Wednesday, September 8, 2010

title pic greenfest day two – 2010 wrap up

Posted by Wendy Hughes-Jelen on June 7, 2010

This year I really focused more on learning what I want to learn, not just learning things that I think others will be interested in. I spent a long time talking to someone about recycled ink cartridges for my home printer, making soda water at home to reduce use of bottles and can (called SodaStream) Gar Lic It, garlic prepared so that is does not burn or make you stink (and comes in flavors like Thai Peanut – just stir it in to rice), scented play clay purchased to save for a Christmas gift for my niece, a neat scarf my husband picked out (probably Guatamala), and lots more.

We visited with our friend Steve Richmond, owner of Garden Cycles, and shot a short video. I really wanted to know what drew him to having a booth at greenfest since his business is pretty busy and has limited bandwidth. His mission was to explain "seed rain", essentially what happens when birds eat berries of invasives in your yard and then poo the seeds out whole somewhere else. This is how ivy, holly, laurel and similar plants spread into the urban parks – even the suburbs. Shoot, the shores of the Green River  just hang with intense invasives – not like a healthy river at all. I should probably talk more about this some time. We also shot a short video with him that I will post shortly.

Pictures highlighting today’s activities!

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DSCN5036Educational materials about invasive plants effect on our city’s park space 

DSCN5035 Steve Richmond of West Seattle 

 

DSCN5033 There is a bike and trailer in among all these plants. This is how Steve works – by bike and trailer. He doesn’t even own a vehicle. He is in a amazing shape! (He used to play pro beach volleyball.)

title pic greenfest day one recap

Posted by Wendy Hughes-Jelen on

Wow what a day! I think I got to almost all of the booths, altho knowing I was coming back on Sunday meant there wasn’t too much pressure. I actually only went to 2 sessions altho I had marked a few more out. The conversations on the exhibit floor were too interesting to walk away from. And there are about 4 pavilions with presentations going on in addition to the formal presentations in the conference rooms across the overpass.

At the end of the day my husband Stephen came and picked me up with Sophia,who needed a walk. It was the first sunny day in what seemed like weeks, so we went to the Olympic Sculpture Park just to lie on the grass. It was a great end to a long day, and my feet hurt!

I do think the nice weather really impacted the turnout at greenfest. There weren’t any lines (except at the Nature’s Path cereal sample booth) and there seemed to be room at tables to sit and eat lunch. Last year it seemed a lot more hectic to me. Last year it also was in March, not June. I think they made a mistake moving it to June. Summer in Seattle means outdoors, not in. I hope next year they move back to an earlier month so the vendors enjoy the exposure they deserve.

So we’re leaving the house and headed down for day two. Steve will be with me today, and I did finally find my friend Steve Richmond’s booth, Garden Cycles, so we hope to shoot a short video. Otherwise I did not really find anything else worth taking the time for video.

How our day ended:

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title pic My Seattle Green Festival Adventure: Blogging Live on day one

Posted by Wendy Hughes-Jelen on

I got a little later start than I wanted, but I am here and was in time to hear Mayor McGinn introduce 12 year old Adora Svitak, published author and accomplished speaker. I was really impressed and she has a really good point – we all need to have more of a child-like attitude about life. Anything is possible, don’t let the laws of physics restrict your ideas about how to make a better world!!

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Right now I am sitting at the GreenWorks Realty/Trails at Newcastle (#243) by the Green Living Pavilion, where I can hear Laura Sweaney talk about permaculture and an herb spiral she built, and how to plant the plants – the ones needing the most water at the bottom since water runs downhill. I used to have one in my backyard when I lived in Puget Ridge (West Seattle). Now I just grow everything in pots on my porch at my townhome in High Point. I really have trouble agreeing with her idea that weeds are beneficial to her garden, tho. The dandelions mocked me daily and it was frustrating keeping up such a large property (1/4 acre).

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I’ve signed a couple of petitions so far, including one for Seattle to have an OPT-IN list for PHONE BOOKS. I hate those damn things showing up on my doorstep all the time. We’re banding together now and trying to do something about it! If you come down here this weekend, sign their sheet!!

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Here are a few other interesting things I have seen so far.

DSCN5012 DSCN5013 DSCN5014 DSCN5017 This is the model of Trails at Newcastle.

title pic Roxhill Bog, 10 years later

Posted by Wendy Hughes-Jelen on June 5, 2010

My first environmental restoration project was Roxhill Bog, with Gary Sink and Terri Griffith and Steve Fisher – I was on the Westwood Neighborhood Community Council for a couple of years and this was the main focus at the time. I hosted planning meetings at the Windermere Real estate office where I was working, did some grant writing, worked some of the planting parties, and this was the inspiration for becoming a Native Plant Steward with the Washingt Native Plant Society.

GreenSpacesTV — June 05, 2010 — Wendy Hughes-Jelen takes you on a visit to Roxhill Park/Bog/Wetland, on the southern edge of Seattle in the west, to see how a community-based restoration project has made a difference and looks great 10 years later.

title pic My blog migration to WordPress

Posted by Wendy Hughes-Jelen on May 3, 2010

My blog has just migrated to a new platform after almost five years on Blogger.com. Blogger stopped supporting FTP to independent URLs (in this case, pensandpixels.com/wendysworld) and I did not want to give up control and hosting my of blog and go to a “blogpost” address. So thanks to my husband and his technical support, I am on a new platform that might take me awhile to figure out. I am excited to finally be on WordPress since I have heard so many good things about it but couldn’t make the change sooner since it was so much work for Steve to do (I have two blogs).

I love the new look – I will be tweaking it a bit over the next new few days to get it to where I think it is the easiest to read and navigate. If you have any suggestions, please let me know.

Have a great week!!

title pic Why the old way was the best way

Posted by Wendy Hughes-Jelen on April 17, 2010

My husband has taken up an interesting hobby in the last year – collecting vintage razors and brushes, restoring them, and then using them for the best shave ever. Our generation’s men really lost out by our parent’s generation introduction to electric razors and plastic disposables. The original razors – straight or safety, really are the best environmental choice. The blades cost about 10 cents each as opposed to a pack of 5 triple blade refills costing about $9. The blades are recyclable (safety) or sharpenable (straight).

Steve’s collection took over the library so I bought him a glass door cabinet for the guest bathroom. He’s joined several forums, and recently shot a video demonstrating a particular kind of razor called a “Rolls Razor” that comes in a case with a special sharpener. Some of the blades and brushes he has bought and restored he has then re-sold, so his hobby pays for itself and I can’t complain.

I am going to encourage him to do a video shaving with a straight since I think people will be even more fascinated by that. This video below got 160 hits in less than a day. I wish my videos were as popular!

Oh, and he restored a neat brush for me, including varnishing the wodden handle (like a boat!), and I use a pink 1960s Lady Gillette safety razor.

Here is the video and what he wrote in his own blog, It’s a Guy Thing.

My first shaving video…
No sound, nothing really fancy, just a simple demonstration of shaving with a “Rolls Razor“. Shave Review had stated the he couldn’t get a decent shave with one, and when I said it wasn’t hard, he wanted a picture… So I gave him one.

The trick is to sharpen the blade as you would any other straight razor, using your progression of hones. It really is just a straight on a stick, after all. The stropping action in the case is fine, takes a while because of how short the stroke is, but it works. I just don’t think the hone is fine enough to give it a very good edge.

So, here it is, my first ever shaving video…

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqKgnzgIh_U]

title pic Westside Green Living: Let’s Talk About Personal Hygiene and Organic Hair Color

Posted by Wendy Hughes-Jelen on April 9, 2010

Wendy goes on record for being a huge fan of Bambu Organic Salon in the Wallingford neighborhood of Seattle. Her real estate office and the salon used to be next door to each other but both businesses relocated in 2009.

Wendy tells why she began to have her hair color foiled and then talks about the benefits of training your hair to need less washing (use less water, less product, hair color lasts longer, and SAVE TIME).

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UG_zz5OsOGQ]

More information:
Bambu Organic Salon on the web, and Facebook

You can watch a video about Organic Color System on YouTube.

title pic Westside Green Living Discovers “Greener Clean”

Posted by Wendy Hughes-Jelen on April 8, 2010

Wendy makes a cleaning supply run to Target and discovers 3M Scotch Brite has come out with a “Greener Clean” product line.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzFfOnhmnmA]

title pic My new Facebook project/fan page “Westside Green Living” releases its first video

Posted by Wendy Hughes-Jelen on March 30, 2010

GreenSpacesTV — March 30, 2010 — New Facebook fan page “Westside Green Living with Wendy” presents its first original video. Wendy and her husband Stephen Hughes-Jelen check out NuBe Green (newbie green) on Capital Hill.

Wendy says on her Facebook page, “Very cool place! I brought home the “Organic Salvage Candle” in Blossom, altho I still can’t smell it because of the head cold I have. The candle is poured into a former beer bottle. Also tips on dogs and tennis balls, cardboard furniture, plants in paper bags, and ‘liquid cardboard’.”

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTN4Q3h4mkE]

According to their web site, NuBe Green “employs a rigorous screening process to guarantee that every item available in the store meets established sustainability and sourcing criteria. While products touted as US-made are often only assembled in the US, NuBe Greens products are made in the US from materials that are grown and/or sourced in the US. All items at the store are made without toxic chemicals and materials in order to offer consumers choices of green products that are healthier for humans and the planet.”

NuBe Greens offerings include the work of Seattle artists and artisans as part of its mission to support the local community. Wendy and Steve have fun exploring the many things in ths shop and sharing little tidbits with their viewers.

The original uncut version of this video can be found at http://www.facebook.com/WestsideGreenLivingWithWendy
The original video has several additional segments but was edited here for YouTube’s required “shorter than 10 minutes” video rule.

title pic The Story of Bottled Water

Posted by Wendy Hughes-Jelen on March 25, 2010

Remember the “Story of Stuff”? It opened a lot of people’s eyes. Now Annie Leanord has produced the “Story of Bottled Water”.

If you agree that all of those plastic bottles are wasteful, my personal recommendation is Klean Kanteens. We own several and take water with us from home. You will too after you watch this video.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Se12y9hSOM0]

If you’d like to know more about the video’s creator, check out this blog post at Green House on USA Today.