How to live ‘green’

Sustainability is a hot topic of conversation across Portland, but Deborah Tolman is doing more than talking about the “green” lifestyle–she’s helping lead the way.

It’s been over a year since Tolman, a professor of environmental sciences at PSU, started work on The Tolman Guide to Green Living in Portland. Now it is finished and she is currently distributing copies for free.

The 73-page packet covers countless topics, including a listing of local Portland resources, tips on energy conservation and information on where to find guides about do-it-yourself projects–all designed to help Portlanders become more sustainable.

“The study of natural resources and landscaping is very fascinating to me,” Tolman said a year ago, “and I am a very ‘dirty’ girl.”

An owner of local landscaping consulting firm, Avant Gardens, nw, Tolman began teaching at PSU more than 10 years ago, and holds a doctorate in geography and environmental systems. She is not currently teaching any courses, though she said she may return to teach a natural science course as early as next year.

She hasn’t focused on teaching lately, Tolman said, because she has been compiling the guide and working to find a publisher. Tolman, alongside PSU students Michelle Lasley and Joe Parker, began work on the guide last January when the project received a $1,200 grant. One hundred copies were initially bound and pressed, and are currently being distributed for free.

“We never wanted this to be about money, it’s just meant to connect some of the great resources this town has with people who want to live green,” Tolman said, adding that she spent $400 from her own pocket on the cost of printing. “Profit is not our focus.”

The Tolman Guide reads like an annotated bibliography, with cited sources and brief descriptions of ideas, such as where to learn about constructing a rain garden or how to garden mushrooms successfully. The idea for the guide came from a class called “Natural Resources Management” (GEOG 445 and 545), during spring term 2006, according to Michelle Lasley, who worked with Tolman to create the guide.

Lasley said the guide took a long time because they wanted to be absolutely sure the details were accurate, and that each book, article and Web site that the guide refers to is helpful.

“Her attention to detail and particular method was a breath of fresh air, when everything is so careless and rushed,” Lasley said. “We worked long and hard on this guide, and I’m proud of it.”

Tolman said she hopes to expand the guide’s area of focus, and that she recently visited Texas to look at the possibility of creating a similar guide in that state.

Rod Wojtanik, landscape architect and project manager for Metro Parks and Greenspaces, said that Metro plans to print 200 more free copies during the next six weeks.

Visit www.tolmanguide.geog.pdx.edu for free local sustainability resource information.