The Portland metro area Master Recycler program is 30 years old!

Master Recycler Program goes from an idea to a movement.

The Master Recycler Program is a story about an idea that was planted and tended to by a handful of volunteers, and then the idea grew to become a thriving movement. A group of community activists from the non-profit Recycling Advocates became captivated with the idea that members of the community, armed with knowledge and resources, have the power to inspire their peers to take action – They felt community connection is, in fact, the most important ingredient in making change.

Recycling Advocates borrowed the Master Composter Handbook from Seattle and partnered with OSU extension to develop a volunteer training course. In 1991, in a church basement in downtown Portland, the first cohort studied the three R’s (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) and aimed to change how we all consume.

Google “Master Recycler Program” today, and you will find programs throughout the state of Oregon. Cities from all over the country request information about how to start one in their area. There are Master Recycler programs in Madison, Cleveland, Minneapolis, Salt Lake City, Flagstaff, and Portland Maine. Almost all of them borrowed our borrowed handbook and made it their own.

Anniversaries are a time to celebrate achievements and plan for the future.

Master Recyclers have a vision of change

Back here in our region, we have so much to celebrate. Thirty years after our humble beginnings, we have grown to 2000 Master Recyclers. Metro, the City of Portland, and Clackamas and Washington Counties invest finances and staff time to the program now. Over 30 organizations partner with Master Recyclers to organize repair events, celebrate creative reuse, advocate to stop plastics pollution and climate change, improve access to recycling at multifamily communities and stop food from going to waste.

Master Recyclers are active from single family neighborhoods to senior living communities.

Master Recyclers are a diverse corps of people translating what we’ve learned in the course to projects and messages relevant to our own families, co-workers, communities of faith and neighbors. BIPOC Master Recyclers bring Black and Indigenous voices and voices of other people of color to the environmental movement. Over 25 languages are spoken in the homes of Master Recyclers in our region. Master Recyclers are spread from Welches to Canby, Cornelius to Ne Portland and live in high rises, houseboats, trailers, condos, low-income housing, and senior living communities.

During this anniversary year, you will hear stories from people from Class 1 to 77. You will find opportunities to share your stories, as well. It will be a year where we highlight program achievements and milestones.

2021 will also be a year where we name the parts of the program that are working well and find ways to better sustain them. We will question how we’ve always done things and find improvements. We will reexamine how we get things done to ensure that programs meet core values such as resource conservation, racial equity, environmental justice, climate protection, and sustainable materials management.