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Farm to School
The ABCs of Fresh Food An innovative effort to bring locally-grown foods to Oregon’s school children and to help them understand where their food comes from received a big thumbs-up when the Oregon State Legislature unanimously passed House Bill 2800 in July. HB 2800, aslo known as the “Farm to School and School Gardens” bill provides $200,000 to a pilot program to rev up the provision of Oregon-grown foods and hands-on, garden-based education to public school students. The funds will allow school districts an extra 15-cents per school meal to buy Oregon foods and produce. This is good news for small farmers whose livelihoods depend upon locavore consumption and for…
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Sustainable Schools-Sustainable Solutions
The Zero Waste Alliance’s Sustainable Oregon Schools Initiative, SOSI (pronounced “so see”) has taken a systemic approach to fostering healthy school environments by engaging, educating and inspiring individual schools, districts, and the organizations that support them. Oregon’s schools comprise an infrastructure large enough to house one-fifth of Oregon’s population and that means they have a large carbon footprint. Reducing that footprint will result in a cleaner environment, but will also save money by eliminating waste and increasing resource efficiency. But creating a healthy, sustainable environment is only part of the sustainability solution. Through education for sustainability, SOSI helps to develop school curriculums infused with learning that prepares students to live…
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EcoApprentice Brings College Students and Businesses Together for the Environment
A soon to be launched, interactive website will unite businesses and college students in an ongoing effort to better the environment. EcoApprentice.com is the brainchild of Richard Halpern, a public high school counselor who drew on 15 years of experience in education to combine two of his passions‚ sustainability and career based education. EcoApprentice will foster collaboration between college students and businesses in the implementation of sustainable goals. Participating businesses and nonprofits will post EcoChallenges, while students enrolled in participating colleges and universities will post EcoSolutions. This practical collaboration could lead to earning college credits, career based learning experiences and future employment contacts for the students. Moreover, businesses could gain…
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Purple Wind Turbines May Be Less Likely to Harm Birds
Researchers Chloe Long, Dr. James Flint, and Dr. Paul Lepper, all colleagues at the Loughborough University in the United Kingdom, conducted experiments to learn whether color might play a role in attracting insects to wind turbines. They measured how many insects were attracted to different colored cards laid out in random order next to a 43-foot-tall three-blade wind turbine. The experiments showed that insects are most attracted to yellow followed by white and light gray. The researchers discovered that the color least attractive to insects was purple and reasoned that wind turbines painted purple would likely kill fewer birds and bats: Birds and bats are often hit when…
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The RINSE Project Helps Wineries Reuse Wine Bottles
Cowhorn Winery in Applegate Valley, Oregon has teamed up with Wine Bottle Renew to establish a powerful new bioregional program called ‘The RINSE Project.’ The project cuts per-bottle costs and reduces wineries’ carbon footprints by recycling used wine bottles and preparing them for industry reuse. Some 300 million cases of wine are sold in the United States each year and the wine bottles from about 210 million end up in landfills. As the first Southern Oregon winery to ship used bottles through the RINSE Project, Cowhorn Winery aims to help change that and cut its carbon footprint in the bargain. In addition to cleaning, packing, and shipping wine bottles for…
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SoupCycle Delivers Organic Soup-Based Meals Made from Locally Sourced Foods
A several years ago, a couple of college students made a business plan to make and sell locavore soup and deliver it by bicycle. The students came to Portland and set up their business, SoupCycle. Jed Lazar and Shauna Lambert are the creative cooks and bicycle peddlers behind the food service business. They source local produce whenever possible and actively pursue environmentally sustainable, socially responsible business practices. They do have help with deliveries from fellow SoupCyclers Jen and Matt and they’re avid bicycle advocates twittering support for bike events and get-togethers. Soups and soup meals are available by subscription. Ordering online is easy and both the soup…
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Portland’s Coal Problem
According to Mayor Sam Adams,Portland receives 68 percent of its power from non-renewable fossil fuels and over 44 percent is produced by coal. A great deal of that coal-fired power generation originates in the Rocky Mountains. Oregon’s only coal-fired electric power plants is located in Boardman, Oregon. It is the state’s largest stationary source of carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and other pollutants including mercury. PGE owns 65 percent of the Boardman coal-fired power plant and is seeking to submit an alternative operating plant that would phase out the facility or switch to non-coal fuel by 2020. In January, Adams announced his support of PGE’s work to rethink the…
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Earthen Hand – Building Sustainably by Teaching Construction Techniques
Artist Scott Howard is a community resource whose sculptural architecture is often finished with earthen paints and plasters.
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Power to the People
Community effort in Southeast Portland brings solar within reach for many. PORTLAND, Ore. — September 16, 2009 was the deadline for Portland homeowners to become part of the very first Solarize Portland project — a grassroots effort that’s making it easier to go solar for less through the power of community. What began as the idea of one homeowner in Southeast Portland, has now grown to include 335 neighbors. The number is well over the original project goal of 50 participants. Led by Southeast Uplift Neighborhood Coalition and Energy Trust of Oregon, the group is going through the process together — from learning how solar works, to installing systems on…
