Sustainability Committee

The Sustainability Committee can be contacted at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . The committee meets every fourth Tuesday of the month, at the Fire House. The Sustainability Committee mission statement is: To engage and educate the Sylvan Highlands Neighborhood in sustainable practices, environmental stewardship and related community projects.

Backyard Habitats Certification Program

Columbia Land Trust and Audubon Society of Portland have joined forces. This collaborative effort will provide technical assistance to small lot, private property owners (under 1 acre) to restore native wildlife habitat in their backyards and help manage on-site stormwater runoff. The program was launched in January 2009 within the City of Portland. Check the brochure.

The first step of certification is having a knowledgeable backyard certification staff person come to your backyard for a site visit. A certification sign from Audubon and Columbia Land Trust will identify your yard as certified wildlife habitat.

If you are interested in joining the Backyard Habitat Certification Program, please fill out an Introduction Application. You do not need to be certified ready for a site visit!

To learn more, check their website. Or email us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Recycling peanuts

A tip from Alison Wallisch, our Community Support Coordinator from Neighbors West-Northwest:

If you’d like to recycle your peanuts check out Metro’s Recycling Resources. All UPS Stores take them, as well as other locations where you can mail items.

Solarize Northwest

Neighbors West-Northwest is helping organize a program which lets residents join to purchase home solar-power systems as a group, netting wholesale prices. Additional tax credits and a cash-incentive program help bring down costs even more.

The program, called Solarize Portland, already has swept through Southeast, Southwest and Northeast Portland, resulting in a surge of new residential solar systems across the city. In 2008, only 38 homes in Portland installed photovoltaic solar panels. In 2010 alone, 453 residential solar systems were installed through the program, said Lee Rahr, the city's residential solar program coordinator.

Learn how to go solar at home with Solarize Northwest. Attend one of the introductory workshops and check the benefits of buying in bulk with your neighbors. Workshops for solar and weatherization are free and open to anyone interested in participating in this community-based project. Choose one that works for you.

Recycling plastics

If you feel guilty about throwing away plastic spoons, forks, knives cups & plates, and do not want to send them off to Far West Fibers for recycling, there's a non-profit called called Community Partners located at 6380 SW Capitol Hwy corner of Bertha Ct. in Hillsdale, that accepts them.

There's a 15 minute parking space just outside their door on Bertha Ct.

Can you Dig-It?