Where Does This Thing Go?
What better way to wrap up the year than with a fun recycling game to test and refresh your knowledge??
Appreciations
Special Thanks!
A special thank you to Cecelia Warner (Class 47) who wrapped up her final season organizing the waste center at the Forest Grove Farmers Market this month! Cecelia started the durables for the vendors and waste center for the market goers in 2011! Many Master Recyclers have gotten to join in the fun at the information booth, as well.
The Farmers' Market, run by Adelante Mujeres, plans to institutionalize many of the ideas and systems that Cecelia instigated. I would wish her a well-earned rest from all the hours she has volunteered (2706 hours!!!), but not surprisingly, she is not done yet! She will continue to be an active member the Westside Master Recyclers, staffing farmer's markets tables, leading the Shake and Fold effort and participating as a planning committee member of PlanetCon. Thank you Cecelia!
Certified Master Recyclers
Congratulations and thank you to the six volunteers who became Certified Master Recyclers this month!
Lisa Traxler (Class 71) started off with her volunteer hours close to home. An active member of the Foster-Powell neighborhood, she hosted her garden in the neighborhood tour (integrating ideas on food, recycling and creative reuse), set up a table at the national night out and at a neighborhood block party. Then she kicked it up a notch! Lisa is the board chair of the Portland Montessori school. This fall she attended the Eco-School Network training to inform and support her desire to focus on sustainability projects at the school. She has now been starting in the design and planning of the project at Portland Montessori. So we will be hearing more from Lisa!
Marley Tranfo (Class 71) went all out in volunteering in her community in Gresham. She was at the Farmer's market talking about food waste prevention, the Repair Cafe helping folks get their gadgets fixed and she has now teamed up with fellow Gresham Master Recycler, Stephanie King (Class 64) in organizing a series of Swap gatherings at the Gresham Library. They started in October with a costume swap and in November on America Recycles Day. They plan to have more swaps in 2020!
Selin Yilmaz Browning (Class 71) volunteered from Gresham to Rock Creek, Milwaukie to SW Portland, engaging folks on Repair, Food Waste, Toxics, and of course Recycling. She also engaged her own HOA in recycling. With all that, Selin spent the bulk of her 30 hours supporting the efforts of her classmates, John Block and Kathy Suri, who have been greening the operations at their retirement community. She is pictured on the right at the Milwaukie Repair Fair with Elaine Gabat also from her class.
Alexandra Farnham (Class 72) decided to offer a lunchtime workshop once a month at the Alliance Charter Academy in Oregon City. She said the kids actually lined up to participate in the Eat Smart, Waste Less wheel before she could even get it out of the box. At work, Alex has been on the Green Team for OHSU. There she celebrated the Hospital winning a green award and joined in a podcast on how they could even take it to the next level in the future.
Karla Garcia Yañez (Class 73) who is now a Certified Master Recycler! Karla participated in the Centro Cultural Washington County course in the spring. Since that time, Karla participated in a compost project at Centro Cultural as well as taught seniors there about toxics reduction. She engage people about sustainability after a viewing of the movie After the Flood. And she made it all the way to Mt. Hood to help with their annual cleanup. Thank you for all your work reaching communities both in English and Spanish, Karla!
Amy Van Schijndel is the first person from Class 74 to become a Certified Master Recycler! Considering the class just ended on October 30th this is impressive indeed! Amy jumped on the posts in the volunteer calendar to staff a recycling booth at the Humane Society staff fair and Cedar Hills Sustainability Fair. But she also reached out in her own community, organizing a sustainable Halloween Party and writing a series of articles in her active LinkedIn account. It is safe to say that Amy is just getting started! She is pictured on the right with her classmate Sharon Noell and Andrea Richards (Class 69) at the Oregon Humane Society.
Conservation News
What’s happening in the community?
Join the Eat Smart, Waste Less Community Group
Washington County Solid Waste & Recycling hosts their first community group to practice food waste reduction in our kitchens.
40% of food in the U.S. gets wasted every year, and of that, households are responsible for the most waste. Waste that ends up being landfilled is one of the largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions in the world. Making a few small changes in the way we shop for, prepare, and store food can make a big difference in reducing wasted food, saving money and conserving resources.
Join us!
We will walk you through four weeks of taking Washington County’s Eat Smart Waste Less Challenge.
The challenge takes place January 13th until February 13th 2020.
There will be a kickoff event hosted in Downtown Hillsboro beginning of January 2020.
During the 4 weeks, volunteers need to:
measure your food waste twice a week
keep a weekly journal of your food waste habits
What will participants receive?
Instructions about how to shop, prepare, and store food to reduce waste, save money and conserve resources.
Materials such as flyers, brochures, and signage to help them learn how to reduce food waste will be provided.
Tools to measure their food waste are available.
Support from Master Recylers.
If you are interested in participating or know a group of people that would be interested in taking the challenge together, please contact us at carolina_martins@co.washington.or.us
(This is not a Master Recycler hours activity)
Job seekers’ board
Only one item in the jobs board right now, but it is a good one! The Metro Recycling Information Center is hiring!