Putting a Polish on Presenting
Kris LaMar invites folks to get to know her worms
Tabling is a great way to connect people to resources, answer quick questions or help people through a small challenge and then send them on their way. Presentations, on the other hand, allow you to dive deep on your favorite Master Recycler topic.
Here are four tips to help your presentations shine
Tell your friends what an awesome experience it is to be a Master Recycler!
Winter 2020 Multnomah County applications accepted now.
When: January and February 2020
Where: Metro 600 NE Grand, Portland
Appreciations
Centurions
Three Master Recyclers join the Centurion Club! A special thanks for completing over 100 hours!
Sue Bartlett (Class 35) took the class in 2007 and jumped in going door-to-door helping Portlanders with the transition from bins to roll carts and promoting salvage building materials at the Fix-it Fairs. She also helped the City of Portland roll out the new business outreach program called the Best Business Center. It later grew to become the Sustainability at Work program that we know today. After taking a little break, Sue is back and working her way into over 100 hours with the new programs like Be Cart Smart and Resourceful PDX. Thank you for helping lay the foundations AND joining in the new programs, Sue.
John Block (Class 72) only just completed the course in February of this year, but he has already volunteered over 100 hours. He took the course to improve operations and access to recycling options at the Mirabella Retirement Community. Together with fellow Classmate and resident, Katherine Suri, he has made incredible progress with improved signage, a Bottle Drop Give fundraiser, and Go Box for the food delivery program. John is also working with Katherine on organizing a second Continued Care Facility Sustainability Forum (the first one was part of his first 30 hours of Master Recycler hours). This forum is a great opportunity for staff and residents in similar facilities in the region to compare notes and leverage wins.
Katherine Suri (Class 72) is one driven Master Recycler! She and John Block, fellow resident of the Mirabella retirement community, took the class together so that they could green the operations and increase recycling options for their community. They've done waste audits, created new signs and waste plans. They organized a plan for Styrofoam to go to Agylix and used the Bottle Drop Give program to raise funds for the community. They have been the driving force of the Sustainability Subcommittee for Mirabella. They even set up a recycling table at the farmers' market in the neighborhood to share their enthusiasm.
Certified Master Recyclers
Debby Roth (Class 69) joined Master Recyclers at several Farmer Markets in Hillsboro sharing tips and information on everything from recycling, food waste, worms and repair fairs. She also started the formation of a green team with her co-workers in the City of Cornelius and helped coordinate ways to ensure that the move of the Cornelius library was a sustainable one.
Working at Greenspace, a company that makes eco-friendly exhibits, Heather Sheedy (Class 69) is committed all the way to sustainability. She knocked it up a notch, joining the Master Recycler Program. Heather started a green team at Greenspace so that employees could organize around events like the Ecochallenge and tackle special challenges (like what to do with all those textile samples). Heather also joined fellow Westside Master Recyclers at PlanetCon collection events and Washington County staff at the County fair.
Yaquelin Garcia (Class 71) loves getting out and talking to neighbors, kids and families about her passion for sustainability. She helped at all sorts of fun local community events such as the Gresham Mother's Day craft night, Woodlawn Middle School STEAM and going door-to-door in her Gresham apartment building helping her own neighbors recycle. She especially thrived when getting to connect with people in Spanish. Yaquelin wrote in one report: "I connected so well with the group because I am Latina and they felt very comfortable with me. We had very rich and in-depth conversation about green cleaners and how to make their homes clean without putting young children or themselves at risk."
Milka Méndez (Class 73) joined her fellow classmates from the course in Centro Cultural as well as from other classes at the County Fair, Hillsboro Farmers' Market and the Forest Grove Farmers' Market. Milka was able to engage many new people to the topics of toxics reduction, reuse and recycling because she is bilingual, but also because she had such a strong connection with children who interacted with her at these events. As a grade school art teacher, she promotes creative reuse and recycling.
¡Felicidades a Martha Yañez (Clase 73) quien completó 30 horas y es oficialmente Certificada como una Experta Recicladora! Martha dio clases de manualidades y alternativas de químicos en el hogar para el programa de Centro Cultural para los de la tercera edad y también un grupo de ingles con Easter Seals. Ella ofreció esta información también a la Taquiza, una noche de tacos gratuitos y actividades para las familias a Centro Cultural. Gracias, Martha por todo lo que haces para la comunidad.
Jobseekers’ Board
Some exciting opportunities including:
Four outreach positions with Washington County
Sustainability Coordinator at Multnomah County
Community Energy Project’s Community Solar Coordinator
Conservation News
OREGON CLIMATE STRIKE
Earlier this year, Greta Thunberg and 46 other youth activists issued a call to everyone around the globe to join them in a massive climate strike on September 20th. The Climate Strike will kick-off a week of mass, escalated actions between Sept 20-28.
School strikers are calling on everyone ― young people, parents, workers, and all concerned people ― to join a massive climate strike on September 20th to demand an end to the age of fossil fuels.
Our house is on fire — let’s act like it. We demand climate justice for everyone.
This week is our chance to show the politicians and fossil fuel billionaires that the real power lies with the people. This week is your chance to join the climate justice movement, and put a stop to business as usual.
In every state and every city people are stepping out their normal routines for a day or a week by taking action locally, whether that means sitting in at city halls, shutting down fossil fuel infrastructure, or marching to the governor’s office. It’s going to take all of us to change everything and there’s no better time to join us.
You are invited: Recycling Advocates Annual Meeting
Tue, September 24, 2019
6:30 PM – 8:30 PM
Floyd’s Old Town Coffee and Tea
118 NW Couch Street, Portland
Please attend our annual meeting to tap into three speakers who are connected to reuse in Portland in amazing ways and help us better define our goals going forward!
We will also share an update on our BYOC coffee cup reduction campaign
Where should we go in the future as a nonprofit?
Recycling Advocates has been an active, grassroots organization in Portland Metro for over 30 years. But we need more people involved! And maybe it’s time to rethink our mission (name?) to mirror what's most relevant in terms of the environment.
How can we better engage volunteers and supporters in this future?
Are we focused on the right areas?
Are we relevant in today's world?
Are we still needed after 30+ years as a nonprofit?
If you'd like to shape the future direction of our organization and get more involved in our advocacy, we want you to attend this very important meeting to hear your thoughts and ideas. Look for a survey in our next newsletter so we can gather some insights before the event, or we'll bring some paper surveys to fill out during the meeting.
Agenda
6:30-7:00 PM: Networking and Snacks/Drinks
7:00-7:15 PM: BYOC Campaign Update
7:15-8:00 PM: Panel Discussion on Reuse
8:00-8:30 PM: Open discussion on future of RA