Waste & Recycling

Will Oregon be the first to ban the bag?
Toby Van Fleet | 09.02.10 10:37 am

Plastic bags: The facts

The word is out. Single-use plastic bags represent one of the greatest environmental catastrophes of our generation. An estimated 60 to 80 percent of all debris in the ocean is plastic. Plastics take hundreds of years to break down at sea and most types never truly biodegrade. As a result, marine animals often get entangled in the debris or mistake it for food.

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How Salem can save taxpayer dollars and protect the environment at the same time
Meredith Shield | 07.09.10 11:47 am

As summer is upon us, the Oregon Conservation Network, Oregon’s Largest Environmental Coalition, is in the process of choosing its “Priorities for a Healthy Oregon” for the 2011 session. As we make these decisions, we are all very aware of the tough choices Oregon is facing, and looking for innovative solutions to help the State meet its budget challenges and protect Oregon’s environment.

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Lane County scorecards show marked improvement
Ashley Miller | 06.30.10 10:32 am

Prior to joining the OLCV staff, I volunteered on the steering committee of OLCV’s Lane County chapter. One of the things that really appealed to me as a steering committee member was OLCV’s local environmental scorecard process. It was such a great way to evaluate whether or not the hard work we put into electing local candidates in Lane County had actually translated into protecting the environment.

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No. Really. I like it. (video)
Andy Maggi | 12.21.09 4:07 pm

With just a few days left till Christmas you may be finishing up your shopping, having put a lot of thought into the holiday gifts you will be handing out to friends and family.

At the same time, while you might not say so, you anticipate what gifts will be waiting for you throughout the holiday season. While some will wow, there are those that force your mind into a bewildering wave of confusion and dread. You know the ones. They may end up as white elephant gifts and without a doubt cause what can best be called "present face."

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Bottle Bill expansion in 2007 = Local green jobs in 2010
Katy Daily | 10.29.09 4:30 pm

The community of St Helens. Oregon will gain 50 stable family-wage jobs next year when the construction of a plastic-bottle recycling plant is completed. Those jobs can be linked to the work OLCV and the Oregon Conservation Network did in the 2007 Legislative Session to expand Oregon's landmark bottle bill to include bottled water.

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November Trivia
OLCV | 11.17.08 10:56 am

Queston:  At the start of 2009, Oregon will add water bottles to the state recycling program, adding a five-cent deposit to the price. According to the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, roughly how many water bottles will this legislation keep out of our landfills?

Click here to submit your answer!

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Solving the Plastic Bag Dilemma: Is Oregon Ready?
OLCV | 09.03.08 2:13 pm



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10 good reasons not to charge shoppers a fee for disposable grocery bags (paper or plastic)
OLCV | 08.27.08 11:54 am

During my morning news review I stumbled upon a post on PDX Green laying out 10 good reasons not to impose a fee on shoppers for disposable shopping bags.

Thanks for the great work Shelby!

Read the list here.

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The debate paper vs. plastic is more aptly named plastic vs. anything is better
OLCV | 06.05.08 5:05 pm

While away in Seatle, the person ahead of me in line at Pike's market - the only person ahead of me in a deep line that didn't have a cloth bag over their shoulder - sheepishly looked around and answered, "Yes, I need a bag."

I laughed a little inside my head. Wow, times have changed. He is actually so embarrassed that he didn't bring his own bag that he can't make eye contact with the clerk!

 

Still, the debate continues locally:

Paper or plastic?

Where does that plastic bag come from?

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Reflections on Guatemala
Jonathan Poisner | 03.20.08 9:06 am

I had the opportunity to spend 15 days touring around Guatemala in February with my friend Arianne.

It was an outdoor cornucopia.  We experienced forests and jungles, lakes and rivers, volcanoes and canyons.  We got to reach out and put our walking sticks into lava and watch them catch fire, swam through a cave holding a candle, and spent an afternoon basking in a series of crystal blue pools.

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Oregon League of Conservation Voters | 320 SW Stark St., Ste. 530 | Portland, OR 97204 |  Phone: 503-224-4011 | Fax: 503-224-1548