(This is what “Tox-Ick” looks like – diver Laura James‘ photo of a WS storm-drain plume)
You can do all three in the span of a single hour next Monday night at Pathfinder K-8 on Pigeon Point – here’s the official announcement from Sustainable West Seattle:

Help Pathfinder School win $1,000 toward a rainwater harvesting system for its Earth Project!

Sustainable West Seattle will be giving its “Don’t Feed the Tox-Ick Monster” presentation at Pathfinder K-8 Monday, Oct. 10 from 7-8 p.m. and is challenging Pathfinder to bring a crowd.

The challenge: If 40 or more adults show up to learn about protecting Puget Sound, then Sustainable West Seattle will donate $1,000 toward the school’s Earth Project. To help encourage turnout even further, free pizza will be provided. Pathfinder is located at 1901 SW Genesee St.

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The economy and its troubles affect us all. Will it get fixed? Or should it be radically reinvented? Two hours of wide-ranging discussion comprised last night’s Sustainable West Seattle community forum, titled “Sustainable Alternatives to Growth Economics,” and in case you weren’t able to go, we got it all on video. (That’s SWS’s past president Bill Reiswig with the introduction, as the video begins. Background info is here.)

P.S. Next up for SWS, another round of teaching you to tackle Tox-Ick, this Saturday, with prizes! Details here.

(Photos by Ellen Cedergreen for WSB)
One of the eight local nonprofits benefiting from today’s West Seattle Garden Tour (on till 5 pm, not too late to get tickets!) is the West Seattle Tool Library at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center (4408 Delridge Way SW). WSB contributor Ellen Cedergreen visited last Thursday night and found out from the Tool Library’s Micah Summers (above) that they’re featured in Popular Mechanics as among the “top 10 ways to help the earth.” The Tool Library has added a weekly 6-9 pm opening on Thursday nights (with special guests on second Thursdays, to offer advice to do-it-yourself’ers) as well as every Saturday and Sunday – more ahead:Read More

We have the scenery. We have the activities. We’re even about to have lodging. Is “sustainable tourism” another way to boost West Seattle’s economy? (And what constitutes “sustainable tourism,” anyway?) That topic’s on the table for tomorrow night’s Sustainable West Seattle community forum, and you are invited both to come hear about the idea and to share your thoughts. Guests include Greg Whittaker of Alki Kayak Tours and Mountain to Sound Outfitters, Patti Mullen of the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce, and Heidi Siegelbaum and Steve Gersman of Calyx Sustainable Tourism – tomorrow, 7 pm, Senior Center of West Seattle (California/Oregon)

(Fixers’ Collective founder Greg Kono taking a break from the clock-radio challenge)
Story and photos by Christy True
Special to West Seattle Blog

The first meeting of the West Seattle Fixers’ Collective was lightly attended but productive, as members tried to bring a broken clock radio and an espresso maker back to life.

The collective plans to meet Thursday nights (but not weekly) at the West Seattle Tool Library workshop at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center. It’s a new venture for people interested in prolonging the life of the things they own, learning how things work, saving a few resources, or who just love to tinker. It is modeled on a Fixers’ Collective in Brooklyn, New York.

The small crew that gathered Thursday night dissembled a clock radio that would
no longer turn on after it was dropped on the floor.

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News x 2 from the West Seattle Tool Library at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center:

On Thursday night, while making the rounds for West Seattle Art Walk, we checked out the new day/time for Ask-An-Expert coaching at the Tool Library – second Thursdays, 6:30-8:30 pm, to coincide with WSAW nights. On hand during our visit were (photo from left) Solar Epiphany‘s Eric Thomas, Mighty House Construction‘s Laura Elfline, visiting Realtor Alice Kuder (of Savvy Seattle Women fame), Mighty House’s Doug Elfline, and Tool Library boss Patrick Dunn. Ask-An-Expert is an informal drop-in arrangement, free, so watch for the next one on Thursday, July 14.

Before then – this Saturday, in fact – you are invited to help the Tool Library celebrate its first anniversary. Here’s the official announcement:

From a few donated tools in a storage closet at SSCC to a new dedicated space at Youngstown complete with a full tool storage area and a 500 square foot community woodworking shop, the Tool Library has come a long way in a short time with the help of dedicated volunteers. More than 230 members have signed up to use the collection of more than 1,000 tools, most donated by the community.

Tool Library First Anniversary schedule:

10:00 am: Community Welcome with Coffee & Pastries
10:30-11:30 am: Beyond the Basics: Power Tool Tips and Safety (meetup.com link)
11:30 am-12:30 pm: One-on-One Large Shop Tool Instruction (For Class Attendees)
1:00 pm-4:00 pm: Fixers’ Collective, Inaugural Meeting (meetup.com link)

In celebration of its one-year anniversary, the Tool Library has special offers on the use of the new community woodworking shop.

Click ahead for details on those offers:Read More

West Seattle Tool Library director Patrick Dunn welcomed the well-wishers and manager Micah Summers wielded the scissors as the Tool Library’s new location officially opened for business – as in, borrowing – this morning. The Tool Library moved from one “ridge” to another – from its original location at South Seattle Community College on Puget Ridge, to Youngstown Cultural Arts Center on Delridge. One major feature of the new space – an area for workshops and tool-use lessons:

This morning, that space was home to a regular Tool Library feature, a Saturday morning “Ask The Expert” session with local sustainability specialists. And a cheery whiteboard in the new space lays out the rules for Tool Library users old and new:

The Tool Library will celebrate its first anniversary this June. And they’re still accepting donations – as we mentioned earlier today, if you see this before 3 pm and take one to the Sustainable West Seattle tent at the West Seattle Nursery open house, you get $5 off a WSN purchase. Regular hours at the Tool Library remain 9 am-2 pm Saturdays, 1-5 pm Sundays (so if you haven’t been to the new location yet, you can check it out tomorrow!).

EDITOR’S NOTE: Last week, we showed you the scenes at the West Seattle Tool Library locations old and new, as the old location at South Seattle Community College closed for good Sunday afternoon, while the new one at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center was readied for its grand opening tomorrow. This afternoon, the Tool Library’s director is sharing a report and photos of what they had dubbed “The Great Tool Migration”!

(This photo by Patrick Sand for WSB, showing the exterior of the new Tool Library space, taken last Sunday; other photos courtesy Patrick Dunn)
By Patrick Dunn, West Seattle Tool Library director
Special to West Seattle Blog

The Great Tool Migration of 2011 has officially and thankfully been completed. Through the kind help of a number of West Seattle Tool Library volunteers and their trucks, our entire community tool collection is now down at our new location at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center.

Though it was certainly a tough job, moving a collection like that with a bunch of environmentally-minded folks has its advantages. Due to a biodiesel truck in our fleet, our convoy smelled a lot like french fries the whole day. That always helps to take the edge off.

After the Migration (and a greasy lunch), the crew spent most of the evening just staring at the collection, trying to make it smaller so that we could put it all away in time for our Grand Re-Opening. We have no idea how we crammed so many tools into the Tool Library’s previous storage closet up at SSCC.

At least at our new space, we won’t need advanced math and engineering degrees to find room for everything. The new home at Youngstown actually quadruples our square footage. While we have one section set up for tool storage, which will effectively serve as The Tool Library, we’ll also have a separate, 500 square foot room dedicated to serve as a community workshop and makerspace.

The Tool Library’s Grand Re-Opening will take place tomorrow (Saturday) from 9 am-2 pm. By then, we’ll not only have all the tools organized for proper viewing and rental, but we’ll also have the workshop opened up for tours.

In addition to seeing the space itself, those visiting our Grand Re-Opening can also take part in our monthly Ask an Expert series from 10 am to Noon. The series serves as a meetup for DIYers, tinkerers, and really anyone who’s taking on a project or even just thinking about taking one on. Into that motley crew, we throw a bunch of local experts on topics such as solar power, green building and architecture, and urban gardening to help our visitors with the finer details of their plans.

To top it off, The Grand Re-Opening will also host a demonstration by a local engineer who has turned a pressure washer and a few spare parts in to a computerized tile milling machine.

So whatever draws folks out, The Tool Library would love to see everyone on Saturday. The official opening ceremony will take place at 11 am. As always, coffee and pastries will be provided.

Two big things this week for and from Sustainable West Seattle: First, it’s moving week for the WS Tool Library:

It wasn’t even remotely as emotional a closure as another one in West Seattle a few hours earlier, but the original location of the WS Tool Library shut down at 5 pm Sunday. Right before 5, we found Micah (photo right) in the old location at South Seattle Community College; a few minutes later, we found Patrick (photo left) in the new one at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center. The “tool migration” happens later this week, but in the meantime, Patrick and others are still putting finishing touches on the new space – the room where we photographed him will host workshops and training in tool use (so you can not only borrow tools, you can learn how to use them), while the storage area will be right next door; this is on the northeast side of Youngstown. For full details on the move, and next Saturday’s 9 am grand opening, check out the official news release here.

GREENLIFE AT WEST SEATTLE SUMMER FEST – APPLY NOW! SWS is also now taking applications for exhibitors at its GreenLife expo that will be part of West Seattle Summer Fest again this year, co-hosted by West Seattle Nursery. SWS says this will be its one and only “annual sustainability festival” for this year. Full details are on the SWS website as well as the application form. Summer Fest (with co-sponsors including WSB) is set this year for July 8, 9, and 10 in The Junction.

Every other Sunday, you’ll find Sustainable West Seattle at the West Seattle Farmers’ Market – always with a different demonstration, something sustainable you can work into your life if you’re not doing it already. Today, it was worm composting – worms and all, as well as an example of six-months-in-the-making compost. (Here’s composting how-to’s from Seattle Tilth.) Tomorrow night, SWS hopes to see you at the Admiral Theater for an evening focusing on sustainable fishing – including a talk with Mashiko proprietor Hajime Sato, and a screening of the film “The End of the Line“:

For more details about the evening ($5 suggested donation), here’s an update on the Sustainable WS website. At the booth today, we also talked with SWS’s Patrick Dunn, Christina Hahs and Chas Redmond about the upcoming West Seattle Tool Library move. Before they get to the April 9th grand reopening in the new location at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, April 3rd will be the last day at the old location, followed by the tool “migration.”

Timing was perfect for Sustainable West Seattle‘s transportation-focused community forum last night – this is another pivotal time for our region, trying to envision the future through a cloud of present-day problems, like budget cuts that threaten transit even as more people try to move away from cars.

The main room at the Senior Center of West Seattle held a sizable crowd for the forum – but in case you weren’t there, we recorded the entire forum on video, two hours broken into three pieces of about 40 minutes each, all included in this story. Top clip has SWS’s Brian Allen introducing the event before introductory remarks from each panelist: West Seattle-residing City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen, who chairs the council’s Transportation Committee, moderated the forum and answered questions, as did panelists Chris Arkills, the transportation expert on King County Executive Dow Constantine‘s team; Martin Duke from Seattle Transit Blog, Brice Maryman from SvR Design, and Peter Hahn, director of SDOT. (As you’ll hear Rasmussen joke, Hahn would’ve been excused if he had been fidgety, with his department having triggered its Snow/Ice Plan.) For the second 40 minutes, the panelists quizzed each other a while, then moved on to answering audience questions:

The clash of economic reality and transportation needs was a recurring theme – Arkills, for example, had dire warnings of looming Metro cuts, if “a sustainable funding base” is not found. And then there were those who just wanted help cutting through the thicket of information to find out what’s really happening with major projects right now:

You’ll have more opportunities ahead to speak out about transportation in our area – for example, as King County’s Arkills reminded attendees, Metro will start a new process this fall of opening the entirety of West Seattle’s bus-route network for discussion – looking ahead to the RapidRide era that’ll start in fall 2012, do other changes need to be made to serve the peninsula better? As for the city, Mayor McGinn mentions a West Seattle light-rail line now and then – will that turn up on the ballot sooner rather than later? And watch the City Council – SDOT’s Hahn said part of the Transit Master Plan will go to Rasmussen’s committee this Friday (watch here for that agenda). Also watch the community-association meeting announcements we feature here, since agencies like WSDOT, SDOT and Metro often make the rounds of those meetings with presentations on current and future topics.

(P.S. We don’t know yet how soon they’ll turn it around, but Seattle Channel was on hand recording last night’s forum on video, too.)

Two news items from Sustainable West Seattle tonight:

(Tool Library @ SSCC last Saturday, photo courtesy Heather P. Brincko)
WEST SEATTLE TOOL LIBRARY MOVE: We just heard this mentioned at the North Delridge Neighborhood Council meeting (toplines to come), and SWS’s e-mail update says it’s official – the West Seattle Tool Library is moving from South Seattle Community College to Youngstown Cultural Arts Center. SWS says the move will happen in April: “The new location will quadruple our space and provide both a larger storage room for the tools and also a great community workshop space.” They need lots of community volunteer power, too – library@sustainablewestseattle.org if you can help.

HIGH-POWERED PANEL FOR TRANSPORTATION FORUM: Roads, buses, bicycles … Transportation topics are perennial hot potatoes on the peninsula, with our unique challenges. Want to hear directly from the movers and shakers? Put your question/concern to them in person? Here’s your next chance. Sustainable West Seattle‘s next Community Forum, coming up next week, has a high-powered panel, just announced: City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen (who chairs the Transportation Committee) will facilitate; also from the city, SDOT director Peter Hahn; from the county, King County Executive Dow Constantine‘s transportation specialist, Chris Arkills; from the transit-planner perspective, Brice Maryman of SvR Design; and from the transit user perspective, Martin Duke from Seattle Transit Blog. The forum’s at 7 pm Tuesday, February 22nd, at the Senior Center of West Seattle (California/Oregon in The Junction). Full details here.