via email from Sam Garst:

Next week you will have an opportunity to visit 24 environmentally friendly homes and businesses in the Olympia, showcasing a variety of Solar and Green Building technologies.

This is a self guided tour where you pick and choose which sites are of greatest interest to you.

The attached brochure, map, site descriptions, and directions are attached. This brochure contains useful ideas and information on low and no cost ways to save energy and water.

What: 14th Annual Solar / Green Building Tour
When: Saturday, September 27th, 10:00am until 4:00pm
Where: Locations ... Lacey, Tumwater, and Olympia
Why: Renewable energy and energy conservation are central to our battle against high energy costs and climate change.
How: You can download the map and brochure by visiting (link at bottom of page):
www.solarwashington.org/tour/2008/OlympiaTour.htm

Join us Saturday !!

Maybe you haven't heard it. If you live or work in Olympia and you haven't heard it, then you need to get your hearing checked. Because it's loud. I went by today. I saw it in action. More so, I heard it - felt it actually, as it vibrated the ground. I got right up close and personal. It was painfully loud. I wonder how it felt to the workers who were standing there, watching the machine hammer away... I wonder how long their shifts are. They did not look happy. In fact they seemed quite close to the point source, and not too enthused about the whole situation.

The deep piles are necessary for tall structures in this area because the land is composed of fill, which is mostly mud dredged up from the bay. The land is prone to liquefaction (where it turns into a soupy mess and becomes unable to support heavy structures) in an earthquake situation.

Is this the face of progress? Or is this an attempt to create an illusion of security and permanence? These are heavy questions. But it's time to be asking them, considering the amount of piles that we might, as residents of Olympia, be looking forward to - given the impetus for development, "revitalization" and investment in the vision of a "vibrant" downtown core.

I will be at Oly Salvage finishing the construction of the cob bench. Come have fun in the, er, ahem SUN (I hope I hope I hope) and learn a simple building technique.

If it rains, all bets are off (i.e. no work party).

Is your favorite place to shop a hardware store? If yes (or no), we need you, The Habitat for Humanity ReStore is looking for people to volunteer with all aspects running our ReStore.

What is it? - - The South Puget Sound Habitat for Humanity ReStore is a new and used building supply and home furnishing store located in Downtown Olympia. All items are donated by individuals and businesses and then sold to the public to raise funds so we can keep building homes. Last year the ReStore diverted over 150 tons of usable items from the landfill. The store run mostly on volunteers and more are always needed.

ReStore Board - - Help bring in donations of materials and decide the direction of the store. Background in hardware is a plus but not needed. Just have some time each month for a meeting and a few phone calls, if you have more time to invest that is up to you.

Store Associate - - If you are looking for something hands on and you have got a few hours a week to spare then this is the perfect place to volunteer. Duties would include helping customers, organizing and pricing items. At least 5 hours a week is requested, more if you want.

Pick-Up Driver - - Do your friends call you when they are moving? Then we are calling you too. Pick- up drivers are always needed to bring in donations of materials to the ReStore. Our vans and our gas, you just drive. A few hours a week is all you need to give. Have a good driving record.

More Info - - Alex at 360-956-3456 or sign up online at www.spshabitat.org or just stop by 210 Thusrtson Ave NE in Downtown Oly.

Earth day was last week and it got me thinking about going green locally, and how we can help. SPS Habitat has a number of ways to help you reduce your footprint and help out a great cause.

* Cans for Habitat

Recycling is great, but it is even better when the money goes to building simple, decent, affordable and environmentally friendly houses. Just drop your aluminum cans off to one of our Can Collection Houses and we will do the rest. To date we have recycled over 2,500 pounds of cans!

• The ReStore 210 Thurston Ave NE Downtown Olympia
• Lincoln Elem. School 213 21st Ave SE Olympia, WA

http://www.spshabitat.org/aboutus/cans.html

* The ReStore

Our new and used building supply store in downtown Olympia is the perfect place to go to keep things out of the landfill. Shop or donate because both are important. Last year, with your help, they diverted more then 150 tons of usable items from Thurston Co. landfills. All proceeds cover the cost of our alfiliate, so each monitary donation goes that much farther.

www.spshabitat.org/ReStore

*Cars for Habitat

As gas prices rise we are all starting to look at how much we drive and how we can cut back. If you have an old car sitting around that doesn't do anything but cost money maybe you should donate it to Cars for Habitat. For every car donated SPS Habitat gets money, in fact in March two cars were donated in our name!