Clamshell Recycling
2017-10-28 | Deschutes Brewery Public House, 1044 NW Bond St, Bend, OR, 97701, United States
Plastic clam shells are not recyclable locally, so Whole Foods has worked out a deal with their distributors to make use of their empty trucks heading back to Portland, to recycle your plastic clam shell containers! For a limited time, Whole Foods will pilot this project by allowing the public to drop off their plastic clam shells at their Bend store EVERY Saturday in October, from 11-2. Rethink Waste Project will be assisting with volunteers to help educate our community about what they are accepting, as well as what you can and can’t put in our curbside mixed recycling containers.

Density, Dollars & Development
2017-11-01
The Economics of Land Use in Bend
presented by the National Association of Realtors
Lecture by Joe Minicozzi of Urban3
How can public data inform a vibrant and strong Bend?
This presentation will illustrate how land use economics is an effective tool for getting the highest return on investment while growing smarter as a community. From capital improvement planning to placemaking, the presentation will challenge the way people think about the cost of development and the value of land.
Joe Minicozzi, AICP is the principal of Urban3, a private consulting firm whose work in pioneering geo-spatial representation of economic productivity has prompted a paradigm shift in understanding the economic potency of urbanism and the value of well designed cities. Joe is a sought after lecturer on city planning issues and his work has been featured in numerous journals and at international conferences.

Bend COTA Work Events
2017-11-02, 2017-11-09, 2017-11-16, 2017-11-23, 2017-11-30, 2017-12-07
When: Thursday Aug 11, Tuesday Aug 16, Tuesday Aug 23 and Tuesday Aug 30, 5:15 to Dusk
Where: Meet at the old Ray’s parking lot, NE corner of Simpson Ave and Century Drive in Bend
Worksite: Varies
There’s only one thing better than mountain biking in Bend, OR and that’s riding in Bend, knowing that you helped build and maintain the trails you love.
Please bring a hydration pack with water and a snack.
Be sure to bring appropriate layers to accommodate whatever the weather may be.
Questions? contact@cotamtb.com
All COTA trail work events require the following safety measures:
All participants are required to have the following protective clothing and equipment:

Sturdy shoes or boots
Gloves
Eye protection with clear or light colored lens
Long pants

Due to COTA’s insurance requirements and the inherent dangers of trail work, we must implement the following policy regarding children at work events:

For anyone 14 years of age or younger, we require one parent, guardian, or responsible adult for supervision of every four kids attending any COTA trail work events.
All minors under the age of 18 must have a parent or guardian available to sign our waiver.

Anyone who arrives for a work event may be turned away if he/she cannot meet the above requirements.

Lessons from Down Under
2017-11-02
Lessons from Down Under: What I Learned in New Zealand about Rivers, People, Cows, and Water Management
Join Dr. Jackie Dingfelder for an presentation about her experience as a Fulbright scholar in New Zealand researching their rivers and water management system. Jackie will discuss her insights about what works well in New Zealand, what doesn’t, and how it compares to Oregon/US water law and management. What could we learn from New Zealand? What could New Zealand learn from us?
Jackie Dingfelder brings 30 years of environmental planning and policy experience in the private, non-profit, and public sectors. She recently earned her PhD in Public Policy and Affairs at Portland State University in the Hatfield School of Government. In 2016, she served as a 2016 Ian Axford/Fulbright public policy fellow researching freshwater reforms and indigenous water rights in New Zealand.

Changing Culture with Culture
2017-11-03
“Changing Culture With Culture: How Can You Become an Agent of Social Change?”
An interactive talk by Sophia Kruz, Documentary Filmmaker, Co-Founder of Driftseed.org, Visiting Social Activist at University of Michigan Center for the Education of Women

See the film “LITTLE STONES” Nov. 2, 7pm at the Tower Theatre. Tickets on Sale now!
An afternoon with Emmy™ Award-winning filmmaker Sophia Kruz. Sophia will discuss the inspiration behind LITTLE STONES, her award-winning feature-length documentary about four women in India, Brazil, Senegal and Kenya who are using art—dance, grafitti, music and fashion— to create social change.
Kruz will also lead an interactive conversation about how each of us has the capaicity to change the world using our unique background and skill set. By defining our own key social issues and embracing our talents and passion, our individual actions can have a ripple effect. We all have the potential to be little stones by contributing to a global mosaic of change.

ONDA 2018 Wild Desert Calendar Release Party
2017-11-03
Join the Oregon Natural Desert Association for an evening of First Friday revelry as we unveil our 2018 Wild Desert Calendar at the Deschutes Brewery Public House! Listen to the sweet tunes of Coyote Willow and sip desert-inspired beer. This event is free and open to all.

Adventure Films for Conservation
2017-11-03
WILD CONFLUENCE MEDIA presents two short adventure films exploring British Columbia’s most urgent conservation issues.
Schedule: 7:00 doors /// 7:30 start /// 9:15 Event close
Ticket Cost: $12 (proceeds benefit the Mountain Caribou Initiative). Seating is limited and we recommended buying tickets in advance!
Raffle: Support conservation and win awesome prizes from sponsors including Skout Backcountry ($5 tickets – bring cash!) -Film introductions and Q&A with the filmmakers Colin Arisman and Luke Kantola
LAST STAND: THE VANISHING CARIBOU RAINFOREST /// 35 Minutes /// Trailer
Hidden in the interior of the Pacific Northwest is the largest remaining inland temperate rainforest on earth. This magnificent landscape is home to numerous First Nations communities, thousand year old trees and critical habitat for endangered species like mountain caribou. However, industrial development has pushed this ecosystem to the tipping point. “Last Stand” puts the Caribou Rainforest on the map before it’s too late. Learn more at LastStandFilm.org
CHASING WILD: JOURNEY INTO THE SACRED HEADWATERS /// 12 Minutes
Three friends set off on a 400km bikepacking and packraft expedition through the heart of the sacred headwaters in northwestern British Columbia, birthplace of three critical salmon rivers, and home to the Tahltan people. Their journey offers an exciting and sobering window into this wild landscape as they pedal through vast boreal forest, paddle frigid whitewater, battle monster trout, outrun a grizzly, learn about the Tahltan’s fight to protect their homeland and glimpse inside a massive open pit mine.
Wild Confluence is film production studio dedicated to telling stories that elevate our planet’s most pressing causes, critical movements and innovative leaders. Learn more at www.wildconfluence.com.

Clean Energy Jobs Bill Kick-off
2017-11-04
Join City Councilor Dr. Nathan Boddie and other leaders for this fun event
This is a statewide event that will be live streamed from every county in the state to show support for and build momentum to get the Clean Energy Jobs bill passed in the 2018 legislature! A coalition team will be running the livestream agenda through Facebook live from a Portland rally; they will periodically connect live to other locations throughout the state. Help make Central Oregon’s Support for this bill memorable for our representatives!
The current event event collaborators are 350Deschutes, Oregon League of Conservation Voters and Renew Oregon.

HDFFA 4th Annual Autumn Social
2017-11-08
This unique event brings farmers, producers, business owners and community members together for a low-cost evening of socializing and connecting over a drink and locally sourced snacks.
As part of HDFFA’s mission, the Annual Autumn Social provides a chance to connect, chat about and learn about food that’s grown and produced in the High Desert. It also gives the organization a chance to get direct public feedback on ways to improve its community based mission and programs while sharing our success of the past year, including more than 15,000 pounds of food donated through the Grow & Give program, teaching more than 80 individuals how to shop and cook fresh food on a budget with the Cooking Matters program and providing workshops and networking opportunities to 40 farmers, ranchers and food businesses.
The event is $15/ticket for community members and free for HDFFA Farmer, Rancher and Food Business Partners. RSVPs must be received by November 1. The price of the ticket goes directly toward the cost of the event, and includes snacks plus one beverage. The social will be held at 10 Barrel Brewing’s east location, who is also providing the snacks and beverages.

Film event: Scarred Lands & Wounded Lives
2017-11-11
Compelling documentary exploring the under-reported environmental impacts of war and preparations for war. The film confronts the immensely broad ecological and human ramifications of everything from technological development and natural resource exhaustion to weapons testing and modern warfare itself. “If we cannot eliminate war, we can at least require a fuller accounting of war’s costs and consequences, and demand that destructive forces used in our name leave a lighter footprint on this highly vulnerable planet. It is to this change in values and actions that this documentary film is directed.”
View the trailer.

Hope for the Ocean
2017-11-14
“Hope for the Ocean” with Dr. Jane Lubchenco, Distinguished University Professor and Advisor on Marine Studies at OSU & Former Administrator of NOAA & First US Science Envoy for the Ocean

Ocean health is important to every human, and Dr. Lubchenco will tell us why. She will summarize current and emerging threats to ocean life and describe successful efforts to tackle resource depletion and disruption to achieve sustainable use of our oceans. Drawing on four years as the Administrator of NOAA, two years as the first US Science Envoy for the Ocean, and her vast experience doing research around the world, Lubchenco will address the basic question: ‘Can we use the ocean without using it up?’ Join us for this message of urgency and hope.
Dr. Lubchenco is a world renowned environmental scientist with deep experience in the fields of science, academia, and government. She was the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and the Administrator of NOAA from 2009-2013. Nominated by President Obama in December 2008 as part of his “Science Dream Team,” she is a marine ecologist and environmental scientist by training, with expertise in oceans, climate change, and interactions between the environment and human well-being. She earned her B.A. in Biology at Colorado College, her M.S. in Zoology at University of Washington and her Ph.D. in Ecology from Harvard University.

Before the Flood
2017-11-15
Leonardo DiCaprio shares his two-year journey exploring climate change and its effects around the world in this film, featuring Barak Obama, Elon Musk, Bill Clinton, and John Kerry. As DiCaprio said so eloquently as he addressed the opening of the Signature Ceremony for the Paris Agreement, “We know that climate change is happening faster than even the most pessimistic of scientists warned us decades ago. It has become a runaway freight train bringing with it an impending disaster for all living things.
“Now think about the shame that each of us will carry when our children and grandchildren look back and realize that we had the means of stopping this devastation, but simply lacked the political will to do so. Our planet cannot be saved unless we leave fossil fuels in the ground where they belong. An upheaval and massive change is required, now—one that leads to a new collective consciousness, a new collective evolution of the human race, inspired and enabled by a sense of urgency from all of you.”

Birders Night- Lake Abert: A Waterbird Oasis in an Arid Landscape
2017-11-16
Lake Abert: A Waterbird Oasis in an Arid Landscape
Salty-alkaline lakes are not the kind of place you would want to call home, after all salt is used to preserve food, and with a pH around 10, the water is like diluted bleach. Yet, Lake Abert in southcentral Oregon is waterbird Mecca, with over 80 species being reported and abundances of several hundred thousand birds noted on daily counts. Just what brings these birds to the lake is an amazing set of conditions that are subject to the whims of climate and the actions of man. The presentation will provide an introduction to this amazing lake, yet vulnerable, waterbird oasis.
Ron Larson is a retired aquatic biologist from Klamath Falls, with a special interest in lake ecosystems and species that live in them from microbes to birds. Ron has traveled widely to study freshwater and marine organisms, including the Arctic and Antarctic, and down 1000 m in the Bahamas using a submersible to get jellyfish, but Lake Abert and its birds keep him returning.
Social gathering time is from 6:30 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. Programs begin at 7:00 p.m. and usually last until 8:30 p.m.

Green Drinks at The Gear Fix
2017-11-16
Please RSVP here.
It’s a tradition! The Gear Fix will host our final Green Drinks of 2017. Meet the Gear Fix team, learn more about repair services that are available, and check out cold weather gear before winter hits. The Gear Fix will help get you outside with quality gear! And remember, repairing instead of replacing prevents waste and saves resources.
The Gear Fix has been a great partner of ours for several years. They support the Mountainfilm fundraiser, host Green Drinks events, and have also partnered with us for Repair Cafes. Come show your support for this local green business!
Green Drinks is an international concept and is an enjoyable way to network, learn about local businesses and their sustainability efforts, and enjoy a drink or two. As always, please bring your own cup and consider carpooling, walking, biking or transit to get to the event.

Environmental Trivia at Pints and Politics
2017-11-16
Join the Oregon League of Conservation Voters for a fun night of environmental trivia, hosted by OLCV’s local Leadership Committee.
Come test your knowledge of Oregon’s environment, politics, and OLCV history, or just come to learn a thing or two at the last Pints and Politics of 2018. Snacks and prizes provided!
*This event will also double as a volunteer appreciation event.

Fill Your Pantry 2nd Annual Bulk Buying Pop-Up Market
2017-11-18
Fill Your Pantry is a community bulk buying event 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 veggies that have traveled farther than you during holiday vacations, and say hello to a cupboard full of local beans, grains, veggies, ferments, and more.
The Central Oregon Fill Your Pantry will allow you to stock up on potatoes, onions, leeks, beets, winter squash, garlic, honey, flours, apples, pears, dried beans, nuts, krauts, cheeses, beef, lamb, pork, and more.
This is a bulk buying event, so bring your muscles! Farmers, ranchers, orchardists, and producers will only be selling large quantities of items. For example, 20lb bags of onions, 50lb bags of potatoes, half wheels of cheese, 20lb box of ground beef, 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.
Help support and strengthen the Central Oregon local food system!

Fall Repair Cafe
2017-11-18
Our Fall Repair Cafe will be at the Bend Habitat for Humanity ReStore on Saturday November 18th, from 11am – 1pm. Volunteers will be on hand to attempt to repair your broken items, for FREE! Items to bring include clothes, outdoor gear, electronics and small appliances, jewelry, small furniture and household goods. You may bring multiple items, but only 1 item will be repaired at a time.
NEW! Since this event will be at a ReStore, we will be accepting items to be repaired for donation. Items will be limited to the kinds of things that ReStore normally accepts for resale. You will have to stay with your item, just as you would as if you were bringing it home. If it can be successfully repaired, it will be accepted for resale at ReStore. If the item cannot be repaired, it will be your responsibility to take it with you for recycling or disposal.

Are Wildlife Populations at the Tipping Point?
2017-11-18
What are the threats to wildlife in central Oregon that decrease sufficient, usable wildlife habitat? How can recreation users and growing communities coexist with wildlife? How can individuals help wildlife survive by initiating simple projects? At this wildlife conference, a panel of speakers will address many factors challenging wildlife. They will share scientific information, the focus of their respective organizations, and the ways in which individuals can help wildlife co-exist in our rapidly developing area.

Photo credit: Adobe Photo

VegNet Thanksgiving Potluck & Food Drive
2017-11-18
Join us for VegNet’s vegan Thanksgiving potluck! Play Charity Fact Match: match fun facts with the correct charities and win a prize.
Please bring a vegan dish (no animal products, including honey) to serve 6-8 people, a card listing ingredients, and your own cup, plate, and utensils.
If you can, please also bring a donation for NeighborImpact: gift card (gas, phone, grocery, haircut, taxi), canned goods, personal hygiene products. See their wish list: http://www.neighborimpact.org/get-involved/donation-wish-list/
This is a family-friendly event. Eat, socialize, and meet the Central Oregon veg community. Suggested donation $2-5 to help cover room rental. See you soon!

High Desert Home Companion
2017-11-18
Get ready for the holidays with a live radio variety show featuring Central Oregon’s abundant performing arts talent. The High Desert Home Companion features music, an old time radio show, sketches, and storytelling. This lively and engaging evening is also a benefit for KPOV.
Click here to order tickets online now! (KPOV members – call the station for a discount code.)
Acts scheduled to appear include Joel Chadd (Trailer 31), Matthew Gwinup, Jumpin’ Joyce Respess–who will also serve as the musical director–and The Abluestics led by Thomas T. Dan Cohen will offer a humorous story about his Russian grandfather. And, The Around the Bend Players featuring Brad Thompson, Judi Van Houweling, Barb Largent and Thomas T will satirize Bend and beyond plus offer news and sponsor announcements.

Heather "Anish" Anderson on the Oregon Desert Trail
2017-11-27
Heather “Anish” Anderson has tackled some of the most challenging long-distance hiking adventures in the country like hiking the 2,600 mile Pacific Crest Trail in 61 days, the 2,150 mile Appalachian Trail in 55 days, and completing the triple crown trails not once, but twice.
Come hear about her three-week thru-hike on the Oregon Desert Trail this spring, for what she calls, the “hardest route I’ve ever done!”
Raffle tickets will be for sale to benefit the Oregon Natural Desert Association and development of the Oregon Desert Trail.

Register for the free event here. Presented by FootZoneBend and Gossamer Gear

High Desert Hootenanny
2017-12-01
Join Oregon Natural Desert Association, friends and supporters in celebrating Oregon’s incredible high desert and the conservation successes you have achieved this year!
On Friday, December 7 ONDA board and staff will share highlights from 2018 and discuss conservation opportunities in the year ahead. Enjoy music from the Silvertone Devils Duo, refreshments from Spork, Worthy Brewing, Crater Lake Spirits and Humm Kombucha, and giveaways from Wildish, Patagonia, Osprey and more.
This event is free and open to all. The party starts at 5 p.m. See you there!

Holiday Lights Ride
2017-12-01
This benefit event for Bend Bikes is gonna be a special evening of fun for the whole family. Gather at the Bend Senior Center and then head off on our tour of the Larkspur Trail. Decorate your bicycle to get into the holiday spirit while you cruise along on an off-street path on Bend’s eastside.
After the ride, meet back at the Senior Center for food and drink courtesy of Whole Foods and Cascades Lakes Brewing, and Velo Sprints. If you’ve never seen head-to-head stationary sprint racing, you won’t want to miss this.

American Red Cross Blood Drive
2017-12-04
Life’s a gift. Give more of it.
DONATE BLOOD
Before the busy holiday season, set aside just one hour of your time. Schedule an appointment now to donate blood – and bring a friend or family member too! Please visit redcrossblood.org and enter: EnvironmentalCenter to schedule an appointment. Walk-ins are welcome from 9:30 am to 2:30 pm.

Craft-O Holiday Bazaar
2017-12-09 - 2017-12-10
It’s time for the 7th annual CRAFT-O! Holiday Bazaar at The Old Ironworks – the best way to shop LOCAL and HANDMADE for the holidays. We’ll have 50 super fantastic makers + artists, with sips and slugs from Oregon Spirit Distillers + The Root Cellar!
Saturday, December 9: 9am – 6pm
Sunday, December 10: 9am – 5 pm
