September boasts some of our best weather (in my humble opinion), so it's a good time for the Bike Commute Challenge (BCC). BCC is a competition between Portland-area workplaces that encourages employees to use their bikes to get to and from work. The Bicycle Transportation Alliance sets up the challenge, and offers plenty of resources to get people going, including a website with all the rules, safety tips, and commuting workshops.

Want to know more? Check the Bike Commute Challenge website for information and to sign up.

Oregon blackberries are perfectly ripe right now, and they're all over the place. Chances are that if you take a walk in your neighborhood, you'll find a patch. Otherwise, stroll a walking/bike path along a river and you'll find TONS.

Not into picking your own? Get a flat or two at the farmer's market. Since that's a lot of berries, I'd suggest freezing what you can't use right away. To freeze them effectively, wash them and then place them in a single layer on a cookie sheet and put the sheet into the freezer for an hour or two before putting them into containers. This way, they won't become a big, unwieldy chunk of berries. Then, you can enjoy smoothies, blackberry pancakes, and blackberries on your ice cream anytime ...

Now through September 1, you can take a quick ride between the Oregon Convention Center and OMSI. The shuttle runs every 15 minutes, and costs the same as a regular bus ticket ($1.75). Even if you've seen all the exhibits at OMSI a hundred times, there's still more to see, like a new movie about dinosaurs or ancient Egypt. Check out the IMAX movie schedule and plan a summer evening with a date or the family.

Need to know more about getting around Portland using buses, streetcars and MAX? Check out our Public Transportation Guide.

Now that we have our blue rollcarts for mixed recycling, it might seem like you can throw just about any type of paper, plastic, or metal into the cart. Not true. Here are a few examples of items that should NOT be placed into the rollcart:

Plastic lids of any kind (from drinks, yogurt, etc.)

Pizza boxes

Coffee cups

Paper towels

Broken glass

As far as plastic bags go, either re-use them, give them to someone who can re-use them (like a dog owner, for example) or bring them to a grocery store that has a specific plastic bag recycling bin. Please don't put them into your rollcart.

Get more details about what you can and can't recycle curbside in Portland.