Show your creative spirit this Halloween

Clever costumes and Portland seem to go hand-in-hand this time of year. One idea shared with Resourceful PDX was from a mom who created Halloween witch costumes for her two young daughters – out of a 80’s style, black lacy prom dress!

Start planning now for your own Halloween costume, and take advantage of all the great resources Portland offers for making, swapping or renting a costume.

Make a costume

Used clothing and reused craft supply stores allow you to create a unique and inexpensive costume of your own making.

• Find cool homemade costume ideas online. Pinterest offers a wealth of ideas to inspire you! Explore ways to get crafty, adorn a costume, and make hair wreaths or masks.
• Find all kinds of fabric and supplies at SCRAP for super low prices and costume ideas on their website.

Reuse a costume

There are great finds lurking throughout the city. Consignment, second hand and thrift stores are great resources for costumes, or clothes to make costumes. They also often have used costumes for sale leading up to Halloween.

• Vintage clothing shops abound in Portland, with clothing options for all decades.
• Many children’s resale shops have kids’ costumes as well.
• Bonus! Chinook Book offers coupons for many Portland area resale shops and the Resourceful PDX map shows Resale Shops too!
• Or attend or plan a costume swap – your friend’s costume from last year may be perfect for you this year.

Rent a costume

Short on time or crafty abilities to make your own? Renting gives you options for a stand-out costume.

• Helen’s Pacific Costumers and Hollywood Vintage offer costumes for rent.

Enjoy dessert first with Chinook Book’s sweet offerings

By Carrie Treadwell from Resourceful PDX partner, Chinook Book

The 17th annual edition of Chinook Book highlights local, sustainable businesses with a belief that they can give back and also thrive in the community. This includes new options in food-focused Portland!

The website has a new feature that shows all of the community coupons. You can see the 112 merchants and 126 coupons under Dining. This feature includes many standard Portland spots for eating local, plus some new dessert options like:

• Wiz Bang Bar
• Lovejoy Bakers
• Dairy Hill Ice Cream
• Maple Parlor

The Chinook Book team spends time thinking about businesses and their industries and the approach and criteria with which they appear in the book.

The print edition includes information and resources on how to connect with local food and Portland’s many farmer’s markets, as well as the plethora of local businesses that are in line with resourceful living. The app continues to improve to offer even more personalized navigation and provides savings at your fingertips.

Resourceful PDX shares community resources with the newly updated map (page 14 in the print edition). There are many places to go for used art supplies, building materials and clothing. Look for coupons and tips for bike shops, consignment and thrift stores, hardware stores, and even car sharing opportunities.

Find savings by using both the print book and mobile app, available at local retailers and through school and nonprofit fundraisers.

Grab a friend and take advantage of a two-for-one dessert special!

St Johns Food Share offers more options for residents

By Alicia Polacok from Resourceful PDX partner, Bureau of Planning and Sustainability

Founded in 1988, St Johns Food Share is a member-owned, volunteer-powered food sharing community. Formerly known as Golden Harvesters, St Johns Food Share has a mission to empower Portland residents by providing food options, preserving dignity and promoting self-sufficiency. Each year, the food share distributes over 300,000 pounds of food to local families.

New name draws new members

When Golden Harvesters became St Johns Food Share, the name change and rebranding prompted a big increase in members – they more than doubled membership just through word of mouth!

Members are volunteers

Food Share membership is open to all residents. In exchange for a minimum of eight donated volunteer hours and $30 monthly dues per household, you can shop twice a week in the store at no additional charge. The monthly fee helps pay for the store space, electricity and utilities.

Volunteers are crucial to the operation of the Food Share. It was a volunteer who brought the organization into the 21st century too – with software and computerization that hadn’t existed before. Paying membership fees are coming online soon too.

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Lynda, a St Johns Food Share member and volunteer, shows off available options at the store. 

One new member, Lynda, drives from St Helens to visit the store and volunteer on Fridays as a store lead. This volunteer position includes making displays look organized, greeting and assisting first-time shoppers with using the computer and weighing items for check-out.

“Having this option really makes a difference,” said Lynda. She explained that the Food Share “offers a way to stretch my monthly money because social security only goes so far.” She can keep her kitchen stocked with a variety of items – fresh produce, dairy products, protein and staples – while keeping good food out of the waste stream.

Food is donated

You’ll find a well-stocked store offering a variety of foods donated from partner agencies. These include Pacific Coast Fruit, St Johns Community Garden, Fred Meyer, New Seasons, Grocery Outlet and more. St Johns Food Share also works with social service agencies to pass along viable food through their food banks. Some of these programs include Grace Christian Fellowship, Hereford House and Linnton Community Center in North and Northwest Portland.

One Food Share volunteer, Judie, said the organization also works with various farmers who take back the food that isn’t viable for human consumption and use the food scraps to make compost or as pig feed.

Learn more

Curious about Food Share? If you aren’t sure you want to be a member, you can shop free the first time. Or you can sign up as member right away.

St Johns Food Share is open Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 9 a.m. until 12:30 p.m.

Find St Johns Food Share under Donation Center on the Resourceful PDX map.

Resourceful PDX discovered this “new” community resource when a resident used the Add to the Map button on the Resourceful PDX map. Let us know if you have a resource to add!

Get moving on the way to school

Options is the name of the game as you shift back into the school routine. How you get to and from school, after-school activities, sporting events, and play dates – all of these are times to consider alternatives and, as a bonus, offer ways to spend more time with family and friends.

Carpool

Connect and collaborate with other parents on a carpool for the kids to reduce pollution and traffic congestion while saving time and money. Use this free online tool to find carpool companions. Or talk to friends and neighbors to share in the day-to-day schedule and make the most of your time.

Walk or bike

Promote exercise (and get some yourself) and quality time with your kids by walking or biking with your kids to school. Find maps to school, information and events through Safe Routes to School or sign up for their newsletter.

Bike shops all over Portland offer repair services and classes, and can help outfit you for the weather. Or come to a Repair Café to learn how to get minor things repaired for free.

In whatever ways your family chooses to get back to school, incorporating thoughtful actions that are good for you and the community help provide lasting effects as the seasons change and the new school year becomes routine again.

Visit our other recent posts to find more tips and ideas about kids in school.

Save money by packing waste-free lunches for school

It’s easy and fun to pack waste-free lunches with colorful reusable containers, utensils and cloth napkins!

Tips for waste-free lunches

1. Pack lunch in reusable containers or a lunch box. Wash and reuse containers for sandwiches and snacks. 

• Many grocery stores offer food containers and lunch boxes – be sure to check that they are free of BPA, lead, PVC, phthalates, and vinyl. 
• Lunch Sense and PlanetBox also offers safe, toxin-free products online. 
• Reuseit lunch kits help with planning your kids’ lunches and offers alternatives to disposable items.
• ReUsies Snack and Sandwich Bags has a coupon in the Chinook Book and offers an alternative to disposable bags.

2. Choose durable bottles for drinks.

• Fill them with tap water, which is just as good as bottled water and at less than a penny per gallon, it's a great bargain.

3. Bring your own metal forks, spoons and cloth napkins.

Reuseit presents a number of tips and ideas about reusable items and waste-free lunch options in their video.

By planning ahead and creating weekly meal plans, you can reduce waste while shopping, too. Stock the fridge in one trip, and you’ll save time and resources too.

Check out other back to school resources in our previous kids in school posts.

Swap and share your way to savings for the school year ahead

School days are coming! Channel your creativity and resourcefulness to get kids off to a great start. Swap and share items you already have, but no longer need, to keep kids outfitted for activities inside and outside the classroom.

Host a clothing swap

Hosting a clothing swap with friends and neighbors is a fun and easy way to share kids’ clothes, toys, books and sports equipment, and donate anything that’s left. 

A clothing swap involves getting a bunch of people together to exchange clothes and other items you no longer wear, and offering them free of charge to others by swapping them instead. Swap events are a great excuse to get together with friends or meet new people, all while giving your stuff another life and helping everyone save money and avoid buying new.

Swap Positive is a local resource that provides all you need to know about attending, hosting and getting involved with swaps in Portland. There are options for family swaps and those specific to household stuff or clothes of every size.

Center for a New American Dream put together this video about hosting or participating in a clothing swap that can help you plan your own swap!

Find used sports equipment

Don’t forget about sports gear and equipment – items for school and recreation leagues can add to your budget. From cleats to uniforms, there are ways to find used items through swapping, borrowing and purchasing gently used goods through your friends, neighbors or Craigslist.

Join a swap and play space

Join one of the swap and play spaces around Portland to connect with other families with children. Swap and plays offer an opportunity to swap outgrown clothing, toys and gear, share community play space and also connect with other parents and kids in your neighborhood.

Portland swap and play spaces are membership organizations and vary in hours, activities, events and ways to get involved. They are Southside Swap & Play, St Johns Swapnplay and Woodlawn Swap n Play. 

Check out other back to school resources in our previous kids in school posts.

Get extra credit with your school supplies

Compiled by Eco-School Network Leaders at the Center for Earth Leadership

The time of year between July 4 and September 15 represents a season (other than summer!): Back-to-School. When retailers are emphasizing a shopping season, resourceful people take notice and consider their actions to avoid impulse purchases. 

On average, a family with school-aged kids will spend $673.57 for clothes, accessories, electronics, shoes and school supplies. The National Retail Federation surveyed more than 6,800 consumers about their annual back-to-school plans, finding that families with children in grades K-12 are expected to spend 9.6 percent more this year than last year. (Source: Time)

The average spending per family in each category breaks down as follows:

• Clothing: $235.39
• Electronics: $204.06
• Shoes: $126.35
• School Supplies: $107.76

Here are some strategies to help you save money, buy less stuff and get the most from this back-to-school season.

Avoid using shopping lists unless supplied directly by the school

Online and store-supplied shopping lists are often written by the companies who manufacture school supplies. Obtain the school’s supply list to ensure you get what the teacher needs.

Set your school up with Schoolhouse Supplies

Schoolhouse Supplies is a local organization that collects corporate donated supplies, buys supplies in bulk and delivers the school supplies directly to the school. These supplies are less expensive because they are purchased or donated in large quantities. They save parents the hassle of running all over town in the family car to purchase supplies and ensure that the right supplies are bought for the class. Schoolhouse Supplies offers teachers low- or no-cost classroom supplies. Learn more at the how to donate page online.

Buy supplies after winter break

Instead of purchasing supplies at the beginning of the calendar year, work with your teacher and volunteer to purchase supplies after winter break. At some schools, the supplies often run out at mid-year. By replenishing just the most-used supplies, you’ll help ensure that those supplies that have run out will be replaced and the classroom won’t have excess supplies they don’t need.

Volunteer to conduct a supply audit for your students’ classroom

Auditing how many supplies are used versus what supplies are purchased is a valuable activity for teachers. Often, supply lists are generated at the beginning of a teacher’s career and as technology and teaching needs change, the supply doesn’t receive the fine tuning necessary to keep it relevant.

Create a Party Pack for your teacher

Most classrooms have several parties or celebrations annually, in addition to student birthday treats. Creating a Party Pack that contains durable items can significantly reduce the amount of garbage produced by classroom parties. While parties differ, the average event produces 30 gallons of garbage (per Portland Eco-School Network research). That fills approximately one large black garbage bag. 

Contact the Center for Earth Leadership for more information about the Eco-School Network. 

Resourceful PDX in the news!

The new map feature on the Resourceful PDX website, and some of the community partners listed on the map, have made news this week.

The Portland Tribune article "Want to borrow a tool, get some fix-it help, or share your stuff?" features several resources listed on our new map. 

“In Portland, dozens of these free or low-cost resources — kitchen shares, toy swaps, tool libraries, bike fix-it-yourself shops and more — are just around the corner, for the taking. To some, they may seem like a secret society, not necessarily easy to find unless you already know someone who participates.

But now, the city has issued an easy-to-use map of 30 to 40 of these resources — a one-stop hub for sustainable living at the neighborhood level — on its Resourceful PDX program site.”

— Jennifer Anderson, The Portland Tribune

KGW Channel 8 also featured Resourceful PDX and some of our community partners on their evening news.

The Resourceful PDX map includes community-based, not-for-profit or grassroots organizations that help residents reuse, swap, repair and share such items as tools, building or art supplies, household goods or other materials.

The resources featured in the news pieces this week are PDX Time Bank, Repair PDX, Kitchen Share, Woodlawn Swap n Play and Know Thy Food Cooperative.

Do you have a community resource to add to the map? Share more resources with us!

To nominate a community-based, not-for-profit or grassroots organization for inclusion in this map, send us a message with relevant details about the organization, such as: name, location, website and contact information, plus a brief description of why it would make a good addition to the Resourceful PDX Map.

New Resourceful PDX map!

The map works on mobile, too!

The new Resourceful PDX map includes community-based, not-for-profit or grassroots organizations that help residents reuse, swap, repair and share such items as tools, building or art supplies, household goods or other materials.

Share resources with us!

To nominate a community-based, not-for-profit or grassroots organization for inclusion in this map, send us a message with relevant details about the organization, such as: name, location, website and contact information, plus a brief description of why it would make a good addition to the Resourceful PDX Map.

Threading connections through repair

“It touches my heart when people bring in sentimental items handed down in their families,” said Marie Coreil. “Like the woman who recently brought in a quilt made by her mother. While I sewed a new rip, she shared stories that brought back fond memories of my own mother.”

Marie loves sewing and is delighted to be a volunteer sewer with Repair PDX, where she helps people continue using items they cherish, like a favorite purse or pair of jeans.

As a Master Recycler volunteer and retiree, Marie uses her free time to give back to the community and support causes that she cares about. “I can use my time to support initiatives that depend on volunteerism to succeed.”

“Through my time as a Master Recycler, I learned about Repair PDX and began volunteering at the repair café events as a mender because I have always loved sewing. Later I learned about the Southeast Portland Tool Library and began volunteering there as well. Most recently, I joined the PDX Time Bank, which is a great resource for Portlanders to help each other that could be more widely used.”

Repair PDX provides free repair services to community members who bring in items they might otherwise throw away. From small appliances, to bike maintenance and mending services, Repair PDX not only offers participants a chance to fix things, it creates a space for connection and community.

“Many people would like to keep using their material possessions, but lack the skills or resources to maintain them or fix them when they break. Repair PDX addresses this need by holding repair events in different neighborhoods where people can take their things to be fixed – free of charge. It enables people to continue using things that might otherwise end up being thrown away.”

Repair PDX offers an excellent model for community involvement that is already being duplicated in other parts of the Portland metro region and across the country. Many people have skills they enjoy sharing and all it takes is a little of their time and some coordination to put it all together.

Marie encourages retirees to get involved in some kind of volunteer activity – something they enjoy doing anyway so they can experience the intangible rewards of giving back to the community.

“Another benefit for me personally is I have made new friends through Repair PDX. Two of the regular menders also live in the Sellwood neighborhood and we have become friends. I have also gotten to know people through overlapping circles of Portland’s sustainability activities.”

Do you consider yourself a tinkerer? Are you interested in repair? Join Marie and other volunteer fixers to help spread repair culture through the repair movement! Check out our events calendar for upcoming repair or related events.

Find more stories about repairing in Portland. #sharingcommunity