Friendly Sustainable Green Businesses Portland Oregon

GREENPOSTING:  It’s almost the norm these days to see a business that claims to be “Earth Friendly” or “Going Green” or “Practicing Sustainability.”  But how, the heck, are you supposed to know who is REALLY doing their part and who isn’t?

Thanks to Jonathan Davis, it’s a bit easier.

Davis created a website called Green Posting that lists local businesses (yep, it’s a Portland product) that are Earth conscious.  But, participants are not taken at their word.

First, a business has to send in an easy-to-read statement of what EXACTLY they do that is so green.  Anything from using recycled paper to encouraging employees to use mass transit.  Then, users of the site get to check in and write reviews on the companies.  If a business is caught not living up to their standard, they get booted.

Since its launch last year, the free service is growing rapidly.

Moreland

The Sellwood and Westmoreland (Moreland) neighborhood evokes a wonderful neighborhood feeling, with a strong sense of community, and a nostalgic "back in the good old days" feeling, enhanced by the large selection of antique shops and independent locally owned businesses that have been in the neighborhood for generations. This area is family friendly, walkable, and livable with a strong sense of community pride.

The Moreland neighborhood of Portland is divided into Eastmoreland and Westmoreland.  Splitting hairs?  Not according to the neighbors.  Ask them, and they’ll say that Eastmoreland is the kind of place where other people mow your lawn.  In Westmoreland, they do their own.  Yard work aside, it’s certainly evident that the activity of the area – the hustle, bustle, and commerce – belongs entirely to Westmoreland. 

Sellwood is a neighborhood on a bluff overlooking the Willamette River in Southeast Portland, Oregon, bordering Westmoreland to the north, Eastmoreland to the east, and the city of Milwaukie to the south. Sellwood originated as an independent city, a rival of early Portland. It was annexed in 1893.

The neighborhood is linked to Southwest Portland across the Willamette by the Sellwood Bridge, the southernmost of the Portland's bridges. The bridge is due for a costly replacement or renovation.

Sellwood has an amusement park named Oaks Park, many restaurants, and many upscale antique shops along the Antique Row on SE 13th Avenue.

Eastmoreland is an up-market neighborhood in inner south-east Portland, Oregon. The neighborhood extends north to SE Steele St., south to SE Crystal Springs Blvd., east to SE 39th Ave., and west to approximately SE 28th Ave.

The Reed College campus is located in the northern part of the neighborhood.

Public parks in Eastmoreland include Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden (1923), Eastmoreland Golf Course (1916), and Berkeley Park (1941).

Brooklyn is a mostly residential neighborhood in southeast Portland, Oregon. It sits along the east side of the Willamette River in the vicinity of Reed College Founded as a neighborhood in the late 1860's, the neighborhood today is a middle-class area comprising mainly single family homes, interspersed with remaining industrial sites along the river and a large railyard.

History

The area of the neighborhood was inhabited by Clackamas people before settlement by whites. The first white settler in the area of was Giddeon Tibbet, who acquired the land in the Donation Land Claim Act of 1850. He settled the area in 1851, building a family home and grist mill. Tibbet named the area "Brookland" due to the river, creeks, and lakes on his property. In 1868 Tibbet subdivided the property into smaller lots and allowed the Oregon Central Railroad to cross the property. The rail line and the subdivision quickly brought in a large number of residents to the neighborhood, which acquired its current name of "Brooklyn". The influx lead to the construction of a town square at the corner of Powell Boulevard and Milwaukie Avenue. In the 1890s, the neighborhood received an influx of largely Roman Catholic German-Americans. The neighborhood continues to bear the traces of this period today, with several older German-American businesses, as well as the Sacred Heart Catholic Church.

In the 1920s, the neighborhood changed drastically as a part of a city-wide construction effort. The construction of the Ross Island Bridge over the Willamette destroyed the town square. At the same, many of the streams and ponds in the neighborhood were filled in. The construction of McLoughlin Boulevard (Oregon Route 99E) severed the neighborhood's connection to the Willamette waterfront. The construction of an overpass on 17th avenue also divided the neighborhood in two.

By the 1960s, the neighborhood had acquired the reputation as being poverty-stricken. It was during this time that current Portland mayor Tom Potter began his police career in Portland, as a beat officer in the neighborhood, as well as nearby Sellwood to the south. According to Potter, he acquired many of the basic tenets of his philosophy of community policing while as a young officer in the neighborhood. Potter became involved in the Brooklyn Action Corps (BAC), a community organization that was founded during this time to combat the poverty, crime, and drugs that were afflicting the neighborhood.

By the 1980s, the neighborhood had undergone a nearly completely turnaround. Today it is regarded as among southeast Portland's most desirable residential neighborhoods. The current construction of the Eastbank Esplanade in Portland will allow the neighborhood to regain its connection to the Willamette River.

Division

Division Street is a community that believes in green and sustainable. Residents and business owners work closely to improve their neighborhood by planting trees, building bioswales, reintroducing native vegetation, and installing sculptures that redirect storm water. They advocate sustainable lifestyles and they shop locally in coffee houses, restaurants, art galleries, and retail shops. Many business owners have restored their commercial buildings, some of these buildings have been painted with lively murals. Throughout the neighborhood, homeowners have restored their homes to their original character. Division Street is a quaint and charming neighborhood right in the center of a major city. The South East Area Art Walk - Every March this event celebrates local artists who are showing their works in temporary art galleries, with chalk art on the sidewalk, with music in the air, and with good food to eat. Street Fair - Every July, come walk the streets for food, drink, crafts, art, music, and mingling with locals.

Woodstock Oregon

The Woodstock neighborhood is located in Southeast Portland. It is bordered by the Richmond, Mt. Tabor, Powellhurst Gilbert and Foster-Powell neighborhoods.