BiOWish products make use of an enzyme technology that speeds up natural bio-chemical reactions. The 100 percent natural, non-toxic mixes can be added to water and used to clean up a backyard pond without killing the fish, rev-up your compost pile, help a septic tank do its job, or wash out garbage bins to eliminate stink.

Remember when being kind to the planet was considered sort of edgy? Environmentally responsible paint? Now, that’s just kooky! These days, green products are to home what cardigan sweaters are to fashion; comfortable, boring and ho-hum sensible. That’s why I am so excited to be unexcited about the news that environmentally responsible paints are now carried at Lowe’s.

These are the Olympic gymnasts of lights. They’re tiny, flexible and shine bright.

The new Invisiled lights from WAC Lighting look a bit like narrow pieces of fancy tape embedded with lots of little LED lights. Make that really, really narrow pieces of tape. The light strips are less than 1/8th inch tall which means these words stand taller. And they’re less than 7/16th inch thick. (There are papers out there envious of that slim physique.)  They’re easily tucked under cabinets to brighten counter tops, the better to see those carrots your chopping. Or slipped behind crown molding for drama worthy of a Hollywood movie set.

Most everybody has their own shopping circuit in the Pearl District, one of Portland’s most-vibrant arts districts. Bounded by the Willamette River on the north, N.W. Burnside on the south, N.W. Broadway on the east and I-405 on the west, the live-work-play neighborhood covers more than a mile, so it’s easy to not stray from what you know. To get beyond our usual haunts, we turned the minimalist in us loose in search of all things clean-lined.