Sustainable Life - February 13th, 2014

The Portland area’s guide to green living

Scan this code with
your smartphone to download a pdf of this
Sustainable Life section
thursday, February 13, 2014
• www.Portlandtribune.com

PHOTO COURTESY OF IRENE DIETZ A bluebird enjoys a bath on Irene
Dietz’s property in Oregon City.
Recover

bluebirds,

one nest

at a time

Volunteers sought
to host and track
birds in the ield

By ELLEN SPITALERI
Pamplin Media Group
It’s easy to fall in love with
a western bluebird, says Nancy Fraser, a volunteer
bird bander with the Prescott Bluebird Recovery
There was a time when Northwest Container Services’ reach stackers illed the air with black smoke from the exhaust. But the Portland-based company retroitted its machines with diesel particulate ilters, eliminating most of the pollution.
Project.
Diesel = neeDless Deaths
Unfortunately, the bluebird’s habitat is decreasing, due to
pesticides killing off the insects
the tiny birds eat and the re- moval of downed trees and
wooden fence- posts, which
“You get a sense of provide crucial
what the nesting spots.
The all-vol- E
bluebirds’ unteer
Prescott Blue- verdrivebehindadieseltruckand notice the black smoke belching Companies barred from using older freight trucks for interstate commerce rou- ■ Oregon lags neighbors
life is like bird Recovery from the tailpipe?
tinely sell them to smaller irms specializing
and how Project is try- ing to help “Stand next to a diesel engine that’s run- Story by Steve Law in short-haul trips in urban areas such as in curbing emissions from
tough it is sustain a healthy popu- ning, and the fumes will about knock you over,” Photos by Jaime Valdez
Portland — a nexus for local rail, trucking
to beat the odds for lation of the says Ernie St. Julien, routes and ports.
trucks, off-road equipment
these birds in the northern Wil- heavy equipment division
manager for Portland-based Northwest Con- Peveto co-founded Neighbors for Clean Air in 2009, when she
birds.”
lamette Valley.
To fulill tainer Services. Those fumes, according to a growing body of scientific evidence, learned the air near her Northwest Portland home was a toxic hot spot, much of it
— Dana Sue that mission, cause cancer, heart and lung dis- traced to emissions from an
Robinson, Prescott Bluebird the project is holding a easeandareamajorcontrib-
Esco Corp. metals plant. Despite the hazards of utor to global warming.
Recovery Project workshop next living near a major in- The good news, St. Ju-
volunteer
month to train volunteers to dustrial air polluter, the more Peveto dug lien and others say, is that newer diesel en-
monitor the
bluebird population. The group into the problem, the more she realized that gines are vastly cleaner, and older models can be
also recruits landowners who diesel emissions pose a retroitted with exhaust
are willing to put bluebird box- es on their property to attract greater danger. Far more people live near ilters to remove most of the pollutants.
the birds.
When property owners re- freight corridors or are exposed to diesel fumes The bad news is that Or- egon lags behind Califor-
move downed trees or get rid of from construction equip-
nia and Washington in en-
wooden fenceposts, that reduc- es the bluebird’s habitat.
acting stiff air-quality stan- dards for diesel engines ment.
“It’s clear and away the
“If someone can leave a snag down safely, all creatures will and investing money to solve the problem.
most signiicant problem in our region for human
beneit,” says Dana Sue Robin- Oregon risks becoming a health risks from air tox-
son, a volunteer with the proj- ect.
“dumping ground for the older diesel vehicles that These diesel particulate ilters ics,” Peveto says.
Kevin Downing has done
There is lots of competition are banned by neighboring eliminated more than 90 percent of the toxic emissions from more than anyone to get Kevin Downing from the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality
between bluebirds and other bird species for the cavities in states,” says Mary Peveto, a Portland activist trying to Northwest Container Services’ dirty diesel trucks off Ore-
helps companies and agencies secure funds to retroit or replace heavy
trees, where they make their nests.
clean up our fouled air.
reach stackers.
See DIESEL / Page 2
trucks and off-road diesel equipment.
When property owners vol-
unteer to host bluebird boxes, ield workers irst have to visit
the site to see whether it’s promising for nesting bluebirds.
Picking up an anti-littering ethic
“The birds need nesting sites
that are adjacent to a nice mowed yard with trees and
shrubs interspersed. They also need perching areas near the
nesting box and a birdbath SOLVE added an E with a chuckle, as she wrestles
nearby,” Fraser says.
If the landowner has used to its name but sticks with one of a dozen cigarette butts with her trash-grabbing
pesticides, there may not be enough insects for the birds to to original mission
stick. She moves at a steady pace, not bothering much with the
eat, Robinson says. Volunteer Sisyphean task of the butts, rath-
bluebird monitors often leave mealworms on the tops of blue-
Checkitout
By JOSEPH GALLIVAN
er going for the big game: bags, bottles and printed
bird boxes to augment the diet
For Pamplin Media Group
matter.
of the tiny birds.
Irene Dietz has hosted two
When Lilio Aragones goes She does it simply because she loves Portland and wants to keep
bluebird boxes for ive years on her property in Oregon City.
out picking up trash on a Sat- urday morning in Northwest it pretty.
“How can people be so disre-
She sees the birds nearly ev- Portland, she makes sure she spectful?” Aragones asks of the
ery day, and says they look at her as if they are expecting her looks good. Ball
cap from the to-
litter bugs. “I’ve come to the con-
to feed them.
“We always have them, and
ny Mission
Ranch in Carm-
clusion it’s the same people
el; North Face
over and over.
See BIRDS / Page 3
jacket; nice
shoes.
The average person is more ■ SOLVE can be reached at 503-844-9571 or
considerate, cer- tainly here in
A light atten-
dant with Delta
www.solveoregon.org.
Airlines, the
■ The SOLVE spring beach cleanup is all along the Portland.” SustainableLife
President portlandtribune.com/ Northwest Hills
resident has been
Oregon coast, starting 10 a.m. Saturday, March 22. Much of the
credit for our
J. Mark Garber portland-tribune-
sustainable-life
picking up trash,
■ SOLVE IT will take place on Saturday, April 26.
anti-litter ethic TRIBUNE PHOTO: JAIME VALDEZ
facebook.com/
Steve Law portland.susustainable
unasked, for de-
cades, first in
surely goes to SOLVE, the en-
Lisa Hamilton, left, leads middle school students Lilly Kennedy, Ruby McShane and Hannah Kennedy in
picking up rubbish in Northwest Portland during a recent SOLVE event.
Editor
.life
PortlandTribune Hollywood,Calif., vironmental
while growing up, and now in cleanup organization formed in name for simplicity’s sake, is cel- year of doing beach cleanups on Phil Selinger and Rob Fullmer Designer
Pete Vogel
Northwest Portland around 1969 under Gov. Tom McCall as ebrating three anniversaries the Oregon Coast; and the 45th organize two different volunteer Photo editor
Trader Joe’s.
“I dress so people don’t think Stop Oregon Litter and Vandal- ism. The group, which later this year: the 25th year of its Earth Day cleanups in urban ar- year since its founding. trash pickups. The bags are pro-
Twice a month, Northwest
Jonathan House
Printed on recycled PaPer
I’m homeless,” Aragones says
addedanEattheendofits
eas, called SOLVE IT; its 30th
District Association members SeeSOLVE/Page5