No more leftovers in the trash. This summer, people in Salem will have the chance to put their food waste in composting bins and have it hauled away like the rest of the garbage. The city council approved the plan last night. It could reduce the city’s waste stream up to 20%. To be...
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Just hours after withdrawing his bill for a statewide ban on single use plastic bags, Senator Mark Hass sounds upbeat. SB 1009, the bill he co-sponsored with Senator Jason Atkinson, was the underdog story of the special session. At the beginning, it wasn’t on the radar screen of the state’s big environmental groups. But...
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Just got off the phone with Charlie Plybon of Oregon Surfrider. Plybon says SB 1009, the bill to ban plastic bags at grocery stores and other retail locations is done for the session. Plybon says sponsor Senator Mark Hass of Beaverton withdrew the bill this afternoon. He quoted Hass as telling the Environment and...
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The first year of electronics recycling programs in Oregon and Washington were a huge success. Both states started nearly identical programs at the beginning of 2009 and reported their yearly results today.
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With adjournment just a few days away, the Oregon Senate made a rare weekend appearance to take care of unfinished business. This includes some of the bills that are important to the state’s environmental community. Invasive Species The Senate approved a bill that creates a system of mobile checkpoints, where vehicles hauling boats and...
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The update of Oregon’s Bottle Bill was sent to the House floor this afternoon, but not without a concession to grocery stores. House Bill 2184 adds several new beverages to the bottle bill list. It also raises the refund from five cents to ten cents, if Oregonians don’t meet certain recycling goals. The Environment...
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Two major pieces of green legislation get another chance in Salem today. The bottle bill, House Bill 2184, goes before the House Environment and Water Committee this afternoon. Katy Daily of the Oregon League of Conservation Voters thinks there’s a good chance it’ll be approved today. The latest version adds several beverages to the...
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Three big environmental projects in Salem today, starting with… Greenhouse gas reductions: The big event of the day comes this afternoon when the Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee resumes work on a bill to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In Senate Bill 80, utilities and transportation companies have to find ways to reduce emissions...
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Really interesting story in the Statesman Journal this morning. It’s about a company, Agri-Plas, that has found a way to get oil from recycled plastic. The paper says Agri-Plas can get about a gallon of oil from 9 pounds of plastic. The company thinks it can produce about 70 barrels a day. It’s already...
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Every wonder what to do with a fluorescent light bulb after it burns out? Don’t just throw it away. Those energy saving bulbs contain mercury which is harmful to wildlife and people. In fact many of the things we toss out are toxic to the environment. That’s why the Legislature is looking at a...
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