Talkin’ Trash: July’s City Club Forum

In the middle of July, the Rethink Waste Project was invited to come present at the monthly City Club Forum. Our own Denise Rowcroft did an amazing job talking all about waste reduction, recycling correctly, and the impacts that our consumption has on the earth. She spoke alongside Timm Schimke, Deschutes County’s Director of Solid Waste, who spoke about the short future of Knott’s Landfill, which is projected to be full by 2029. He also touched on options for where our trash will go once Knott is full. In case you missed the forum, you can watch it here! 

Have you ever been to a City Club meeting? After the speakers present, there is an allotted time for audience questions. After the forum, we received a list of all audience questions that didn’t have time to be answered. There are some really great questions in the list, so we decided to share some with you here. Since there were so many, look for future posts with more questions answered!

I really appreciate the work of the Rethink Waste Project. How will you continue to reach all the new people moving to Bend? 

Thanks!  We realize that visitors to our area (and new residents) bring knowledge and behavior from wherever they come. Maybe their home city accepts much more items in its recycling bins than we do. This totally contaminates our local stream. Or they may come from a rural area that doesn’t have any recycling in place at all, so they put recyclable items in the trash. And sometimes it is just hard to do the right thing in a new community if you are given no information, tools, or motivation to do it. Vacation brain, anyone?

Realizing there is work to be done in this area, this past spring we brought together a couple of focus groups gathering two dozen people from across the tourism sector. Lodging, recreation, retail, travel, resorts and breweries were represented to get input on ways that we could reach visitors. We also spoke with other communities to learn about what is happening (or not happening) in similar communities that experience tourism. We are currently compiling this information to come up with a recommended action plan that specifically address these concerns. If you are tapped into this sector in any way (vacation rentals, for example) please reach out to us! -denise

Could you please tell us more about the program starting this fall that allows food waste in the yard debris bins? 

Currently, anyone in Bend city limits can opt in for yard debris service. This cart is picked up every other week on glass recycling week, and can currently accept leaves, grass clipping, branches, weeds, coffee grounds, plus raw fruit and vegetable kitchen scraps (like you would put in a backyard composting bin). Here’s a link to what they currently accept.

Beginning later this year (official date TBD) all residents in city limits that opt-in to this yard debris pick up service will be able to put ALL food waste in their bins for composting (including anything that’s left on the plate, including meat, bread, oily foods that you wouldn’t put in a home bin.)  This is really exciting as it will greatly help us reduce the organics heading to the landfill. However, just because you can compost it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t also be working to avoid wasted food in the first place. Get tips on that here. –denise

Please educate me: is kitty litter “yard waste” or regular garbage waste? 

Kitty litter is garbage waste. And although dogs are different species than your question addresses, here is a great article from The Source Weekly about dog poop. –Ani

What sites are being considered within the county for potential landfill locations? 

The county has not disclosed any information about specific sites at this time. –Ani

Are there tool (lending) libraries in Bend?

Although there are currently no specific lending libraries in Bend, there are places that rent tools. But even better than renting tools, have you heard of the DIYcave? If you’ve never heard of this unique and inspiring maker’s space, go check it out. They offer membership as well as classes with an incredible array of woodworking, metalworking, welding tools — and more.

Another great option is to create a sharing space amongst your friends and neighbors. You can start an excel google doc where people can list what they have to borrow. You can have columns with whatever rules or restrictions you want with a check out column. This can allow your friends to try out tools or appliances they might not have without having to buy one. A few examples of what I have borrowed from some of my friends? A cider press, a pasta maker, a multimeter, a circular saw, a wetsuit. Some things I have lent out to my friends: a food dehydrator, a food processor, a bicycle pannier, a bicycle trailer. –Ani

How do you view Amazon as a company as it relates to over-consumption, purchasing of “stuff” in this day and age?

I think I’m one of the Amazon holdouts.  Once you sign up for free 2 day shipping, not choosing that becomes so much more of a hassle. Why take the time to go downtown and look to see if they have the book you want in stock, when you can have it shipped right to your door?! It definitely has some benefits for our society. For example, people in rural communities now have equal access to getting what they need and getting it delivered. Also, the reviews can be super helpful in learning about the quality of the product. It is a fact that most products are actually engineered for “planned obsolescence” and break in 6 months or less.

But the impacts of online shopping can’t be ignored. The carbon footprint of the item’s traveling distance to obscene amounts of packaging has enormous downstream effects. And the widespread, increased consumption that online shopping promotes has many unseen upstream impacts. Plus, Amazon is so full of cheap stuff that it distorts what we think things should cost. Often that cheap stuff just becomes instant garbage.

I choose to shop used first for most things, then brick and mortar – both big box and local businesses. And I shop online when I can’t find something in town. If I am buying a gift for someone out of town, it won’t be on time if I have to ship it myself, so online shopping it is! OK, off my soapbox now. -denise

Update 8/20/19: Here are answers to even more questions, published on the City Club website.