DIGS:
ECO-HOME & GARDEN
A
s the days of waking up to the sound of
rain pattering on the metal top of my
Airstream trailer grow fewer and fewer,
and the mornings where sunshine peers
through my curtains happen more and
more, I often lay in bed and think to myself: “Wow, I
really need to replace those curtains.”
Something about spring seems to bring out the nest-
ing instinct in birds and humans alike. You start look-
ing around your home and garden, get tired of claiming
your place is shabby-chic and begin thinking about all
the things you can renovate in your house and plant in
your garden. I look around the Airstream and imagine
anything from new homemade curtains to ripping out the
carpet and replacing it with bamboo fl oors.
Park Street
Cafe
Locally Owned & Operated
Luckily for those of us who are home-and-garden
renovation dreamers (that would be me) and those of us
who are doers (that appears to be most everyone else in
Lane County), this area is teeming with ways to create
and recreate your “digs” while being eco-friendly. When
EW asked what readers did for eco-home improvements,
river guide Frank Armendariz and his wife Tami told us
they took recycling to whole new levels by purchasing
about 800 sq. ft. of the old Cal Young Middle School
gymnasium fl oor from BRING Recycling. It’s made
of maple and will soon be the wood fl oors in their Cal
Young neighborhood home.
Also the Armendariz family installed double-paned
windows and a ductless heat pump, which they say made
all the difference in reducing their heating bills. Even
better, a rebate from EWEB and some tax credits helped
with the cost of the heat pump, and the savings means
that in a couple years the project will pay for itself.
Molly Sargent says she and her husband, Tom
Warren, of Pleasant Hill, have been renovating “our
little old 65-year-old house for 11 years.” Like many
Eugeneans, the couple gets most of their materials at
BRING. Their next project is remodeling their own
Airstream trailer — a 1965 Tradewinds they got on
Craigslist for $500.
Good heat, nice curtains, cool recycled door knobs
and fl oors from BRING. It’s the little things that make
the difference when it come to making your house more
homey, as well as more green and economical.
As for the outdoors, Jose Soto of Springfi eld told us
about his “edible landscape.” He pulled out his lawn and
now “instead of dry, yellow grass in the summer, we
have food.” The family planted everything from corn to
watermelons to nasturtiums.
Or if you want to spend a day in the woods, get a
permit from the Forest Service, and within certain rules,
transplant up to 12 native plants from an approved list
from forest to your yard for free.
And of course, check out the Lane Home and Garden
Show March 8-11 at the Fairgrounds for exhibits and
home-and-garden how-tos, as well as this issue for tips
on how to get an oven in your backyard, pimp out your
grow room and learn about all the plant sales on the
horizon. As for me, I will be looking for curtain material
that matches the Airstream’s avocado-green interior.
— Camilla Mortensen
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10 MARCH 8, 2012 EUGENE WEEKLY
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