The Environmental Center

Gardening for Native Pollinators
2024-02-18 11:00 - 12:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Moonfire and Sun Garden Center, 61944 27th St, Bend, OR, 97702, United States
Pollinator Pathways and Moonfire and Sun Garden Center have teamed up to present a free class on gardening for pollinators.
Registration is required and space is limited. Register by calling 541-638-6155
Moonfire and Sun Garden Center: 61944 27th St. Bend, OR 97702

Happy Hour in the Garden
2024-03-05 16:00 - 18:00, 2024-03-19 16:00 - 18:00, 2024-04-02 16:00 - 18:00, 2024-04-16 16:00 - 18:00, 2024-05-07 16:00 - 18:00, 2024-05-21 16:00 - 18:00, 2024-06-04 16:00 - 18:00, 2024-06-18 16:00 - 18:00 and 8 more dates | The Environmental Center, 16 NW Kansas Avenue, Bend, OR, 97703
Join us in our Kansas Avenue Learning Garden for our ongoing volunteer work party series. In 2022, volunteers contributed over 200 hours to help keep our learning garden maintained over the growing season. We couldn’t do it without you!
This event is open to all ages and gardening abilities! No experience or tools required. Beer and non-alcoholic beverages are provided for all who volunteer. Each event includes seasonal ongoing tasks as well as special projects as needed throughout the growing season. Volunteers are welcome to pop in for an hour or stay the whole time. No need to RSVP or commit ahead of time. (Pro tip – put the following dates in your phone calendar now – then when it pops up you can decide if it works out for you or not!)
In 2024, Happy Hour in the Garden will once again run twice a month from March through October on the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays from 4-6pm. This schedule throughout the extent of the growing season offers meaningful volunteer experiences for all who come, and deeper care for the garden when it needs it.

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!**

A Discussion on Environment and Well-Being with Minal Mistry
2024-04-18 17:30 - 19:00 | Pine Meadow Ranch Center for Arts & Agriculture, 68467 Three Creeks Rd, Sisters, OR, 97759, United States
Mistry will employ a holistic approach, using systems thinking to unravel the environmental complexities shaping our lives in Oregon. Gain insights into the environmental burdens sustaining the unique Oregonian lifestyle and the nuanced interplay with our collective wellbeing.
This engaging talk will transcend local boundaries, shedding light on our global reliance and the far-reaching impact on communities worldwide. Explore themes of Migration and Transitions, and delve into emerging concerns such as novel pollutants affecting water, land, and food sources.
The evening promises ample time for discussion, offering you the chance to share your personal experiences and perspectives on these critical topics. As we unravel the interconnected web of environmental and human development concerns, you’ll leave with a deeper understanding of our shared responsibilities.
About the Artist:
Minal Mistry (he/him) is a biologist/scientist working in the industrial sustainability arena with an emphasis on the impacts of material production and consumption upon the living Earth. His focus area is at the intersections of environmental, ecological and social justice. His art has evolved from those intersections, primarily as sculpture and writing.
Price: This event is free and open to the public. Spaces are limited so registration is required.
Register here

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!

Vision Roadshow: Drake-to-Juniper Event
2024-06-01 09:00 - 11:00 | The Commons Cafe and Taproom, 875 NW BROOKS ST., Bend, OR, 97703, United States
Since the release of the five-year Vision Action Plan, Envision Bend has been working with vision lead partners to align efforts, spark action, and track collective progress. In the coming months, Envision Bend will be hosting a Summer Vision Roadshow at various coffee shops and breweries around town for the community to learn more about various strategies. The first event on June 1st focuses on the ‘Drake to Juniper Pedestrian Corridor’ vision strategy.
Meet outside the Commons Cafe at 9:00am for a 2.25-mile group bike ride in partnership with Bend Bikes to Juniper Park via the Midtown Crossings at Franklin and Greenwood. We will reconvene at 10am on the patio of the Commons Cafe to hear from the City transportation planning staff and Bend Bikes with updates on improvements to our Midtown Crossings, the Hawthorne Bridge, and the community’s shared vision to connect Drake Park to Juniper Park as outlined in the Vision Action Plan.
Stay tuned for additional Vision-themed events throughout the summer, such as ‘Railroad Safety and Redevelopment’ on June 27th at Bevel Brewing; a strategy that was created from public input to move the railroad and address safety concerns. There will also be events focused on ‘Expanding Access to Childcare’ in July, ‘Outdoors for Everyone’ in August, and ‘City of Belonging’ in September.
To register, visit envisionbend.org and sign up for the Envision Bend newsletter to stay up-to-date. Join Envision Bend on June 1st to learn more about the Vision Action Plan, meet someone new, and bring your questions to ask organizations that are taking the Lead on these vision strategies.
Envision Bend is a nonpartisan, community nonprofit organization. Its mission is to bring diverse stakeholders together to educate, engage, and empower all members of the Bend community to have a voice in our community’s future. In 2021, as the successor organization to Bend 2030, it reorganized and rebranded itself as Envision Bend. For more, please visit envisionbend.org or facebook.com/EnvisionBend.

Oregon Active Transportation Summit
2024-06-05 - 2024-06-07 | Leftbank Annex, North Weidler Street, Portland, OR, 97227, United States
This year’s Oregon Active Transportation Summit, Move Oregon Forward, will ground our community of advocates, organizers, professionals, and decision-makers in the shared belief that a better future is possible. Register today and join us June 5-7 at the Leftbank Annex in Portland, OR.
Who Should Attend?
Each year, hundreds of professionals and advocates from Oregon and SW Washington convene to discuss cutting edge transportation issues. Attendees include: state legislators; policy makers; local and national figures in the biking, walking, and active transportation movement; directors of transportation departments and community-based organizations; engineers and planners; land managers; business owners; health professionals; and community advocates. We hope you will join this wide array of leaders to share lessons and learn. Active transportation advocates and practitioners bring energy and passion for change to this event, and the result is a powerful conference that advances our shared goals.
What to Expect
We’re planning a myriad of presentations, workshops, and field trips to bring attendees together to problem-solve and build community in real time. Expect a full schedule of fun and interesting activities!

Author Event: Rooted by Lyanda Haupt @ UUFCO
2024-06-07 19:00 - 20:00 | Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 61980 Skyline Ranch Road, Bend, OR, United States
Friday, June 7th, Lyanda Haupt will speak at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship at 7pm. To purchase tickets, click HERE.
Deepen your connection to the natural world with this inspiring meditation, “a path to the place where science and spirit meet” (Robin Wall Kimmerer). Award-winning writer Lyanda Lynn Haupt’s highly personal new book is a brilliant invitation to live with the earth in both simple and profound ways—from walking barefoot in the woods and reimagining our relationship with animals and trees, to examining the very language we use to describe and think about nature. She invokes rootedness as a way of being in concert with the wilderness—and wildness—that sustains humans and all of life.
In the tradition of Rachel Carson, Elizabeth Kolbert, and Mary Oliver, Haupt writes with urgency and grace, reminding us that at the crossroads of science, nature, and spirit we find true hope. Each chapter provides tools for bringing our unique gifts to the fore and transforming our sense of belonging within the magic and wonder of the natural world. Lyanda Lynn Haupt is a naturalist, ecophilosopher, and author of Mozart’s Starling, The Urban Bestiary, Crow Planet, Pilgrim on the Great Bird Continent, and Rare Encounters with Ordinary Birds. Ms. Haupt is a winner of the Washington State Book Award and the Sigurd F. Olson Nature Writing Award.
Books will be available for purchase at the event.

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!

Tree-Mendous Victory Party
2024-07-16 17:00 - 20:00 | Worthy Brewing, 495 Northeast Bellevue Drive, Bend, OR, 97701, United States
Come celebrate a momentous legal victory that preserved large and mature trees across 7 million acres of Oregon’s and Washington’s eastside forests with live reggae from Rubbah Tree and many tree-themed activities! Hosted by Worthy Brewing, featuring activities from Central Oregon LandWatch, Crag Law Center, Great Old Broads for Wilderness, Greater Hells Canyon Council, Oregon Wild, Sierra Club Juniper Group, and WildEarth Guardians.
This event is free and open to all. RSVP online here or at colw.org/events

Shiny Happy People—The Paradoxes of Living in Central Oregon
2024-08-15 11:30 - 13:00 | Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 61980 Skyline Ranch Road, Bend, OR, United States
In our high desert community of Central Oregon, the allure of natural beauty and a desirable lifestyle often comes with hidden challenges. Residents are frequently faced with the high cost of living, employment hurdles, and soaring housing prices, making it difficult to find the happiness and well-being they sought in arriving here. This City Club Forum will address these unique paradoxes, fostering explorations on self-care and community well-being amidst these realities. We will spark conversations about what constitutes personal happiness in our growing mountain town, including its impact on employment, aspirations and growth.
Objectives

Explore Paradoxes of Happiness: Understand the contrast between the idyllic perception and practical challenges of living here.
Promote Well-Being: Share strategies to enhance personal well-being and community thriving.
Facilitate Dialogue: Encourage open discussions about self-care and communal support, why both matter, and personal next steps.

Forum Benefits

Gain Insights: Learn about the realities of living in a place “everyone wants to move to for the lifestyle.”
Reinforce Self-Care: Discover practical self-care strategies to enhance well-being.
Build Community: Connect with others to create a supportive community network.
Engage in Conversations: Participate in discussions about personal experiences and strategies for well-being.
Access Resources: Get information on local resources for housing, employment, and health.
Foster Support: Share stories and navigate the paradoxes of happiness together.

Join us for an enlightening discussion on balancing the charm and challenges of life in Central Oregon, and discover how to thrive amidst the paradoxes.
REGISTER HERE!

Green Building Tour 2024
2024-09-28 09:00 - 18:00 | OSU Cascades, 2600 Northwest College Way, Bend, OR, 97701, United States
REGISTER HERE!
The Green Building Tour is a showcase for real-world solutions that address the climate impact of buildings in Central Oregon. From architects and contractors to DIYers, the tour’s sites illuminate how high performance structures can be healthy, cost effective, and impactful options for all. Green buildings’ benefits are often invisible to both consumers in addition to building sector professionals. The Green Building Tour addresses this by connecting attendees with the tools and know-how that break down barriers to building more sustainably. This highly anticipated event brings building better enthusiasts into conversation with one another about paths to climate-resilient living.
For the 22nd year of the Green Building Tour we are excited to try a slightly different structure. Themes include Building Dense Livable Cities, Electrification, Water Resiliency in the High Desert, and Healthy Materials Life Cycle Analysis (LCA). The Environmental Center will host participants for a full day of theme-based activities on September 28th. Part I: Summit – From 9:00 to 1:00 community members gather at OSU Cascades, Tykeson Hall for featured speakers, community workshops, and educational booths. Part II: Tour – From 1:00-5:00 pm, we’ll see themes demonstrated in the field with a tour of four community sites that highlight local energy-saving solutions that connect to our themes. The Green Building Tour will inspire attendees to take action wherever they are on their journey to living more sustainably.

REGISTER HERE

Fall Social and Seed Swap
2024-10-02 17:30 - 19:30 | Worthy Brewing, 495 Northeast Bellevue Drive, Bend, OR, 97701, United States
Welcome to the Fall Social and Seed Swap! Join us on Wednesday, October 2nd, 2024 at 5:30 PM at Worthy Brewing Company for a fun evening of mingling, swapping seeds, and sharing garden stories. Whether you’re a seasoned native plant gardener or just starting out, this event is perfect for connecting with fellow native plant enthusiasts .
We’ll provide some light refreshements. Drinks avaialble for purchase.
Don’t miss out on this opportunity to learn about the Pollinator Pathway, make new friends, and enjoy the cozy fall atmosphere. See you there!
Register here

Livable Future Forum
2024-10-03 19:00 - 21:00, 2024-10-23 19:00 - 21:00 | Open Space Event Studios, 220 NE Lafayette Ave, Bend, OR, 97701, United States
How do we meet our community’s needs without compromising the environment and all that makes Central Oregon so incredible?
Through our Livable Future Forum, we’ll explore that question and more as LandWatch program directors chat with knowledgeable local leaders about land use and livability topics. From the fascinating life and times of mule deer to the reality of farming in the high desert to the creative work of developing Complete Communities, you’ll gain new insight into the many ways land use decision making is foundational to life in our region — and learn how you can participate in shaping a more sustainable and equitable future for Central Oregon.
Events will be on Oct. 3, Oct 23, and Nov. 13. All events will start at 7 pm and take place at Open Space Event Studios in the Bend Central District.
Each event in this three-part series will feature a LandWatch program director in conversation with fellow local experts covering a range of topics on land use and regional livability.
REGISTER FOR ALL THREE EVENTS
On October 3, we’ll start out by looking closely at the lives of mule deer, with the High Desert Museum’s Curator of Wildlife Jon Nelson. You see deer often, but how much do you know about this shy, fascinating species? Find out.
GET TICKETS FOR OCT 3 ONLY
On October 23, we’ll talk about farming in the high desert with local farmers and ambitious entrepreneurs Megan Kellner-Rode and Cate Havstad.
GET TICKETS FOR OCT 23 ONLY
And, on November 13, following hot on the heels of the national election, we will host a lively session all about how we can act locally to create Complete Communities to ensure a more equitable, climate-resilient future.
GET TICKETS FOR NOV 13 ONLY
