Want a spic-and-span kitchen without harsh household chemicals? Ready for easy homegrown edibles sans the hazardous pesticides? Don’t miss Metro at this weekend’s free Better Living Show, March 25 to 27 at the Portland Expo Center. From cleaning green with simple ingredients to wooing beneficial birds, Metro’s exhibits and seminars will offer practical tips and helpful resources to make your home and yard safer for people, pets and the planet.
- Catch Metro’s Healthy Homes exhibit at booth No. 637. From cleaners and cosmetics to garden chemicals, visitors will learn how to identify common hazardous household products and discover safer alternatives. Pledge to go pesticide-free, and get a free yard sign while supplies last. Plus, enter to win a bucket of green cleaners.
- Boost your garden IQ with Metro’s free seminar, Gardens of eatin’: basic vegetable gardening, for simple steps to growing organic food. From picking edibles for the right spot and season to prepping the soil and watering waste-free, learn how to weed, manage pests and grow a bountiful garden without toxic chemicals. Plus, learn where to find plants, seeds and more tips for easy organic gardening. Offered 3 to 4 p.m. Friday and Saturday, March 25 and 26. No registration required.
- Draw beneficial wildlife to your garden with Metro’s free seminar, Native plants for birds, bees and butterflies, the natural allies for fighting pests and improving garden productivity. Learn which natives might be right for your yard and how to plant and care for them without harmful garden chemicals. Plus, find out where to get native plants in your area. Offered noon to 1 p.m. Sunday, March 27. No registration required.
The fourth annual Better Living Show, a three-day home, garden and lifestyle event featuring ideas, products and services for sustainable living, will include more than 300 exhibitors at the Portland Expo Center in north Portland. Open noon to 9 p.m. Friday, March 25; 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, March 26; and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, March 27. Follow the links below for more information on the Better Living Show and on Metro’s free natural gardening seminars, produced in partnership with Oregon State University Extension Service.