earth Day festivities planned for Saturday:Read More
If you bag the gas-powered mower, the city will subsidize part of the cost of an electric or push replacement:Read More
It’s no secret that entering West Seattle, Junction-bound, from the “Fauntleroy Triangle” area, you’re not exactly greeted with an inspirational view (photos above were taken as we drove westbound on Fauntleroy during the Saturday-afternoon sunshine). But you might be interested to hear that in this time of transition (related topic below), there’s a move afoot to change that — spearheaded by local leaders including West Seattle-residing Seattle City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen and West Seattle Junction Association president Dave Montoure. They’re strategizing a way to beautify the “gateway to West Seattle,” and working on a strategy meeting to be held later this month. In a recent chat with WSB, Montoure — proprietor of West 5 — also talked about a new way that his establishment and the Junction’s other food businesses are going green — and making history in the process:Read More
Technically, this is happening more than 100 miles away. 
But the water it protects flows to and from West Seattle shores, and as we were discussing this afternoon with a WS entrepreneur who’s on the governor’s Oil Spill Advisory Council — Greg Whittaker of Alki Kayak Tours — it’s a big deal for all of Puget Sound. (The last major disaster in that area, the Tenyo Maru sinking [NOAA photo left], happened a few months after we moved here; the memories remain vivid.)
As discussed here a week and a half ago, not everybody wants a free street tree from the city. But a few people in that comment thread DID say “hey! we do!”, so in that spirit, we are passing along this SDOT announcement that just landed in the WSB inbox:Read More
The half-dozen West Seattle students (profiled here with video last month) who are currently on “An Inconvenient Ride” now have “trip log” diary-style posts (read them here) on the environmental-awareness trip’s official website, and the few we grazed are rather honest, occasionally raw tales of the tough road trip they’ve taken on. Their photo gallery is even more up to date (find it here). The group is in Arizona this morning (the route is detailed here), and will then head up through California and Oregon en route to a slated arrival back in Seattle on Earth Day, April 22, for the “Global to Local” benefit at Benaroya Hall.
FIRST: That’s the Propel biodiesel station taking shape (first mentioned here last month), with the pump canopy now up, at 35th/Barton. According to the Propel website, it’ll sell B20 and B99 grades. SECOND: Not far away, we stopped by Bird on a Wire Espresso today and noticed they’ve switched to compostable disposable cups, for a surcharge (more info on the Bird website). THIRD: During the 34th District Democratic Caucus on Saturday, West Seattle’s King County Councilmember Dow Constantine mentioned something about “climate change work with Congress (this) week.” We asked his staff for details, and here’s what they sent:Read More
A few days into the “Inconvenient Ride” cross-country bicycle trip starring six West Seattle students calling attention to climate change (WSB video preview here), updates are starting to appear on their website, with photos added to the gallery here and media coverage added here. Their stops are listed here (Atlanta tonight); they’re due back in Seattle on Earth Day, April 22, with the final leg of their trip taking them from West Seattle to the “Global to Local” Project Earth Care fundraiser at Benaroya downtown.
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