Join us at the Cascade Park Library for a fun and educational kid's activities and exploration session focused on conscious consumption! In this session, children will have the opportunity to participate in a decomposer bingo game and recycling relay stations. They will get up close and personal with invertebrates like red worms, spiders, and centipedes, learning about their role in breaking down organic material and composting food waste. This event is presented in partnership with Clark County Green Schools, Clark County Green Neighbors, and Waste Connections.

Event Details:

Date: Saturday, March 9 

Time: 2-3:30 pm 

Location: Cascade Park Library 

More information: Saturday Family Fun: Conscious Consumption | Fort Vancouver Regional Libraries (librarymarket.com)

Do you often find yourself unsure about what items can be recycled? Here's your chance to get all your recycling questions answered! During this workshop, you will learn valuable tips on what can be recycled in your curbside bin and gain insights into the recycling process. Discover what happens to items after they are picked up and understand the importance of proper recycling practices. This session will also highlight how City of Vancouver residents can utilize the Organics cart to compost food waste. We will discuss the benefit of keeping food scraps out of the garbage, tips for sorting waste and learn what happens to food scraps at the commercial composting facility.

Don't miss this opportunity to increase your knowledge and contribute to a cleaner environment. Join our partners from the City of Vancouver, Waste Connections of Washington and Clark County Green Neighbors at the Cascade Park Library on Saturday, March 16th to learn how you can make a positive impact on the environment.

Event Details:

Date: Saturday, March 16 

Time: 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM 

Location: Cascade Park Library

We look forward to seeing you there!

Saturday, March 23 - Sunday, March 24, 2024

Every year, World Water Day is celebrated around the globe to highlight the importance of freshwater for humans and our vital ecosystems. Join us this year in a BioBlitz at Vancouver’s Water Center to explore the freshwater ecosystems around the education center and collect data about the living creatures inhabiting our area.

A BioBlitz event gathers community members in a specific place to take a snapshot of the ecological biodiversity. Small, guided nature walks will happen throughout the morning. Walks will focus on finding plants, animals, birds, insects, mushrooms, amphibians and more. Use iNaturalist to catalog all the living things found in the area. No previous knowledge of iNaturalist is required.

Registration is required and space is limited. Choose a time slot on the RSVP form to reserve your space: https://www.cityofvancouver.us/events/world-water-day-bioblitz/

This is a family-friendly event that is suitable for adults and youth ages 6 and older. Expect to walk 1.5 miles on uneven terrain, sandy beaches, muddy wetland areas and paved pathways. All youth need to be accompanied by an adult. Detailed logistics will be sent to registered participants.

Vancouver’s Water Center is closed on weekends. Registered participants will have access to restroom facilities inside the building.

Contact: Water Center staff at vanwrec@cityofvancouver.us or 360-487-7111

Recycling 201 & Organics 101

Join us to explore the world of recycling beyond the curbside bin! In this session, you'll learn how to identify and safely dispose of hazardous household waste and discover a wide range of recycling and reuse options available for items such as plastic bags, appliances, and bulky items.

Have questions about recycling specific items? Don't miss this opportunity to get your answers! Join our partners from the City of Vancouver, Waste Connections of Washington and Clark County Green Neighbors at the Cascade Park Library on Saturday, March 23. 

Event Details:

Date: Saturday, March 23rd

Time: 2:00- 3:30 PM 

Location: Cascade Park Library

More information: Conscious Consumption Series: Recycling 201 | Fort Vancouver Regional Libraries (librarymarket.com)

We look forward to seeing you there!

About the film:

Once a Braided River, a new documentary by Barbara Bernstein, tells the story of how the North Reach of the Willamette River was transformed from a braided river, rich in biodiversity and home to many bands of indigenous people, into an industrial sacrifice zone with a ten mile long superfund site running from downtown Portland to the river’s confluence with the Columbia River. The documentary focuses on the part of Portland that most Portlanders don’t know about or ignore. It braids together the strands of many issues that face us – climate chaos, rivers contaminated with toxic pollutants, fish and wildlife brought to the brink of extinction by these perilous practices, and the dire hazards of storing immense amounts of explosive fossil fuels upon liquefaction zones underlain by major fault lines along the shoreline of the river that runs through our region. The documentary features community groups and activists working to replace the current industrial sacrifice zone with a green working waterfront defined by good jobs, clean energy, and healthy ecosystems.

When: Tuesday, March 26th from 4:30pm to 7:00pm

Where: Columbia Room at the Vancouver Community Library, 901 C St, Vancouver, WA 98660

Event Schedule:

4:30pm – Doors Open

4:45pm – Pizza

5:15pm – Film Starts

Pizza will be provided through a generous discount from the Piehole Pizzeria including Gluten Friendly/Vegan options. A water station will also be available. Please help us reduce waste by bringing your own water bottle. 

Watch a trailer here.

Please register here.

This film series was made possible by our partners at Clark County Green Neighbors. Thank you to our partnering sponsor, PeaceHealth.

Registration is required. Sign up here: https://www.cityofvancouver.us/events/spring-beak-nature-walk/

During spring break, come to the Water Center in search of spring beaks! The birds are becoming active as days get longer. Songs echo through the wetlands, nests are being built, and baby bird season is just around the corner. Take a leisurely spring break walk in search of all the birds that call this water ecosystem home. Binoculars will be on hand for participants to borrow.

This walk is suitable for individuals and families with youth ages 6 and older. All minors should be accompanied by an adult. Expect to walk 1.5 miles on uneven terrain, including sandy beaches, muddy wetlands and paved surfaces.

Contact: Water Center staff at vanwrec@cityofvancouver.us or 360-487-7111

Cooking with Leftovers

Join us for the Cooking with Leftovers event, where special guest presenter Stacey Tigner-Loy from WSU Clark County Extension SNAP-Ed will lead an interactive demonstration that inspires attendees to embrace their culinary creativity and make a positive impact on the environment through mindful purchasing, storing, and cooking.

During this event, we will explore various topics related to conscious consumption, including the importance of meal planning, effective food storage, and creative ways to use leftovers. Stacey will share her innovative approach to cooking with leftovers and how she utilizes creativity to transform leftover ingredients into delicious new meals. We are sure you will be inspired to embrace your culinary creativity and reduce food waste in your kitchen!

Event Details:

• Date: Wednesday, April 3

• Time: 6-7:30 PM
• Location: Cascade Park Library
• More information: Conscious Consumption Series: Cooking with Leftovers on a Budget | Fort Vancouver Regional Libraries (librarymarket.com)

Learn more by checking out Stacey’s Cooking with Leftovers Booklet: Cooking with Leftovers Booklet

When we hear ‘bee’ we often think of the European honey bee, but there are at least 600-700 species of bees in Washington and Oregon. Native bees are very different, but we know very little about their status. What flowers do they pollinate? Where and when do they nest? How can we use our gardens to support them?

Washington has implemented the Washington Bee Atlas (WaBA) to find out more. It was formed in 2023 and modeled after the successful Oregon Bee Atlas, which has added 220 bee species to their state list! These community science groups train volunteers to collect, pin, and label bee specimens. Many of the volunteers have no science or entomology background. They post data through the app iNaturalist, providing date, location, collector and host plant information. The specimens are then identified by professionals, deposited at WSU or OSU insect collections, and the data made public! This information is highly valuable to conservation efforts of all 600+ species of native bees known to occur in the PNW.

This Science on Tap will talk about native bee biology and general gardening guidelines, then give an introduction to Washington Bee Atlas and how it all works.

Dr. Karen Wright got her Master’s degree at OSU in Entomology (working on true bugs and beetles in hazelnuts), then moved to New Mexico where she started her career working on native bees. She developed a collection of over 600 species of bees from central New Mexico, and the long-term study is still ongoing with over 20 years of data. She got her PhD from the University of New Mexico on the Evolution of Diet Breadth in Melissodes bees and was curator of the insect collection at Texas A&M University for six years until being hired to develop and manage the Washington Bee Atlas. She has happily relocated to Yakima, Washington with her dogs and husband.

General Admission: $20

For registration questions or to request reduced-priced tickets if the admission is a hardship for you, click the link below.

https://www.scienceontaporwa.org/contact/

Beautiful Savior Lutheran is hosting a shred day fundraiser for their 30th year of the Mexico Mission of building homes in Tijuana. 

Requesting $5 donation, 2 box limit. Paper Only: Bring documents in file/bankers boxes or Paper Grocery Bags)
Papers with staples, paper clips, and binder clips are allowed
No plastic covers, 3-ring binders or spiral notebooks

10am-1pm (or until truck is full)

Join Second Mile Marketplace for their third annual plant sale!

Shop veggies, seeds, flowers and locally made craft foods

Participating farms include Coyote Ridge Ranch, Garden Delights Herb Farm, Urban Snail Farm, Sweet Bloom Farm, Baur's Corner Farm and plenty more!

Would you like to know the difference between a wasp that might sting and those that are unable or unlikely to sting?  How about do-it-yourself wasp management options that help you reduce the risk of being stung while also minimizing impact on the environment?       

Attend this seminar to learn more about what you can do before you call a pest management professional or apply a pesticide.  We will go over the physical appearance and biological differences between common wasps around the home and yard, and effective methods for homeowners to reduce encounters with stinging wasps.   

Emphasis will be on integrated pest management for homeowners: non-chemical options to prevent and suppress common stinging wasps, and the judicious use of least-toxic chemical options as a last resort. Saturday, April 20th from 3 to 4:45pm at Three Creeks Library: 800 NE Tenney Rd, Vancouver, WA 98685. Free. No registration required.

About the presenter: Jennifer L. Snyder is an entomologist by training and profession.  She has over 10 years professional experience working with schools, Native American groups, homeowners, and communities on pests in the built environment.   Her past employment includes Cooperative Extension in Arizona and Oregon, the pest management industry, and non-profit organizations.  Jennifer earned her Master’s in Entomology from Oregon State University.  This workshop is put on in collaboration with Clark County Public Works Green Neighbors Program. Contact: Erika.d.johnson@wsu.edu  / 564-397-5738. Visit us online at https://extension.wsu.edu/clark/community-education/workshops-events/.    

About the film:

What started as one man’s quixotic dream has turned into reality. For the past three years, the 65-foot schooner, Apollonia, has been delivering goods up and down the Hudson River by sail sans fossil fuels – a throwback to a time when there were 1,200 such boats on the river each day. It turns out buyers prefer the non-polluting, anti-amazon way of making deliveries.

When: Tuesday, April 23rd from 4:30pm to 7:00pm

Where: Columbia Room at the Vancouver Community Library, 901 C St, Vancouver, WA 98660

Event Schedule:

4:30pm – Doors Open

4:45pm – Pizza

5:15pm – Film Starts

Pizza will be provided through a generous discount from the Piehole Pizzeria including Gluten Friendly/Vegan options. A water station will also be available. Please help us reduce waste by bringing your own water bottle. 

Learn more about the film and watch a trailer here.

Please register here.

This film series was made possible by our partners at Clark County Green Neighbors. Thank you to our partnering sponsor, PeaceHealth.

Last Earth Day, Watershed Alliance volunteer, Al Spector, let hundreds of bread bags, cereal box liners, empty cheese packets, and pieces of Styrofoam pile up in his home — and transformed them into Pacific Garbage Patch Babies! These quirky sculptures were designed to help raise awareness of what we consume and how our actions impact our waterways.

The Pacific Garbage Patch Babies will be at the Dandelion Teahouse and Apothecary on Thursday, April 25th from 6:30pm to 8:30pm. Al will discuss his one-year sculpture making experiment, share ocean fun-facts, and help attendees create their own mini-babies that they can take home.

We recommend participants be 12 and over. Tickets are $10 per person to help cover the cost of materials for your take home craft! 

What: Earth Day craft-making

When: Thursday, April 25th 6:30pm to 8:30pm

Where: Dandelion Teahouse and Apothecary, 109 W 7th St, Vancouver, WA 98660

Parking: There is street parking in the surrounding area. Street parking is free in downtown Vancouver after 6:00pm.

Translation: A Spanish translator will be available at this event.

The Pacific Garbage Patch Babies will be available for adoption at the Teahouse. Attendees will be able visit the sculptures, and for a rehoming fee, take one of these babies home with a fun adoption certificate! This rehoming fee is considered a tax-deductible donation to the Watershed Alliance and will help further our mission.

Reserve your spot here!

Thank you to the Dandelion Teahouse and Apothecary for donating space for this event!

Contact Micayla Jones, micayla@thewatershedalliance.org, with questions.

***

El pasado Dia de la Tierra, Al Spector, voluntario de Watershed Alliance, empezó a juntar las bolsas de pan, los empaques de los cereales y piezas de unicel en su casa para transformarlos en  ¡muñecos “Garbage Patch” del pacifico! Estas extravagantes esculturas fueron diseñadas para ayudar a crear conciencia sobre lo que consumimos y cómo nuestras acciones impactan nuestras vías fluviales.

Las figuras “Garbage Patch” del Pacifico estarán en Dandelion Teahouse and Apothecary el jueves 25 de abril de 6:30pm a 8:30pm para exposición. Al nos hablará sobre su experimento de creación de esculturas que le tomó un año, compartirá datos interesantes sobre el océano y ayudará a los asistentes a crear sus propias figuras que podrán llevarse a casa.

Sugerimos que los participantes que quieran hacer su manualidad sean mayores de 12 años. Habrá un costo de $10 para cubrir los materiales de la manualidad que te llevarás a casa. 

Actividad: Elaboración de Manualidad del Dia de la Tierra

Lugar: Dandelion Teahouse and Apothecary, 109 W 7th St, Vancouver, WA 98660

Estacionamiento: Se pueden estacionar sobre las calles aledañas. El estacionamiento en la calle es gratuito en el centro de Vancouver después de las 6:00 pm

Traducciones: En este evento contaremos con un traductor(a) en Español

Las “figuras Garbage Patch del Pacifico” estarán disponibles para adopción en Teahouse. Los asistentes podrán visitar las esculturas y, por una tarifa de “nueva domiciliacion”, ¡llevarse a casa uno de estos bebés con un divertido certificado de adopción! Esta tarifa de “adopción” se convertirá en una donación para Watershed Alliance que es deducible de impuestos y ayudará a sostener nuestra misión por el cuidado de las cuencas hídricas.

Reserva tu visita aqui!

Para contestar cualquier duda envíanos un correo electrónico a info@thewatershedalliance.org 

Agradecemos a Dandelion Teahouse and Apothecary por donar su espacio para llevar a cabo este evento.