Embedding sustainability into daily life in Central Oregon

Living The Green E-News

Want to know all things sustainability happening in Central Oregon? Then keep in touch with us! The best way to do that is via our e-newsletter, Living The Green, which we send out twice a month. We’ll send you information on the latest news, events and other happenings. Sign up now!

Check the box next to various ‘groups’ you may be interested, including:

Kansas Avenue Learning Garden – our Learning Garden for children and the community
Green Drinks Events – Networking events every other month, where we bring together green businesses and community members
Volunteering
Climate Action Alerts – Timely updates for when action is needed at the local level
SalemWatch 2017 – Resources and information to learn about what’s happening in Salem and priorities for our environmental community

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And if you become a member by donating now, you’ll also receive a copy of our print newsletter three times a year.

September in the School Garden

Early fall can be as busy and exciting as spring in the garden. Warm season crops are bursting with fruits, it’s the last chance to complete and clean up summer garden projects, and maintenance tasks like deadheading and removing dying plants demand your attention . In the school garden, September can be even busier, if […]

Energy Saving Tips for Schools and Homes

Check out these energy-saving tips from the energy heroes at Bear Creek! Lights out Turning off lights when not in use saves energy and money. A simple note by the switch often does the trick! It’s a common myth that turning off CFL lights (compact fluorescent lights) will result in more energy loss when they […]

Green Spotlight: Windflower Farm

This month, TEC made a visit out to Windflower Farm, a beautiful 20-acre farm located just 15 miles east of Bend. Windflower Farm is dedicated to growing gourmet-quality vegetables, herbs, fruit and flowers. It’s also home to Animal Welfare Approved (AWA) livestock, including laying hens, dairy goats and heritage pigs. The farm has been a Green […]

Bend Climate Action Project

On September 7, 2016, the Bend City Council adopted a resolution that lays out a clear pathway for Bend to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. The adopted resolution—if implemented—will move Bend in the right direction when it comes to climate action. And it will help the City reduce costs, save money and design a much […]

Going Paperless at Work

What does it mean to go paperless in your office? While it sounds very noble, depending on your business type and internal processes it can be daunting to consider. Further, if you’re like me or other co-workers I’ve spoken with, you just prefer not to. Personally, I make excuses about wanting something physical to hold on […]

Welcoming FoodCorps Service Member, Claire

Meet our new FoodCorps service member – Claire! Claire is a native Oregonian who grew up in Portland, and is excited to return to work in her home state. She recently received her B.A. in Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems from Green Mountain College. She will be working at elementary schools in Central Oregon delivering […]

Green Spotlight: The Giggling Gardener

What does everyone love about Bend? The beautiful landscape and abundance of nature, of course! The outdoor playground of Central Oregon is known for its mountain vistas, expansive forests, and crystal clear lakes. Bringing wilderness into city limits is at the core of a local landscaping business owned by Jenny MacAulay – otherwise known as […]

Volunteer Spotlight: Fiona Schrader

We have several amazing volunteers here at The Environmental Center – one of them being Fiona Schrader, who will be a junior at Summit High School in the fall! Fiona has helped out with a LOT of projects at The Environmental Center, from painting planters in the Learning Garden to sending letters to our members. She has […]

The Eclipse is coming! Will you help keep our community clean?

Whatever your plans are for the upcoming eclipse, it’s inevitable that you’ll be joined by – or impacted by – a large number of people in our area. And with more people visiting our communities, more trash will be generated. So let’s be a little proactive as hordes of people hit our state, region, and […]

LED Program Installs 50,000 Bulbs!

The Energy Challenge Installs 50,000 Energy-Saving LED Light Bulbs  Over the past 21 months, The Energy Challenge of Central Oregon has installed 50,000 super-efficient LED (light emitting diode) light bulbs. Each bulb may seem like a small drop in the bucket, but cumulatively these bulbs are will save Central Oregon residents over $9.8 Million. This […]

Green Spotlight: Humm Kombucha

From the early days as “Kombucha Mama” to ”Humm Kombucha” today, being sustainable and working to benefit the community has been an important part of operations at Humm. Among the many sustainability measures Humm has in place to maintain their status as a Green Spot Member, there are a couple things we’d like to highlight […]

Welcome, Ani & Peter!

The Energy Challenge team is growing! We’d like to welcome Ani Kasch, LED Program Assistant, and Peter Dempsey, Lead LED Installer, to our team. Here’s a little bit more about these wonderful folks who are helping to ensure our Free LED program runs smoothly. Be sure to say hello when you talk to Ani, or […]

We hit our goal!

We wrapped up our ‘Garden for Every School’ campaign at the Jack Johnson show in Bend last night, and it was a blast! We are so thankful that Jack included us in the Village Green and All At Once network again this year, which included a $2,500 matching donation to help reach our fundraising goal. Last time Jack was […]

Supporting School Gardens with Technical Assistance

Our “Garden for Every School” vision requires a multi-faceted approach that provides several types of support for teachers, schools and gardens. The four core pieces of our strategy include: District support, garden expertise (a FoodCorps service member), school grants, and a garden educator network. We’ll break down each of these strategies in more detail. Strategy […]

$500 Match from Next Level Burger

We have some exciting news! With just one more day left in our Garden for Every School campaign,next level burger is going to help us get across the finish line – but we need you to chip in, too! The next $500 in donations will be matched dollar for dollar thanks to NLB. And we have […]