The Environmental Center

Plastic-Free Resolutions: Protecting Your Health in 2024
2024-01-18 14:00 - 15:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | OR
With a new year comes new resolutions for protecting and improving the health of our bodies, families, communities, and the planet that we all call home. One healthy resolution to consider is to reduce or eliminate plastic from your life. But with plastic used for everything from making clothing to carrying food and drinks, this can seem like a daunting task.
Join Plastic Pollution Coalition on January 18 for their first webinar of the new year: Plastic-Free Resolutions: Protecting Your Health in 2024. During this event, they will offer tangible, common sense ways to reduce the amount of plastic you use in your daily life. They’ll discuss why it’s important to avoid plastics, provide you with DIY and low- and no-cost solutions, and highlight helpful products you may turn to when you need an extra hand.
Panelists for this inspiring conversation include Queer Brown Vegan Isaias Hernandez; Zero Waste Farmer Manju Kumar; and Co-Owner & Co-Founder of Life Without Plastic Jay Sinha. The conversation will be moderated by MADE SAFE Founder Amy Ziff.

Rethink Waste Community Innovation Fund Info Session
2024-01-23 13:00 - 14:00 | The Environmental Center, 16 NW Kansas Avenue, Bend, OR, 97703
Do you have an idea for reducing waste in your neighborhood, workplace, school, your favorite park or restaurant, or other community space, but aren’t sure how to get started? Apply for the Rethink Waste Community Innovation Fund! Attend an info session in-person at The Environmental Center or Virtually to get your questions answered.
SIGN UP HERE
Zoom link will be emailed out prior to the event.

Earth Day Parade Upcycled Costumes Workshop
2024-03-23 11:00 - 13:00, 2024-03-30 11:00 - 13:00 | The Environmental Center, 16 NW Kansas Avenue, Bend, OR, 97703
Hello, fellow recyclers and art enthusiasts! Earth Day is just around the corner… and you’re invited to participate in this year’s Reclaimed Trash//Treasure Transformation Workshop – a chance for families and friends to come together and get crafty with stuff nearly left behind to dumpsters! If you’ve ever looked at something headed for the trash and thought, “What could I make of that? A costume or Pet?” Now’s your chance to imagine and create! Bring along anything you’ve been itching to upcycle – old clothes, empty containers, boxes, cards… you name it. We’ll work our magic and turn them into funky puppets and costumes to wear in the Earth Day parade!! We’ll meet up twice, giving us plenty of time to explore and bring our ideas to life. If you don’t think you’re a crafty human, no problem, because this is all about having fun and getting creative with the ones we love on the earth we love. Let’s make Earth Day a time for creativity, community, and celebrating our planet in style – one recycled masterpiece at a time!
No registration is required!

Recycled Materials Bag Sewing Party
2024-04-08 11:00 - 15:00 | The Environmental Center, 16 NW Kansas Avenue, Bend, OR, 97703
Calling all seamstresses! St. Charles Medical Center and Bend Anesthesiology Group are partnering with The Environmental Center to create reusable tote bags out of sterile blue wrap, used to sterilize surgical instruments. This repurposed material is water resistant, sturdy, functional and with your help, fashionable! If the material is not being reused, it is immediately tossed in the trash and sent to our landfill. This is one chance to help our community divert non-recyclables from the landfill! These bags will be reused in our “Sustainable Summer” fundraising event later this year (stay tuned!).
Bring your sewing machine, scissors, pins, ruler, chalk, and cutting mat and we will provide the fabric and patterns!
**All levels of experience are welcome!**

Plastics and Your Health (Webinar)
2024-05-02 16:00 - 17:00 | Zoom
A troubling study published in the New England Journal of Medicine in March found that the presence of microplastics particles in heart tissue caused a measurable increase in people’s risk of heart attack, stroke and premature death. With each new study published, plastics’ negative impacts on human health are becoming clearer and more widespread.
What does this mean for you and your loved ones? Please join us and Dr. Phil Landrigan via Zoom this Thursday, May 2 from 7-8PM ET to discuss plastics’ impacts on our health and how we can decrease our exposure. Register now. >>
Plastics take a heavy toll on both human and environmental health. We know that there are micro-and nanoplastics in our air, water, and soil, as well as at every level of the food chain.
We also know that these tiny bits of plastic are present inside all of us. Researchers have found micro- and nano-plastics in the human intestine, placenta, liver, spleen, lungs, and lymph node tissues, as well as in blood and breast milk.
Many of the toxic chemicals added to plastics including PFAS, phthalates, and bisphenols are also present in the bodies of nearly all Americans.
We are excited to welcome Dr. Philip J. Landrigan, a world-renowned pediatrician, public health physician, and epidemiologist back to the Beyond Plastics virtual stage for this free educational webinar on May 2. Dr. Landrigan is at the forefront of exploring what our ever-increasing exposure to plastics means for our health and longevity as well as how we can reduce our exposure.
Please click here to register now and plan to join us at 7 PM ET this Thursday, May 2 to explore these critical and emergent questions.

Bend Gear Meet with Outdoorist Oath
2024-05-08 17:30 - 19:30 | The Gear Fix, 550 Industrial Way, Suite 183, Bend, OR, 97702, United States
The Outdoorist Oath and Pattie Gonia alongside trusted allies Outside’s Gear Up Give Back program and local collaborator The Gear Fix invite the Bend, OR community to an evening of gear swaps, gear repairs, gear giveaways, and celebrating our love for the outdoors!
Here are all the juicy deets for the event!

This is a FREE event! Though we encourage folks to RSVP and donate.
Swap used gear w/ community members. Everyone can participate, regardless of whether or not you bring items to swap!
The GearFix will be hosting DIY patch and zipper repair workshops
Come connect with local non-profits to learn how you can take action for planet, inclusion, and adventure in your community!
Win prizes from outdoor & local brands
This event will be hosted by Pattie Gonia with support from The Outdoorist Oath, GearFix, and Outside
All unswapped items at the end of the night will be donated to Outside’s Gear Up Give Back program which helps support The Oath’s free educational resources and events!

RSVP HERE!

Rubbish Renewed Eco Fashion Show
2024-05-11 17:30 - 22:00 | The Pavillion, 1001 SW Bradbury Dr., Bend, OR, 97702, United States
AGENDA
5:00pm – Doors Open (VIP Ticket Holders)
5:30pm – Doors Open (General Admission)
6:30pm – Runway show STARTS
7:30 – INTERMISSION
8:00pm – Second 1/2 of the show
Rooted in a love of fashion, an appreciation of art and a passion for the planet, the Rubbish Renewed Eco Fashion Show fuses environmental responsibility, funky fashion and community. Started in 2010 as a fundraiser by a couple of teachers, it has turned into a Bend staple, a fashion-forward, sustainably run event that everyone in the community can enjoy.
With an electrifying trash fashion runway, a live auction of select runway garments, our business challenge where 10 businesses compete for the Coveted Trash Trophy, a pop-up Eco-marketplace featuring creative products from sustainably–minded, community artists, and local beverages and food carts, what’s not to love! Join other socially conscious individuals for an evening of sustainable fashion, showcasing styles that the future demands, while supporting a fundraiser for Realms Schools.
LOCAL FOOD & DRINK :: Three food trucks (The Bob, El Sancho, and Big Foot BBQ) will be present serving food all night as well as Slow Ride Mobile Bar serving beverages throughout the event.
GET TICKETS

Chaco For Life Tour at Crux
2024-05-22 12:00 - 18:00, 2024-05-23 12:00 - 18:00, 2024-05-24 12:00 - 18:00, 2024-05-25 12:00 - 18:00 | Crux Fermentation Project, 50 SW Division Street, Bend, OR, 97702, United States
REPAIR
CUSTOMIZE
CHILL

Come celebrate 35 years of Chaco with us on the Chaco For Life Tour! Visit our mobile factory to get your trusty Chacos repaired*, create your own custom sandals (adult sizes only), grab some swag, or just kick it with us.
*Each first repair is FREE; any additional sandals will be repaired at 50% off.
May 22-25 at Crux Fermentation Project

Greenwashing 2.0: Debunking Recycling Myths
2024-06-05 14:00 - 15:00 | OR
People often ask what really happens to their plastic recycling. Unfortunately, it doesn’t matter where your discarded plastic is collected, whether at the end of your driveway, at your local recycling center, or in a municipal recycling bin: Most plastic items collected as recycling are not actually “recycled.” Many people are now realizing that plastic is not designed to be recycled—it’s a false solution sold to us by corporations and governments. What’s more, “plastic recycling” drives continued production and pollution of plastics and fossil fuels, and their related injustices.

Food Waste Prevention and Rescue Workshop
2024-06-19 13:30 - 15:30 | The Environmental Center, 16 NW Kansas Avenue, Bend, OR, 97703
Did you know that wasted food makes up over 25% of waste at Knott Landfill by tonnage – making it the largest category of waste in the landfill? Yet, in Deschutes County, 1 in 8 people is food insecure, meaning they don’t always know where their next meal will come from. In addition, the average family of four tosses $1,800 worth of food every year ($150/mo on just wasted food!) and wasted food uses the same energy and water as 50 million homes. It’s time to rethink food waste, and we want to help you do it.
We will start with a brief presentation on why food waste matters, how to prevent food waste, and strategies for composting. Afterwards, a small group of us will walk over to the Bend Farmers Market to the High Desert Food and Farm Alliance (HDFFA) booth for an intro and demo to food rescue. If you’re interested in both, the presentation and the demo, be sure to select the appropriate ticket below. There are only 15 spots open for the demo, so once it is sold out, that option will no longer be available. Please reach out to kavi@envirocenter.org with any questions.
REGISTER HERE

Food Waste Prevention and Composting Workshop (Virtual)
2024-07-02 12:00 - 13:00 | Zoom
Did you know that wasted food makes up over 25% of waste at Knott Landfill by tonnage – making it the largest category of waste in the landfill? Yet, in Deschutes County, 1 in 8 people is food insecure, meaning they don’t always know where their next meal will come from. In addition, the average family of four tosses $1,800 worth of food every year ($150/mo on just wasted food!) and wasted food uses the same energy and water as 50 million homes. It’s time to rethink food waste, and we want to help you do it.
This free virtual workshop will dig into why food waste matters, how to prevent food waste in the first place, and strategies for composting. We will be joined by Diane Simunek from Deschutes Recycling/Composting who will share information on food waste in our composting and answer any community questions.
RSVP HERE!

July Green Drinks
2024-07-11 17:00 - 19:00 | Open Space Event Studios, 220 NE Lafayette Ave, Bend, OR, 97701, United States
This Summer, High Desert Makers is partnering with The Environmental Center, and Open Space Event Studios to bring July Green Drinks done Maker style!
This particular Makers Green Drinks event is designed to give Makers of All Ages, who are dedicated to responsible environmental stewardship, a place to show and tell (and sell) what you make and why. There are creators of all ages out there who use materials that promote a circular economy, upcycle waste-stream-diverted materials, and re-imagine uses for existing materials. Some makers create music, stories, theater, performances, and other art that requires very few material things at all.
REGISTER HERE!

Repair Café at SCP Redmond
2024-07-17 17:30 - 19:30 | SCP Redmond, 521 Southwest 6th Street, Redmond, OR, 97756, United States
Join us for Repair Café with host SCP Redmond Hotel! Please RSVP here to let us know if you plan to join us!
Got a broken something? Bring it to one of our Repair Cafés!
The Environmental Center’s Rethink Waste Project coordinates with an amazing group of volunteer fixers to host Repair Cafés every few months. These free events connect people with broken stuff to people who like to fix stuff – they’re all about repairing things (together). Stuff like, jewelry, small appliances and electronics, outdoor gear, clothing, and more.
Repair Cafés are held around the world! Repairing with other people saves natural resources, prevents waste, and cultivates community. The term Repair Café was established by Martine Postma, who coordinated the very first Repair Café in Amsterdam, on October 18, 2009. Learn more at www.repaircafe.org

Designing a Plastic-Free Future with Regenerative Materials
2024-07-18 14:00 - 15:00 | OR
The urgency of our plastic pollution crisis requires a substantial shift in the way products are designed, manufactured, used, and recirculated. From textiles and food containers to sachets and protective shipping packaging, plastic continues to dominate across industries and persist, polluting people and the planet at every stage of its existence. As we create a more circular economy, what exciting bio-based feedstocks and technologies are emerging to help transition away from fossil-based inputs? Can nature-based solutions both be regenerative and scalable?

Community Innovation Fund - Info Session (Virtual)
2024-07-23 13:00 - 14:00 | Online Event
Virtual Event (Zoom link shared prior to meeting)
The Environmental Center’s Rethink Waste Project is accepting applications for the last round of the 2024 Community Innovation Fund (CIF)! This program provides up to $5,000 per awarded project to implement waste reduction, reuse, recycle, and compost projects throughout Deschutes County. If you’re interested in learning more about the application process and what kind of projects can qualify, come join us for this Info Session to learn more and have your questions answered.
REGISTER HERE!

BPRD Summer Community Celebration
2024-07-26 18:00 - 20:00 | Big Sky Park, Neff Road, Bend, OR, 97701, United States
Come visit The Environmental Center’s booth!
Enjoy fun, interactive activities provided by Bend Park and Recreation District as well as other community organizations. There will be music, entertainment, treats and much more to contribute to an evening of summer fun! Spanish-speaking staff on site.

Drop it, Swap it - FREE Reduce and Reuse Event 2024
2024-09-28 09:00 - 14:00 | Deschutes County Road Department Parking Lot, Southeast 27th Street, Bend, OR, 97702, United States
Drop it Swap it is an event where people bring small, portable items that are clean and in good working condition, which they no longer want or need. Items are dropped off early, categorized, and then displayed on swap tables where participants can browse and find something new to take home. These Free Swaps are a fantastic way to give new life to items, reduce waste, and prevent things from ending up in the landfill. Additionally, the event fosters a strong sense of community, offering residents a chance to meet and connect with like-minded individuals.
Date : September 28, 2024
Time : Drop it! 9am -10:30am
Swap it! 12pm- 2pm
Location : Deschutes County Road Department Parking Lot
61150 SE 27th Street, Bend, OR 97702
Why Participate?
This event isn’t just about finding something new – it’s about making a difference. By participating in Drop It, Swap It, you’re helping to keep perfectly good items out of the landfill and giving them a second life. It’s a fun, eco-friendly way to de-clutter your home and discover hidden treasures from others in our community!
How It Works:

Drop It: Bring your unwanted, portable items to the event from 9-10:30am at the Deschutes County Roads Department. Items will be sorted by category to make browsing easy.
Swap It: Once the items are set up, the swap begins, 12-2pm! Browse the tables, find items that catch your eye, and take them home- all for free!

Central Oregon Fill Your Pantry
2024-11-09 11:00 - 15:00 | Deschutes County Fair & Expo, 3800 SW Airport Way, Redmond, OR, 97756, United States
The 9th Annual Central Oregon ​​​Fill Your Pantry is a community bulk buying farmers market created so YOU can fill up your pantry, freezer, and root cellar full of great local products for the winter. Say bye-bye to busy holiday lines and produce that has traveled farther than you during holiday vacations, and say hello to a cupboard full of local meat, grains, vegetables, ferments, and more.
The Central Oregon Fill Your Pantry will allow you to stock up on items like potatoes, onions, leeks, beets, winter squash, garlic, honey, flours, apples, pears, dried beans, krauts, baked goods, and more.
This is a bulk focused farmers market, so bring your muscles! Farmers, ranchers, orchardists, and producers will be selling large quantities of items. For example, 20lb bags of onions, 50lb bags of potatoes, 25lb ground beef boxes, etc. This is a great opportunity for vendors to move product before the harsh Central Oregon winter and a great opportunity for YOU to save money and eat well all winter long.

Sorting Truth from Trash: A November Green Drinks on America Recycles Day.
2024-11-15 16:00 - 18:00 | The Environmental Center, 16 NW Kansas Avenue, Bend, OR, 97703
In light of recent coverage of some of the deceptive practices behind “advanced plastics recycling” and plastics recycling in general, join the Rethink Waste Project and local expert panelists for Sorting Truth from Trash: The Realities of Recycling on America Recycles Day.
We’ll show a short film and presentation, then take a deep dive into your questions about recycling, while covering why it’s important we move the conversation from recycling towards reduce and reuse wherever possible. Come grab a drink, a bite, and meet others at this informative happy hour.
This free event is now sold out, but you can still sign up for the waiting list!

Repair Café with Deschutes Public Library in Redmond
2024-11-20 17:30 - 19:30 | Redmond Proficiency Academy, 657 SW Glacier Ave #2710, Redmond, OR, 97756, United States

Repair Café at The Gear Fix
2025-01-27 17:30 - 19:30 | The Gear Fix, 550 Industrial Way, Suite 183, Bend, OR, 97702, United States
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Trash-fashion Maker-Mentor workshop:
2025-02-28 08:00 - 17:00 | OR
Rubbish Renewed presents free Trash Fashion DESIGN WORKSHOPS in collaboration with DIYcave.
• How can I create something from nothing?
• What is the value of trash beyond the landfill?
• What is its story?
Sign up for one of the first ever Rubbish Renewed free community design workshops! Rubbish Renewed is partnering with DIYcave to inspire and support new and burgeoning trash fashion designers of all ages. We created two 2-hour workshops to help jump-start your vision with an additional 1-hour free studio time gift card from DIYcave. Space is limited to 12 participants for each workshop. Several dedicated designers, material manipulators, and technical teachers will be on hand to meet you where you are in the process. Come with garment ideas, material samples, and an open mind!
Design Workshop 2: Friday, March 7th 4-6pm. Sign-up by visiting the Applications tab at rubbishrenewed.org or DIYcave.com

Kids’ Entrepreneur Spring Market
2025-03-08 13:00 - 16:00, 2025-03-09 13:00 - 16:00 | Downtown Bend Library, 601 NW Wall St., Bend, OR, 97701, United States
The Kids’ Entrepreneur Market is an entirely kid-run, eco-friendly market, for ages 7-17 to learn entrepreneurship by creating and selling their own products and services, all while considering the protection of our beloved planet.

Community Innovation Fund - March Info Session
2025-03-18 15:00 - 16:00 | The Environmental Center, 16 NW Kansas Avenue, Bend, OR, 97703
The Environmental Center’s Rethink Waste Project is accepting applications for the first round of the 2025 Community Innovation Fund (CIF)! CIF provides up to $5,000 for any projects that reduce waste in Deschutes County. If you’re interested in learning more about the application process and what kind of projects can qualify, come join us for this Info Session to learn more and have your questions answered.
Please note: This is an optional Info Session, and is not required to apply for the CIF. We recommend browsing past projects on the CIF Projects Showcase to see the wide array of projects we’ve funded.
Please RSVP for this event!

Repair Café w/ Deschutes Public Library
2025-06-18 16:00 - 18:00 | Downtown Redmond Library, 827 SW Deschutes Ave, Redmond, OR, 97756, United States
