It’s that time of year again!

September is National Preparedness Month. FEMA has a wealth of information on their website to help get you and your communities prepared for when disaster strikes. Here in Oregon, AOR has teamed up with ORRA to present two case studies on being prepared for whatever emergency may arise.

An Office Case Study: City of Portland, Bureau of Planning and Sustainability

Phil Torchino, founder of Bend area recycling company, The Broomsmen, challenges AOR members to match his BottleDrop donations to AOR.

Phil collected and redeemed over 2,335 bottles and cans in June and July with all the money going to AOR!

The conference planning committee will be kicking off in early September so now is your chance to let us know if you'd like to get involved! 

Putting the annual conference together is a team effort, and great way to be involved with and support AOR. There are many ways you can help, depending on your interests and what your schedule/time commitment looks like. 

This award was given to Delyn Kies in recognition of her many years as a leader in sustainable materials management in Oregon. Delyn helped draft the 1983 Oregon Recycling Opportunity Act, which required cities with populations over 4,000 to provide a minimum of monthly curbside recycling service to all garbage service customers.

Republic Services is one of the leading providers of organics collection and processing in the Oregon region. The Process and Recovery Center opened in 1992 and was first used to process urban wood and to make hog fuel. In 1993, they began to process yard debris there. Republic Services started the first curbside yard debris program in Oregon, in the City of Corvallis and that material was taken to The Process and Recovery Center.

David McCall was hired as Tillamook County’s solid waste director in 2012. Since then he has helped to launch many programs that have helped advanced sustainable materials management in Oregon.

These programs include:

Birch Community Services was started in 1992. Their mission is to provide a community where people can be responsible and accountable for meeting their basic needs and to equip them with tools to overcome financial difficulty. They do this by providing education to clients, facilitating a network of food and product donation, and they share their bounty with partner agencies.

This year's keynote address at the 2017 Sustainable Oregon Conference at Salishan Spa and Golf Resort on June 7th was jam-packed with information presented by Nina Goodrich, Executive Director of the Sustainable Packaging Coalition.

Fort George Brewery opened in Astoria in March 2007. They have always kept their environmental impact in mind.

Astoria does not have any sustainability or solid waste and recycling staff, so Fort George hired their own Sustainability Director, Renee, in May of 2016.