It might be a losing battle to keep rats away from the compost bin in this older Portland neighborhood, but this gardener isn't ready to give up yet. Carrie Sturrock, Special to The Oregonian http://connect.oregonlive.com/user/carriesturrock/index.html

The home, garden and lifestyle show will host workshops that teach people how to maximize the money they spend to make their homes more energy efficient. Carrie Sturrock, Special to The Oregonian http://connect.oregonlive.com/user/carriesturrock/index.html

Website is an answer for people who want to conserve, and teaches some of the little, less expensive steps to weatherize a home that mean a lot. Carrie Sturrock, Special to The Oregonian http://connect.oregonlive.com/user/carriesturrock/index.html

Convenient beyond belief, cell phones have changed how we live. But there's concern over the health effects. Carrie Sturrock, Special to The Oregonian http://connect.oregonlive.com/user/carriesturrock/index.html

A new pilot program from the city of Portland helps homeowners on a budget go green. Carrie Sturrock, Special to The Oregonian http://connect.oregonlive.com/user/carriesturrock/index.html

Writer Allison Arieff believes green begins at home Carrie Sturrock, Special to The Oregonian http://connect.oregonlive.com/user/carriesturrock/index.html

"This symposium is designed to initiate a discourse on light pollution -- its menace to a sustainable Portland metropolitan area -- and the measures available to reduce its adverse effects," according to symposium moderator Dawn Nilson Carrie Sturrock, Special to The Oregonian http://connect.oregonlive.com/user/carriesturrock/index.html

Smart and ravenous, rats will stick around once they've adapted to your backyard. It's your responsibility to deal with them. Carrie Sturrock, Special to The Oregonian http://connect.oregonlive.com/user/carriesturrock/index.html

Ecoroofs can be a a way to manage rainwater and cool a hot urban climate. Carrie Sturrock, Special to The Oregonian http://connect.oregonlive.com/user/carriesturrock/index.html

Neighbors are banding together in the Wilshire neighborhood to fight a cell phone tower because of fear of health risks. Carrie Sturrock, Special to The Oregonian http://connect.oregonlive.com/user/carriesturrock/index.html

If you're thirsty at the University of Portland, find a drinking fountain. Or bring your own water. As of this month, the campus no longer sells it in plastic bottles. Carrie Sturrock, Special to The Oregonian http://connect.oregonlive.com/user/carriesturrock/index.html

Tired of that guilty feeling from bringing home grocery items or takeout food in hard plastic or Styrofoam containers — which can languish for centuries when tossed? A small local company aims to assuage your guilt and improve the environment, with a line of compostable food service products ...

It’s been a 24-year wait, but birders and hikers finally can trek through Steigerwald Lake National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge, opened to the public last June, is located a few miles east of Washougal, Wash., and it’s well worth the drive. “Because of its location at the mouth ...

John Charles shocked local greenies when he left the helm of the Oregon Environmental Council several years ago to work for the Cascade Policy Institute. The institute, which promotes free-market, pro-business policies, has emerged as Portland’s leading “climate change denier” ...

With so much talk about driving less, electric cars and alternative fuels, you’d think transportation was the No. 1 producer of the world’s harmful greenhouse gases. Guess again. According to the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, livestock are responsible for ...

When Barack Obama came into office, Oregon environmentalists hoped their long battle against proposed liquefied natural gas terminals would get a boost. They had high expectations that Obama’s new political appointees would change the process at the federal level and slow down or stop the ...

Without really being asked, Amiel Patton-Hall and her team of robot engineers are remaking their world, and little plastic blocks are the foundation. Last month, Patton-Hall and four other Portland-area eighth-graders took second place at the annual Intel Oregon FIRST Lego League championship in ...

Plant a tree in honor of your valentine. Carrie Sturrock, Special to The Oregonian http://connect.oregonlive.com/user/carriesturrock/index.html

In a world of confusing and mixed messages, a panel of experts looks at the question of eating meat from legal, ethical and philosophical points of view. Carrie Sturrock, Special to The Oregonian http://connect.oregonlive.com/user/carriesturrock/index.html

Commercial worm farms can be tricky but offers green jobs, green business, green food, green money. Carrie Sturrock, Special to The Oregonian http://connect.oregonlive.com/user/carriesturrock/index.html