Ten Innovative Projects Taking Shape!
The Environmental Center’s Rethink Waste Project’s Community Innovation Fund – made possible through support from Deschutes County Solid Waste and City of Bend – received a record-breaking 21 applications for it’s first round of 2025! CIF provides up to $5,000 (with no minimum) for selected projects that reduce waste in Deschutes County. Since its inception in 2020, CIF has awarded more than $130,000 to 45 projects. Applications are now open through July 15th, 2025.
From the pool of innovative submissions, the review team awarded 10 projects with $30,000 in funding. From upcycling old billboards to make harvest bags to help restore beaver habitat, to reducing food waste through Perfectly Imperfect produce, to initiating a Tool Library in Central Oregon, to bringing reuse to one of Central Oregon’s most cherished venues, or adding a water-refill station in the busiest visitor destination of our region, or funding innovative opportunities in our schools and for our youth – we appreciate the wide-breadth and diversity of the applications and projects!
We are thrilled to share 2025’s Round 1 CIF Projects! In addition to learning more about each of the projects below, take a look at the interactive CIF Projects Showcase to view all the previous innovative projects that have reduced waste and continue to have a long-lasting impact in our community.
| Organization | Project Name | Purpose |
| Think Wild | From Billboards to Beavers- A Zero-Waste Restoration Project | Eliminate single-use plastic waste from riparian restoration by replacing disposable contractor bags with reusable willow harvest bags made from retired billboard vinyl. |
| HDFFA | Perfectly Imperfect Food Waste Reduction & Education Program | Tackle food waste at the source by rescuing surplus or “imperfect” food from local farms, community gardens and farmers markets that would otherwise go to waste and redirecting it to consumers who visit their regular farmers market booths and pop-ups |
| Central Oregon Tool Library | Central Oregon Tool Library | Promote sustainability, affordability, and community resilience by creating a library that provides shared access to tools and equipment. |
| Tower Theatre | Refill & Reuse- A Sustainability Reprise – Implementing Reusables at the Tower Theatre | Launch a reusable cup program, reducing single-use waste and promoting a circular economy. By replacing disposable cups with durable alternatives, the recipient aims to foster responsible consumption and set a local example for sustainability in the entertainment industry. |
| SFF Presents | Towards Zero Waste | Expand their 2024 waste diversion efforts at Sisters Folk Festival and Big Ponderoo. Instill best practices, increase oversight, add reusable “to-go” boxes, and better address the food waste created in festival artists’ greenrooms. |
| Bunk and Brew | bunk,brew, and compost too! | Reduce food waste produced in their hostel’s two communal kitchens and three food trucks parked in their lot. Add compost collection sites with signs around the hostel and beer truck lot. Lastly, implement a reusable cup system with a dishwasher in their beer truck lot. |
| Cascades Academy | Reuse, Reduce, Encourage better practices at Cascades Academy | Reduce waste by reducing single-use dishware at events and composting food waste. Provide a dishware kit to each of their schools to use at events and collect food waste during lunch times. This student-led projects aims to not just reduce their waste but to refuse to use single-use items such as cups, plates, and silverware. |
| The Giving Plate | Composting Food Waste at The Giving Plate | Implement composting at Giving Plate in Bend and Redmond through pickup service, signage, and trainings. |
Do you have an idea for reducing waste in your neighborhood, workplace, school, your favorite park or restaurant, or other community space, and would like some support getting your idea off the ground? Apply for the Rethink Waste Community Innovation Fund to receive project support and funding! 2025’s second round deadline is July 15, 2025. Learn more and apply at envirocenter.org/community-innovation-fund! Questions? Contact kavi@envirocenter.org
The Community Innovation Fund is a program of The Environmental Center’s Rethink Waste Project in partnership with Deschutes County Solid Waste and the City of Bend, with additional support from Republic Services and Cascade Disposal. The Rethink Waste Project envisions a community that understands the upstream and downstream impacts of using Earth’s resources and makes responsible decisions about the consumption, use, and disposal of materials. You can see everything the Rethink Waste Project offers on it’s website www.RethinkWasteProject.org.