By: McKenzie Ingram
Eugene: a city where the color green means environment, nature, and sustainability rather than money, capitalism and wealth. A place where community benefit means more than monetary gain. Where tall trees and flowing rivers hold more value than high-rise buildings and trendy cafes. Eugene holds true to its roots of environmental advocacy and the persistent effort to reduce our footprint in an increasingly human-impacted world. This is why BRING Recycling has flourished for over four decades, leading the way in the Willamette Valley as a place to both educated the public about the benefits of recycling, and providing the Eugene community with a place to practice what we so often preach: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.
“When I first moved to Eugene, I was not surprised to find a store like BRING. Eugene definitely has a reputation of being more than a little environmentally conscious.” said Hannah Slater, senior at University of Oregon and volunteer at BRING Recycling.
Inspired by the first Earth Day in 1971, BRING opened its doors and minds to the idea of reusing materials, and creating something new. In the first year, the organization collected over 400 tons of glass, and inspired the community to embrace the idea of recycling and recreating. Community members can bring anything in good, usable condition to the recycling center such as doors, bookcases, piping, windows and everything in between. These materials are then used to build other buildings in a cheaper, more eco-friendly way. The materials are even made into sculptures and art.
The idea is simple, yet startlingly brilliant. Why destroy these materials when they can be reused? These materials are purchased for their functionality, why would we rid ourselves of our own materials thoughtlessly if the functionality is still intact?
“BRING is so much more than a “re-store”; they do so much to encourage and educate the community in how to lead more sustainable and eco-friendly lives,” says Slater.
BRING Recycling’s Planet Improvement Center stands on Franklin Boulevard in a colorful building made, of course, by recycled materials. its headquarter is surrounded by “The Garden of Earthly Delight”, a garden constructed by former University of Oregon students, inspired by BRING, to create a garden demonstrating responsible landscape techniques. Planters in the garden are made up of recycled materials too, including old metal garbage cans and leftover stadium light hoods.
The garden is designed to help community members learn to garden and build as sustainably as possible. For example the garden boasts systems that allow your garden to be hydrated by rainwater flowing off your roof, rather than from a hose.
BRING collaborates with other companies to create recycled and sustainably buildings on both the residential and commercial level, helping construct places like the Ecotrust Building (Jean Vollum Natural Capital Center) in the Pearl District of Portland. 98 percent of the materials used to make it are either from landfills, recycled, or reclaimed.
They give presentations to clubs, service organizations and community centers and lead “How To” workshops. They also visit K-12 classrooms throughout Lane County educating children about recycling and the environment.
Eugene paves the way as one of the “greenest” places in the country, and more importantly is determinedly “green” because the people care about the environment, not because it’s trendy, but because it’s important.
“BRING has such a positive and proactive approach to sustainability, similar to the mindset of most of the people of Eugene. And even if being eco-friendly isn’t the first thing on your mind, it’s still a great place to find cheap furniture, paint, hardware,” Slater said.
Perhaps its easier to overlook gems such as BRING in a city where everything glistens, but it’s important that we appreciate responsible business practices alongside environmental advocacy. BRING is giving the good people of Eugene the recycled materials necessary to build a greener, more responsible future.