High-quality, “guilt-free” gifts made from discarded materials by professional artists made for many happy holiday shoppers at last year’s Less is Best Holiday Fair and RecycleArt Show & Sale. The sales benefit BRING and MECCA. Come see the amazing treasures emerging from “trash” this year!

The Less is Best Holiday Fair and RecycleArt Show & Sale is becoming a holiday tradition. For the last couple of years, BRING has partnered with MECCA (Materials Exchange Center for the Community Arts) and the Lane County Master Recyclers to inspire the community with new ideas for celebrating the holidays and the planet. Gifting our loved ones and protecting the planet are not mutually exclusive—in other words, we can do both if we practice intentional, creative gift-giving. This event shows many ideas about how to do just that.

Turning used greeting cards into beautiful, functional gift boxes like these is just one of the great crafts that Master Recyclers will be teaching at this year’s Less is Best Fair at BRING’s Planet Improvement Center.

photo by Laurie Ewing

The Tossed & Found Show was the Planet Improvement Center’s debut art show and many people came to see the amazing creations made from trash by a Portland social service agency’s clients. Check out photos from the event.

Come see the exquisite show of handmade paper collages and natural objects made by Minnesotan artist, Katherine W. Olson. It will be on display until mid-November when it’s replaced with the work of local artist, Tim Boyden (see article below).

Chow Time

We’re revisiting food as a theme in our newsletter because it’s such an essential topic when it comes to living more lightly on the planet. And by lightly we’re not talking about our personal body weight, of course, but the weight of our actions on the Earth’s land, water, air, and creatures.

In celebration of the fall harvest and the new school year underway, we offer you: The Anti-Pop Quiz. If you answer more than 12 questions correctly, you’re clearly someone to reckon with at the dinner table. If these questions are difficult for you to answer, then pull up a chair and learn how to chow more lightly on the planet.

Anti-Pop Quiz
1. What agricultural crop is likely the most responsible for biodiversity loss through habitat destruction, water use and pollution, and pesticides?
a. Coffee
b. Sugar
c. Potatoes
d. Wheat

2. What is the single biggest source of refined sugar in the American diet?
a. Donuts
b. Candy
c. Carbonated drinks (soda pop)
d. Hot chocolate

3. The varieties of fruits and vegetables grown for the supermarket are selected for taste and nutrition.
True or False?

4. The amount of carbon emissions that imported food generates compared to locally-grown food is:
a. One to two times more.
b. Five to 17 times more.
c. Imports make less due to warmer temperatures in tropical countries.
d. A million times more.

5. The amount of time that fruits and veggies often sit in transit before getting to the supermarket:
a. Food is always delivered fresh after harvest.
b. 14 months
c. Two weeks

6. Fresh, local food is only available during the warm sunny months.
True or False?

7. The percent increase in food air-freighted around the world since 1992:
a. 2%
b. 2000%
c. 140%
d. Less food is air-freighted today because fuel is too expensive.

8. Producing a pound of beef results in:
a. 44,000 tons of carbon monoxide.
b. More greenhouse gas emissions and other pollution than driving for almost two hours while leaving all the lights on at home.
c. Fewer greenhouse gases than growing two pounds of tomatoes.
d. Flatulum, a harmless but annoying problem for some.

9. The portion of fossil fuel energy used to market, package and transport non-local foods is:
a. 90% of the total.
b. 30% of the total, most energy is used for growing the food.
c. 2% of the total.
d. Fossil fuels are no longer as needed now that there’s biofuel.

10. The number of farms that the U.S. has lost since 1935:
a. 249 farms
b. 5,677 farms
c. 4.7 million farms

11. A Farm to School program increases the fruits and veggies consumed by kids by:
a. 5%
b. 7%
c. 21%
d. 25%

12. The fruit found to have the highest level of detectable pesticides if grown non-organically is a:
a. Peach
b. Fig
c. Grape

13. Organic farming may be healthier but it’s not as productive as so-called conventional farming.
True or False?

14. The typical distance that food in the U.S. travels from farm to plate:
a. 400 miles
b. 1,500 miles
c. 3,300 kilometers
d. 25 miles

15. Compared to conventional farms, the amount of carbon dioxide (a leading greenhouse gas) released by organic farms is:
a. The same amount.
b. 25% less.
c. Higher since conventional farms use fewer fossil fuels.
d. About 60% less.



Anti-Pop Quiz Answers
1. b. Sugar. Concluded from a study by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in 2004.

2. c. Carbonated drinks (soda pop).

3. False. Varieties that can withstand mechanical harvesting and long-distance travel are more important characteristics for imported produce; premature harvest is another technique for having “fresh” looking produce arrive at the store.

4. b. Five to 17 times more carbon emissions for non-local foods.

5. c. Two weeks is a typical wait for food before it gets on the store shelves.

6. False. Besides growing your own winter garden (plan early!), you can find a lot of fresh produce at the Holiday Farmers Market and at natural food stores that stock local goods. Things like carrots, cauliflower, kale, and even salad greens can be harvested all winter long!

7. c. 140% more food is air-freighted compared to 15 years ago.

8. b. More greenhouse gas emissions and other pollution than driving for almost two hours while leaving all the lights on back home.

9. a. 90%. Only 10% of the fossil fuel energy used to generate non-local, non-organic food goes into growing it.

10. c. 4.7 million farms. Fewer than one million Americans now claim farming as a primary occupation.

11. d. 25% more fruits and veggies are eaten in a Farm to School program.

12. a. Peach (www.foodnews.org/index.php for a full list).

13. False. Studies have found organic farming to yield three times as much food as so-called conventional farming.

14. b. 1,500 miles AND c. 3,300 kilometers (sorry, that was sneaky).

15. d. About 60% less carbon dioxide from organic farms.

Letter from the Director
This issue, both our Executive Director and the President of the Board of Directors have food on their minds. Must be Thanksgiving soon…

Food For Thought
Until I moved to Eugene in the mid 1990s, I lived on a homestead in the Coast Range. For nearly two decades, I grew most of the fruit and vegetables my family ate. We had a huge, riotous, abundant garden. We dried, canned and froze the bounty. I baked bread, kept chickens, made tofu from soybeans bought in bulk from our community food-buying co-op. We bought milk, meat and honey from the neighbors and for many years I traded four loaves of bread each week for three gallons of milk. Mostly, we ate what was in season or what we preserved. I wasn’t really trying to reduce my impact on the planet. I was just trying to feed my family tasty, healthy food on a limited income.

Now I live in town with neither room nor time to grow my own food. During our long growing season, it’s easy to buy produce direct from local farmers, but come winter, when the pickings are slim, those tasty little organic cherry tomatoes from Mexico look mighty good. It’s hard to resist them. My years at BRING have made me acutely aware that food is one of three big impact areas (along with housing and transportation) where individuals can significantly reduce their environmental footprint. I take my own bags, buy in bulk, support local growers and manufacturers, but I’m still a long way from being a super low impact eater. It used to be that if you bought organic, you were “doing the right thing.” Now, with the understanding that transporting food vast distances carries a hefty environmental price tag, scanning the shelves is more complex. Which is better? Organic cheese from big producers in Wisconsin or California or regular cheddar from the local dairies in Bandon and Tillamook? Sure, local organic cheese wins the prize, but at a price that I can’t afford for everyday use.

I’m not the only one struggling with this dilemma. My book group is reading The Omnivore’s Dilemma, a book BRING Board President, Evelyn Anderton, is also reading. Read on to see what she thought. —Julie Daniel

More Food For Thought
What does the Slow Food Movement or Organic Food Movement have to do with BRING’s mission? In reading The Omnivore’s Dilemma, by Michael Pollan, I was reminded how all social change movements are interconnected.

As a BRING volunteer, I am working “to promote a healthy and sustainable environment through education, innovative conservation programs and community involvement in conserving natural resources” (BRING’s Mission). Pollan’s book has caused me to think about this mission in terms of the food I eat. It’s a no-brainer that for my health I should be eating organic fruit, right? What should I think when I go to the grocery store and the only organic apples have been flown here from Chile or Argentina? Does that promote a healthy and sustainable environment? Doesn’t it make more sense to eat locally? In fact, the only locally grown fruit in the store that day was melon, according to the produce worker. The closest apples were non-organic from Washington. Suddenly, just eating organic wasn’t as simple as it had seemed.

In Pollan’s descriptions of the difference between an industrial farm and an organic farm that only sells locally, there is no doubt which promotes a healthy and sustainable environment. The organic farm reuses and recycles nearly everything in a way that keeps both the land and animals healthy. For example, the farmer reuses cow and chicken manure to fertilize rather than using chemical fertilizers and uses the animals to keep the pests at bay rather than using pesticides. Additionally, there is no massive transportation of corn and soy to a feed lot to feed the cattle and an equal amount of transportation to move the butchered meat to the markets around the country.

The Omnivore’s Dilemma is a fascinating book that does not provide easy answers, but gives a lot of information and leaves the choices to the reader. Will I give up eating apples for much of the year because I cannot get local, organic ones? I’m not sure, but I didn’t buy the ones from Chile last week.—Evelyn Anderton

Meet Michele—BRING’s first Volunteer Coordinator
We’re very pleased to welcome Michele Piastro, BRING’s very first Volunteer/Project Coordinator. Michele moved to Eugene from Alabama in 2005 to retire and enjoy Oregon’s outdoor treasures—to fish, hike and camp. Instead, she found herself buying and fixing up old houses, becoming a regular at BRING, both as a donor and a buyer. Because she had years of experience as a professional volunteer as well as a successful businesswoman, the opportunity to coordinate a volunteer program at BRING was a good fit. Look further down to see some of the fun ways for you to join the BRING family and giive Michele a call.

Meet Greg, Sherry, Tess, and Tammy
Things at the Planet Improvement Center are just hummin’ along thanks to the efforts of new and seasoned staff. Here are some of the new faces you’ll see around the warehouse (Greg) and behind the cash register (Sherry, Tess, and Tammy*).
* Tammy has actually worked for BRING “behind the scenes” for years now.

Meet Ian Hill, BRING’s newest board member

Ian Hill is a founder and board member of SeQuential Biofuels, LLC., America’s first 100% renewable energy powered, all biofuel retail station. SeQuential’s first retail store opened in September 2006 in south Eugene. Ian leads SeQuential’s retail operations and retail expansion efforts. He’s been working in the biofuels arena since 2000 when he was a student at the UO.

New & Renewing Donors June 1 – August 31, 2007 REDUCERS ($5,000+) Gail Newton REUSERS ($1,000+) Ruth & John Bascom Penny Palmer & Jan Becker Annie Vrijmoet RECYCLERS (up to $999) Sue Archbald Stan & Joan Cook Gary Cornelius Mary & Brian Cox Lydia Deane Christine Donahue Kess & Barbara Hottle Bing & Nancy Kibbey Karen & Jeff Kline Renate Mackenzie John & Ardyth McGrath Teressa O’Caer Rowland Orum Kathy Rice Ernest & Jane Rimerman Julie Rogers Schnitzer Steel Sara & Alan Schwake, in honor of Madison and Shane Paul & Roz Slovic Merle Weiner, in the name of Ann Kneeland Ronald J. Wood Anonymous, in honor of the marriage of Peter Reppe &     Ann Kneeland Anonymous (4) Thank you! Click here for a complete donor list.				Campaign Goal $2,340,000 Raised To Date $1,779,000 Project Facts WHAT: The Planet Improvement Center is BRING’s new home in Glenwood, blending reuse sales with hands-on education and demonstrations of sustainable building practices. WHERE: 4446 Franklin Blvd. in Glenwood, one mile north of our former site. PROJECT TEAM: Architect: TBG Architects & Planners Civil Engineer: Balzhiser & Hubbard Structural Engineer: Hohbach-Lewin Landscape Architect: Kate McGee See for yourself Stop by any time during business hours to see what the Planet Improvement Center is all about. If you’d like a formal tour for yourself, your classroom, book club or service group, give us a call and we’ll arrange an educational, entertaining and unforgettable experience.
OCF grant received Thanks to a $25,000 grant from the Oregon Community Foundation, our new volunteer coordinator is on the job, finding new opportunities for volunteers to get involved with the Planet Improvement Center. The grant was made possible by the following funds of the OCF: the Goudy-Powell Family Fund; the R.W. Family Fund; the Hill Fund; the Betty Lou Roberts Fund; and the Mary E. Horstkotte Field of Interest Fund. Our heartfelt thanks for this generous gift.				Volunteers Mari Livie and Joe Fenech working side by side to prep a wall for a mural installed on the front of our new office building. See below for many ways you can plug in as a BRING volunteer.

Scrap fabric, old maps, decorated tea tins, mini boxes made from greeting cards, and fanciful bows and ribbons are great ways to give gifts that you say you care about the recipient and the Earth

Gift the planet and future generations by reducing your greenhouse gas emissions this holiday season. Here are some tips for how you can do this:

• Give gifts of experience rather than material goods. How about a massage gift certificate, theater or concert tickets, or a museum or club membership? For the kid in your life, dream up something that might become a lifetime memory or interest like a backcountry pony ride, a big league baseball game, guitar lessons, or a personalized scrap book.
• In a similar vein, adopt a family policy of giving fewer but more meaningful gifts rather than a gift-giving extravaganza. Drawing names for a gift exchange is also a great way to cut down on cost and material consumption.
• If wrapping gifts, choose alternatives to the norm such as scrap fabric, used maps, reusable boxes or tins, pretty bows or dried flowers, or re-used and/or recycled-content wrapping.
• If buying new holiday lights, choose LED bulbs which use 80% less energy and last longer than the regular kind.
• Send e-cards or post-consumer recycled paper cards.
• Consider buying a live tree to plant later or decorating a beautiful bough.
• Use beeswax candles rather than petroleum-based paraffin wax candles.

For a huge list of gift ideas, check out BRING’s Fall 2006 newsletter on-line at: www.bringrecycling.org/newsletters/06fallnews.html.

Eco Tips   Say No to Junk Mail! You can virtually eliminate it if you:    • Delete your name from the Direct Marketing Association’s database by going to www.dmaconsumers.org/cgi/offmailing ($1 is now required and you should update every 5 years).    • Call companies’ toll-free numbers and get off their mailing lists.    • Avoid filling out sweepstakes and contest cards; companies also use warranty cards to get your mailing information (warranties are generally honored if you have the original sales receipt). If everyone in Lane County cut their junk mail by just half, we’d save over 51,000 trees, 21 million gallons of water, and prevent about 14 million pounds of carbon dioxide from being released!

Upcoming Opportunities
Green Roof Team
Gain practical experience on how to install a green roof efficiently and (relatively) inexpensively.

Planting Party
Transform BRING’s streetscape, learn about guilt-free landscaping, digging holes, planting flowers, moving rocks. What fun!

Americorps Eligible Positions
Earn tuition credit and a stipend starting at $1000 for 300 hours.
Education Assistant, Office Assistant, Gallery Manager, Assistant Volunteer Coordinator/Project Manager.

Ongoing Needs
Nail Pullers
Pull nails to upgrade the used lumber coming through the warehouse.

Master Organizers
Sort and organize materials on shelves so customers can find what they are looking for.

Recyclers
Work at the Glenwood Central Receiving Station for Garbage and Recycling by sorting materials—a world for junkaholics!

Truck Attendant
Sit with the truck at the Glenwood Central Receiving Station and take in materials for resale.

Office Assistant
File, sort, organize, copy, and answer phone calls at the office.

Grounds Keeper
Mow, trim, weed, prune, beautify the grounds at the Planet Improvement Center.

Used Materials Gurus
Adopt an aisle in our retail store—create great displays.

Volunteer Spotlight Ruby the Resourceress and her pal Pat the Pegleg Pirate. Says Ruby, “I volunteer…because it’s like going to a party to help at events. I love instigating art and seeing people light up when they get creative. If I could, I’d spend all my time making art with people.” Where to start about Ruby? She is as eclectic, creative, and generous as anyone you’ll meet. She is a woman of many talents although she is gaining regional fame for her skill at turning trash into treasure. Ruby the Resourceress, the full name she most commonly goes by these days, has been a steady volunteer with BRING and got her start as a trash artist at the BRING-inspired nonprofit MECCA, the Materials Exchange Center for Community Arts. You’ll often find Ruby instigating art, as she likes to say, at events and proudly showing her many creations including refashioned t-shirt clothing, tin can clocks, and bottle cap jewelry. She has organized the free rug and potholders out of old t-shirts event in BRING’s booth at the Oregon Country Fair for the last three years. When asked what inspired her to get into trash art, Ruby says, “I’ve always loved trash, dirt, garbage. Never had much fear of germs. I grew up reading Laura Ingalls Wilder and My Side of the Mountain and was fascinated by the lack of garbage and how they used everything. Growing up poor, compulsive, and Catholic was a great foundation.” Visit Ruby at her Saturday Market booth and you’ll soon see why we at BRING love her so much. Plus, you’ll probably find yourself unable to resist her amazing junk art creations. Check out her Web site: www.secondhandsaints.com.

Star Volunteers Here’s a handful of volunteers who find time in their busy lives to give to the many worthy causes offered at BRING (clockwise from top left) Volunteer Bob McKinney, a straw bale home building guru, and Peter Eberhardt, a map lover and geographer extraordinaire, are giving their weekends to trim out the windows in BRING’s new office building. Zack Hegge takes lonely bike parts and creates new bikes to be sold to our lucky customers. He sees volunteering at BRING as a chance to give back to the community and learn more about recycling and other Earth-friendly practices. Rick Diggs (left) is a Jack-of-Many-Trades— pulling nails out of used lumber one day, helping out in a classroom the next, and outfitting BRING’s future resource library on another. He is taking BRING by storm.

	Cole Keister, 4th grade, Territorial Elem., Ms Coolman

Dear Eco-Meister PETER REPPE Dear Eco-Meister, What do you think has less environmental impact: the same amount of wine in 850 milliliter bottles or in 3 liter boxes? The boxes are recyclable thin cardboard on the outside and a non-recyclable plastic liner on the inside. They hold as much wine as 3.5 bottles. Marc Lost Valley Dear Marc, In a study I did at the University of Michigan, we found that glass bottles came out the worst compared to other containers due mainly to the transportation weight (delivery AND return) along with the energy and chemicals required for cleaning, disinfecting, and relabeling them. So if the cardboard box gets recycled and the plastic liner gets down-cycled (e.g., put in Weyerhaeuser’s mixed plastic recycling and turned into a parking cone), then I’m pretty sure that the box at this point would be the better eco-bet. However, here’s a caveat: if we’re able to provide all the energy needed for transportation and cleaning/sterilizing the glass bottles with non-fossil fuels (which is more and more possible), then the glass container should come out as a winner in the long run. Plus, glass is an abundant resource (made primarily from sand) and plastic is not (similar to the wood fibers). So, how’s that for a clear scientific answer? Cheers, EM

Fall is a great time to think about composting and mulching with leaves. Leaves provide a rich source of minerals, and easy to digest carbon for the microbes that live in soil and compost piles. Leaf collection usually begins the third week of October, and continues through mid-January in Eugene. To request a load of street leaves delivered to your driveway stop by the City of Eugene Public Works office at 1820 Roosevelt, or download a form at www.eugenerecycles.org. *

Here are five methods for composting fall leaves. These methods are in use every day at the City of Eugene compost site located at the FOOD For Lane County GrassRoots Garden.

Mulching: Place a one to two inch layer of leaves on top of beds to help protect them from winter freezes, keep root zones cooler in the heat of summer, and reduce water needs. Shred leaves with a mulching mower to reduce the size and volume of the leaves, and to speed up decomposition.

Sheet composting: Place a one inch layer of composted manure, coffee grounds, produce discards, or grass clippings over existing garden beds. Top this green layer with a one inch layer of leaves. Repeat layering to build bed height, and plant after two to four months.

Trench leaf composting: Dig out the top soil down to the clay and place soil on top of garden beds. Pack trenches with leaves, as high as the beds. Next fall, dig the composted leaf pathways and apply that leafy humus to your garden beds. Refill the pathways with new leaves.

Casual bin composting: In a pile, or pallet bin, apply one inch layers of leaves between one inch layers of food waste, grass clippings, coffee grounds or composted manure. Turn once over a period of four months. Cover your compost pile with a tarp to protect it from winter rains.

Hot composting: Mix one part composted manure or coffee grounds, two parts produce waste or grass clippings with one part shredded leaves. Turn the pile once a week. Compost will be ready in four to eight weeks!

Here is a hot composting recipe using leaves: Mix one part composted manure or coffee grounds, and two parts grass clippings or food waste, with one part leaves. Fill a bin that is 3’ by 3’ by 3’ and watch it heat up!
—Anne Donahue, City of Eugene’s Compost Specialist

* Eds. Note: If you live outside Eugene, you could encourage your garbage hauler and/or local government to start a leaf drop-off service. In the meantime, don’t let this valuable resource go to waste—get out the rake and harvest your own leaves or pay the neighbor kid to do it for you!

Rainwater Harvesting Workshop Join Tammie Stark, M.A., of Eugene Rainwater along with Habitats & BRING for a tour of Eugene’s first permitted whole home potable system and a hands-on collaborative workshop using corrugated metal for outdoor irrigation at BRING’s Planet Improvement Center (4446 Franklin Blvd. in Glenwood). Oct. 26, Tour potable RWH system 7 – 8 pm Oct. 27, Workshop 10 am – 5 pm For more info contact: Tammie Stark at 541.463.5451, starkt@lanecc.edu or visit www.nweei.org.

Bowled Over by Trash Creations by Tim Boyden Opening reception: Saturday, Nov. 17, 2 - 4 pm On display: Nov. 15 – Dec. 31, 2007 Planet Improvement Center, 4446 Franklin Blvd., Glenwood. Please join us at the opening reception. Meet the artist, enjoy refreshments, and experience the wild and whimsical work of reuse artist, Tim Boyden. The show will be on display through the holidays.