New name, new look: The Environmental Home Center in Seattle has changed its name to ecohaus. It’s now one of three Northwest stores with the same name. The other stores are in Portland and Bend, Ore.
Once one of the only places in the region to buy environmentally friendly building materials, the center will celebrate its grand opening and newly designed showroom Saturday with an open house, including a barbecue from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. sponsored by PCC Natural Markets.
Gifford Pinchot will speak about the nuances of green building in the past, present and future at 4 p.m.
Pinchot — a descendant of the turn-of-the-century conservationist and U.S. Forest Service chief — is an author, business consultant and the president and co-founder of the Bainbridge Graduate Institute.
Learn more at www.environmentalhomecenter.com or call 800-281-9785.
Pathmaker: Paul Beykovsky and his crew at Western Gardens did the landscape work for the two projects featured in the Jan. 24 Home and Garden story “Walk This Way.” The Camano Island landscaping company can be reached at 360-387-0811.
Cut the clutter: Are you wasting money on unnecessary home organizers? According to a report featured in the March issue of ShopSmart, from the publisher of Consumer Reports, shopping for organizing tools is always the best solution.
“The first thing so many of us do, in our attempts to get organized, is run out and purchase all of those pretty organizers. But, the truth is, shopping for cute containers should be the last step in the organizing process,” said Lisa Lee Freeman, editor-in-chief of ShopSmart.
ShopSmart experts detailed these seven clutter traps:
Too many keepsakes: The trick is to save the best part. Take one teacup from Grandma’s chipped set and turn it into a pen holder.
Not enough time to stay organized: Build in 10 to 15 minutes of transition time between activities.
Heirlooms you have no use for: Pass them on to someone else in the family who would really appreciate them.
Unwanted gifts: Give yourself permission to let them go.
Kids’ art projects: Have your child pick the keepers and then take snapshots of them with the other items.
“I’ll need it someday”: If it doesn’t have a purpose now or in the very near future, chuck it.
Piles everywhere: Think of clutter as postponed decisions. The faster you decide what to toss, the less stuff will pile up.
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