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We are wishing for all our RA friends and supporters to be safe during this time. Please use caution and respect protocols issued at the local, state and Fed levels.  

Recycling Advocates Newsletter

AUGUST 2020 
www.recyclingadvocates.org | info@recyclingadvocates.org


Engaging people in creating a sustainable future through local efforts to reduce, reuse and recycle.

Contents:

Message From Brion Hurley, RA President 
Save the Date - Annual Virtual Meeting - Sept 29th
Rhett Lawrence Celebrates 16 Years!
Seeking New Board Members
Zero Waste Survey Results
Exciting Plastic Roads News from California
Statewide Outreach Campaign Update
Portland Zero Waste 2020 Conference Update
Related Articles and News
Message From RA President, Brion Hurley 

I joined the board of Recycling Advocates in the summer of 2015, right when we were planning our new campaign. We decided on the Bring Your Own Cup (BYOC) campaign at the end of 2015, and launched in early 2016. This campaign has been near and dear to my heart, and although hard to measure our impact, I'm proud of the work we did! I am grateful for all the volunteers that have helped us promote the campaign (some we didn't even realize were helping us out!).

I took over as RA President in Fall of 2016, following in the footsteps of the legendary Betty Patton. Luckily, I had a great supporting cast to help me figure out what I was doing, as this was the first board I've been involved with.

My wife and I have decided to relocate back to the Midwest (St Louis) in September, close to where our family now resides, and more centrally located for some of my professional goals. My 2nd term (4th year) as President will end this fall, and therefore I will not be seeking another term.

We have a new group of board members that have been a wonderful addition to our organization, and they are stepping up to fill the void, and I am confident they can take the organization to the next level. If you'd like to be a part of this, read below about becoming a board member or joining one of our committees.

We have spent 7 wonderful years in Portland, and met some amazing people! We are motivated to share what we learned in Portland with the rest of the country. This is why we moved to Portland, to live in a community that is progressive and innovative about environmental and social issues. I feel like I was able to meet many of the people who are leading this effort, and I cherish everything I've learned from each of you.

- Brion Hurley, RA President (2016-2020)
Save the Date: Annual Virtual Meeting - Sept 29th
 

 
Like many organizations, this will be our first virtual annual meeting.

We have set the date for Monday, September 29th

At the meeting, we will provide updates on our campaigns and path forward, along with a guest speaker and voting for new board members.

Reserve your spot today, or put a placeholder in your calendar for 6:00-7:30pm on Monday September 29th!

More details to come over the next few weeks!
Rhett Lawrence celebrates 16 Years with RA!



After 16 wonderful years on the Board of this scrappy little organization that has always punched above its weight, it's time for me to step away for a bit. I joined the Recycling Advocates Board of Directors back in 2004 after the organization I was working for at the time (OSPIRG) jointly hosted a screening of the film "Blue Vinyl" with RA. I had great conversations with Rob Guttridge and Lori Stole that night, and signed up for the newsletter. And when I saw a call for Board members in the next newsletter, I leapt at the opportunity!

The organization has seen lots of changes over these last 16 years, of course. There have been a couple of times that we were down to 3 or 4 Board members, and other times where we were up to 9 or 10. But fierce dedication of this group of people has never wavered, and I am so proud of all we've accomplished over the years.

In truth, though I've been the nominal Vice-President for the last couple of years, I haven't really had the time to be as active a Board member as I would have liked. But luckily, we've had an incredible insurgence of energy and enthusiasm from our newest Board members over the last year, and they have truly taken the torch and ran with it!

So while I have bittersweet feelings about stepping away from the organization that has meant so much to me for the last 16+ years, I know I'm leaving it in good hands. And honestly I'm not going very far anyway and will stay engaged with RA where I can. The work that we are doing is too important to leave it behind altogether. Thanks for being such a wonderful family to me, Recycling Advocates, and keep on kicking ass!

Rhett Lawrence
Seeking New Board Members

As stated above, we will be losing two board members this fall, Brion Hurley and Rhett Lawrence.

We are seeking new board members to fill their gap, and continue to grow the size of our board.

We will be selecting a new board President and Vice President from our current board, and will announce them at our annual meeting on Sept 29th.

We are also in need of a Treasurer to replace Holly Hummel, who has been our Treasurer for the past 6 years, and has retired and is spending more time outside of Oregon. She will be stepping down at the end of next year, but we want to find someone this year to help with the transition.

In summary, we are looking for the following:

  • Board Member (Treasurer)
  • Board Member (At-Large)
  • Board Member (At-Large)
  • Board Member (At-Large)

There is no experience required for joining the board, just a passion for our mission and a few hours a month available to participate in board and committee meetings.

Recycling Advocates is committed to advocating for waste equity and environmental justice. In order to help with this effort, we are seeking to increase diversity within our board of directors. If you are a member of the BIPOC community, we strongly encourage you to apply!

You might have a few questions about our board of directors positions, so we created a document for your review with a FAQ that explains more about the positions.

Feel free to contact one of our current or past board members to learn more about how you can help us give local citizens a voice in how we reduce, reuse and recycle in Oregon!
Zero Waste Survey Results Now Available

Thank you to everyone who filled out our survey!

We have all been profoundly affected by the novel Coronavirus pandemic as we have stayed home as much as possible, seen friends and family members fall ill, lost employment, and missed out on concerts, weddings, and celebrations of life. We have relearned social norms and expectations.

We have also seen what for some felt like a total reversal of progress towards a more sustainable future as food purveyors reduced or eliminated bulk food offerings, ended indoor dining, and asked customers not to use reusable coffee cups or grocery bags.

As we have all been learning about how the disease spreads, Recycling Advocates was interested to see how sustainability-focused community members felt about the balance between minimizing packaging waste and ensuring food safety, and we were curious to see what folks felt was the best way forward.

ResultsHere is what you told us about COVID-19 and its impacts on bulk grocery shopping and take-out 



Thank you from the RA Zero Waste Committee:

Evelyn Amara 
Brion Hurley
Tara Knierim
Alaina Labak  
Brittney Wendell
Exciting News on Plastic Roads Initiative
 


Roads made with recycled plastic are non-leaching, more durable, and less expensive!

These roads have proven successful in a dozen countries. Now, California has taken the first step to bring them to this country. A bill to fund the initial process has been passed by the California senate (SB 1238) and is now in that state's assembly. This lends support to our efforts at Recycling Advocates to take a large portion of the plastic waste out of the waste stream here in Oregon.
Statewide Outreach Campaign Update


 
Building on Recycling Advocates’ over 33 year history of engaging Oregonians in creating a sustainable future locally, the Statewide Outreach Campaign aims to expand efforts outside of the Portland region.  We will propagate new relationships with community members from Brookings to Enterprise and Astoria to Nyssa to learn the unique challenges to achieving harmonious existence within our shared natural wonderland here in the Pacific Northwest.

We wish to grow our membership across the state.  

Our goal is to build a network of dynamic regional stakeholders involved in grassroots movements that educate and motivate their communities into action.  This network will support to each other as well as offer informational, experiential, and training resources for others wanting to energize their communities into addressing local environmental issues.

If reaching out to and connecting citizens and groups who are working to make their patch of Oregon healthier intrigues you, we welcome and encourage you to join this Campaign.
Zero Waste 2020 Conference Announcement   

Plans are currently underway for Portland's second Zero Waste Conference, be we will be pushing this out to 2021 to better align schedules and review technical solutions and platforms.

Thank you!
Recycling Advocates Zero-Waste Committee

Related News and Articles

Become a member of Recycling Advocates and help us continue to spread the word about waste prevention.  

Ways to Contribute:

  • By Mail: print and complete our Membership Form, mail it with your check to PO Box 6736, Portland, OR 97228-6736.
  • Visit our Website's Membership page
  • PayPal: use the button below to donate via PayPal using your credit card, bank account, or Paypal balance. 

Membership Levels 
Advocate $25 - Friend $50 - Supporter $100 - Sustainer $250
Gifts of any amount gratefully received.


Join at "Friend" level or above to be eligible to receive a Recycling Advocates/Rooster reusable coffee cup.

We thank you for your passion, support and commitment to protecting Oregon’s environment! 
Use Your Bottle Drop Account to Donate to Recycling Advocates 

Recycling Advocates is one of the dozens of non-profits and charities that you can allocate your Bottle Drop funds towards.  You can do this by simply logging into your account and clicking the Give tab.  We also have BLUE bags pre-tagged with the Recycling Advocates account number if you are planning a collection or drive.  Please contact Denise at info@recyclingadvocates to obtain those.  We appreciate your donation to help keep our campaign going! Visit Bottle Drop Give HERE

We're always happy to hear from you if you have feedback, or if you'd like to get involved with RA, or if you know of a coffee shop we should connect with. Contact us at info@recyclingadvocates.org or 503-777-0909.
For details of local area "green" events see the Events Calendar on our website.
 
If there's an event you think we should include please drop us a line at info @ recyclingadvocates.org
Other Ways to Support Recycling Advocates

Here are some ways to contribute to Recycling Advocates that won't cost you a penny.
 

Fred Meyer Community RewardsFred Meyer Community Rewards: shop with your Fred Meyer Rewards Card, continue to earn your rewards points, fuel points and rebates, and Fred Meyer will donate to Recycling Advocates! Sign up here, and select Recycling Advocates, nonprofit number 90398. 
 

Amazon Smile: Amazon donates .5% of the price of your eligible purchases to RA whenever you shop at smile.amazon.com. You'll see all your usual account settings and exactly the same products and pricing as at amazon.com. Learn more and sign up here
 

Good Search and Good ShopGoodSearch & GoodShop: Support RA and save money at Goodsearch.com and Goodshop.com. Find store coupons, coupon codes, discounts, deals and promo codes. Join here and select Recycling Advocates. 
                                          
 
 
Take the Pledge! 

BYOCVisit http://www.recyclingadvocates.org/take-the-pledge/ and add your name - pledge to:
Bring Your Own Cup
 
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