5 Reasons You Should Pay Attention to Plastic

March 1, 2021

Everyone should care about plastic. It’s true the stuff is a miracle to human health — plus it’s cheap for us to buy as individuals. However, plastic has a dirty, negative side in that it’s also terrible for human health, global finances, and is a bane to our environment. The manufacturing, existence, use, and disposal […]

New Year, New Leaders

February 23, 2021

New Opportunities for Sustainability and Justice A letter from our Executive Director, Mike Riley. It’s a relief to have adults back in The White House. It’s hard to imagine a more disturbing start to a new year than an armed insurrection incited by a sitting president and carried out by a mob that paraded the […]

Waste that’s worthy of attention

February 12, 2021

Oregon’s legislative session is underway and there are over a dozen waste-related bills that have been introduced. Here are two bills that we support. Right to Repair (HB 2698): Overview If you can’t repair your own things, do you really own them? In a time of planned obsolescence where stuff is made to be broken, […]

Take action: Share your priorities with Bend City Councilors

January 18, 2021

New City Council Means New Goals Let The Council Know Your Thoughts Today Every two years, right after new Bend City Councilors are sworn in, the City Council sets new goals to guide the Council’s and staff’s work, and the City’s two-year budget, over the next biennium. The new Council’s goal setting meetings are this […]

Single Use Disposables. Are they actually better than reusables?

November 30, 2020

What’s better, paper or plastic? Single-use foodware made of petroleum-based or compostable plastics? A reusable canvas bag or a single-use plastic bag? A plastic-lined paper coffee cup or a durable reusable stainless steel Hydroflask? Many studies have been done comparing different product materials using what’s called a life cycle analysis or LCA. This is a […]

A few thoughts about waste, awareness, and November.

November 9, 2020

Imagine your perfect 4th-Thursday-in-November holiday scenario. What does it look like? In the year 2020 (an election year, at that), the economy isn’t doing great and many people have lost their jobs due to a global pandemic. It’s unsafe to travel and gather in large groups. And we are in the midst of the biggest […]

First #WelcomingWeek Art Walk in our Garden

October 12, 2020

On Friday, September 25th The Environmental Center partnered with City of Bend to host the first ever Welcoming Art Walk in celebration of Welcoming Week. Despite the cold, rainy weather, several community members, families and children showed up to support BIPoC artists. We featured the artwork of Jefferson Greene, artist and storyteller of the Confederated […]

Vote Yes on Measure 9-135, Bend’s Transportation Bond

For two years, City staff, consultants and a 22-member Citywide Transportation Advisory Committee (CTAC) worked on a long-range plan for Bend’s transportation future. With your help, we worked hard to make sure this plan emphasized moving people rather than just moving cars by prioritizing safety, walking, biking and transit improvements. Now, we need your help […]

ACTION ALERTS: Big Agenda for Bend City Council This Wednesday

August 3, 2020

Support Funding the Core Area Plan The vision for a vibrant, sustainable mixed-use neighborhood in the Bend Central District with safe east & west connections depends on the Core Area Plan to be funded through Tax Increment Financing (TIF). On August 5th, Bend City Council will vote to create an urban renewal area so that […]

A safer, more walkable, bikable, transit-friendly Bend

July 22, 2020

Your voice is needed! After more than two years of hard work by Environmental Center staff and other local activists and citizens, the effort to pass a new Transportation System Plan (TSP) for the City of Bend is entering the home stretch this summer. We need you to engage now and likely one more time […]

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Category: Advocacy