Bottles Will Soon Return on a Dime!
Oregonians are about to have double the reason to recycle beverage containers. Starting April 1, 2017 consumers will get 10 cents for each beverage container they recycle at a return center — the first increase in the Oregon Bottle Bill’s 45-year history.
Welcome to Our New Clackamas Partner!
Master Recyclers have a new friend to go to in Clackamas County. Stacy Ludington (Class 61) was recently hired in the Office of Sustainability and will be your main contact for checking out kits and literature, volunteering, exploring new projects and trouble shooting. Master Recyclers loved working with Sherri Dow (Class 7) and Julie Gilbertson (Class 57) before. It will be fantastic to have yet another Master Recycler in this role. Stacy spent over 150 volunteer hours engaging Portland Public School students. So she knows all too well the importance of your work.
Stacy is coming into her new role with a depth of volunteer coordination experience, lots of fresh ideas and enthusiasm. Once she gets settled in, she plans to identify ways to offer more fun gatherings, ongoing training and meaningful volunteer opportunities for Clackamas County Master Recyclers. In the meantime, I hope you all will help offer her a warm welcome.
Change Comes with Numbers
Tell your friends, family, community and co-workers to join the Master Recycler Program and be the change.
WHAT: Multnomah County 8-week winter 2017 course and 30-hour volunteer program.
WHEN: Eight consecutive Wednesdays 6:30 - 9:30 p.m. starting January 11, 2017 and two Saturdays 8 a.m. - 2 p.m. January 14 and February 11
WHERE: Fire station 12, 8645 NE Sandy Blvd. Portland
COST: $50. Partial and full scholarships are available without an extra application process.
Deadline for applications is Wednesday December 7, 2016 at noon.
Volunteer Opportunities
Please click on the images to get more details!
Please click on the images to get more details!
Appreciations
Thank you to the Master Recyclers how completed their 30-hour commitment this month!
Gloria (right) and Pam
Gloria Weatherbee (Class 60) shared her enthusiasm for food waste prevention and recycling with people right around her Tigard community. She tabled at the Tigard, Beaverton, Aloha and Sherwood Farmers Markets. She also presented to the HOA of her community. She rounded it off by joining a crew of Master Recyclers to help a local business with a waste audit so they can understand how to improve their recycling.
Carmen Sze (Class 61) took on a huge volunteer project. She planned and implemented the first recycling plan for the Jade District Night Market. This event is a two-night event with 20,000 attendees who are eating, dancing and watching cultural performances. So they are not necessarily thinking about recycling. Carmen did a great job of setting up containers and signs, training volunteers and helping event planners infuse the idea of sustainability throughout the event. It was a great opportunity to raise awareness of recycling and capture a lot of material for recycling at the same time. She spent 50 hours on this project and she says she still has energy for more.
After the class, Kerri Farr (Class 62) got a job working with the Odysseo Circus with horses by Cavalia. She immediately realized that she could put her new skills to use by helping them set up a recycling system on the campus. She spent over 70 hours connecting Odysseo to Recycle at Work, monitoring containers, trouble shooting and evaluating the results! With tens of thousands of visitors, you know that she was able to capture a lot of good material for recyclers! Kerri is taking a small break and then wants to get involved in multifamily outreach next. She is a go-getter!
Conservation News
Nature for Healthier Communities
The Intertwine Alliance continues its 2016 series of county summits with Investing in Nature for Healthier Communities in Washington County.
When: Monday, Oct. 3, from 1 to 6 p.m.
Where: Portland Community College Rock Creek Campus Event Center,
17705 NW Springville Road, Portland
Cost: Free and open to the public.
Please RSVP here by Wednesday, Sept. 28.
Investing in Nature for Healthier Communities will look at the many angles on how nature keeps our communities thriving. It'll be a chance to find out about the range of efforts going on in the county supporting this vision, along with ways to connect your organization or programs to the work.
Former Kaiser Permanente pediatrician and Intertwine Alliance Board Member Dr. Phil Wu will give a keynote address about the latest evidence supporting nature-based positive health outcomes.
Then an Innovation Cafe will inspire with projects going on in the county that are coming up with creative solutions to long-standing challenges. Attendees will rotate every 20 minutes to check out new ideas initiated by local groups, addressing how nature impacts not only the lives of our individuals, families and neighborhoods but also the greater economy. Organizations signed on to share their programs include Clean Water Services, Tualatin Hills Park and Recreation District, Kaiser Permanente, Adelante Mujeres, Adventures Without Limits, Access Recreation, the Washington County Visitors Association, Tualatin Riverkeepers, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Safe Routes to Schools.
As always, there'll be a social hour to connect with peers and new individuals/groups interested in working collaboratively in our region.
GoGreen is a Week Away!
GoGreen Portland is Wednesday, October 5 at the World Trade Center. Now in its ninth year, GoGreen Portland has established itself as the largest regional conference for business and government decision-makers to come together for one day to learn from recognized community leaders to advance sustainability best practices in their own organizations. GoGreen empowers attendees with the strategies, tools and connections through networking opportunities to advance the triple bottom line. Find out more online.
What: GoGreen Portland
When: Wednesday, October 5, 2016
Where: 2 World Trade Center - 3rd Floor, 25 SW Salmon Street, Portland, OR 97205
Registration & Cost: Tickets range from $45-$175, check out the Registration page for full detailshttp://portland.gogreenconference.net/registration/
Who Attends: Business and public sector decision-makers in sustainability
Master Recyclers get a 20% discount! Just enter the code MASTERRECYCLER on the registration form.
Desert Meetups Hosted By Eco-School
Want to start a sustainability project at your child’s school? The Eco-School Network aims to introduce or upgrade sustainable practices and to increase eco-awareness as a means to enrich the daily experience of K-5 children at school.
Dessert meetups will be held in homes of Portland-area Eco-School Network parents. If you cannot attend one in your area, you may attend another.
• SW & NW Portland – September 29, 7:00 p.m.
• Beaverton – October 5, 7:00 p.m.
• West Linn – October 6, 7:00 p.m.
Please RSVP to Jeanne@earthleaders.org or 503-244-0026
EcoChallenge Registration Now Open
We believe the solution to the planet’s biggest challenges lies in the power of collective action. The EcoChallenge engages participants from communities far and wide in taking on a sustainable-living challenge every October. Join thousands of other participants as we prove that small actions add up to real change this October 14-28. Visit 2016.ecochallenge.org to get started!
Job Opportunities
DEQ Natural resource LCA specialist
Closes October 10. The Environmental Solutions Division is responsible for collecting environmental information, analyzing environmental information and developing sound and effective environmental strategies.
Portland Environmental Services Program Manager
CLoses October 10. The Eastside Watersheds Program Manager, working within the Watershed Services Group of the Bureau of Environmental Services (BES), plans, organizes, directs and evaluates the activities and personnel responsible for Eastside Watersheds projects and programs.
For more information on these jobs and others, visit the Master Recycler Job Board.
Contributions to this month's newsletter include J Lauren Norris, Alicia Polacok and Wing Grabowski.