Author: Amanda Smith

Made from Scrap

Annual BRING tour of homes showcases sustainability

News
The Pollack home looks like thousands of dollars were spent in a custom building supply store, but most of the stuff was found at BRING or the Reuse Store, and remade by Jess Pollack. Photo by Amanda Smith.

Light streams through large glass windows to fall on each carefully salvaged piece of wood in Jess Pollack’s beautiful remodeled home.  Pollack, a humble self-described contractor with an appreciation for the arts, turned an odd ’60s home into a work of modern whimsical art in a 14-year labor of love.  Pollack’s home is one of 11 sites on the 2015 BRING tour which, according to Ephraim Payne, BRING’s director of outreach and communication, encourages the community to think about how to bring sustainable living into their homes.  Continue reading →

Urban Homesteads

Back to the land … in the city

Culture

Warm summer days picking apples for homemade applesauce and canning with Grandma in a hot kitchen are memories Annika Parrott cherishes — ones she hopes to pass on to her daughters. Parrott is one of the many people living in Eugene who has turned back the clocks 100 years and started urban homesteading.  An urban homestead is a household that produces a significant part of the foods, including produce and livestock, that are consumed by its family, with a focus on the family’s desire to live in a more environmentally conscientious manner. Continue reading →