AOR

AOR Conference 2007 Report

• Attended by Elizabeth, Ali and Joren*

• July 21^st to 23^rd *

This conference was of great benefit in several ways. We learned a lot about other organizations with similar goals and found ways to engage with them and exchange expertise. It helped to assure our colleges that we are still a healthy functioning organization even though Oso (previously their only point of contact) is no longer on our staff. We did explain that he is still an important part of Free Geek and is an active board member. This was also an excellent year for us to participate in the conference since we could explore the impact of the new e-wast legislation.

1. A little help from our friends

• We should communicate regularly with other non-profit, e-waste reuse and recyclers (eg NextStep in Eugene) and StRUT (Greg Sampson was the director) and try to have unified voice for reuse on the DEQ e-waste implementation.

• Daniel Blue from the Center for Urban Studies-PSU will hook us up with Clearstreams (clear recycling bins for events) for recycling at Geek Fair.

• Megan Stine from the Office of Sustainable Development, Recycle at Work Program to get basic recycling program for the kitchen and office areas.

• Eileen Stapp and Rosalynn from Clackamas County may be able to help us in some way if we decide to set up a pick up station in Clackamas.

1. E-waste legislation

This was discussed in several sessions at the conference.

• Product Stewardship- Sego spoke about the Take It Back Network that entails manufactures taking back their products at the end of life. It is then left up to the manufactures to ??? with it.

• The DEQ has a mission to follow the Reduce, Reuse, Recycle hierarchy. This will be good for us with the new e-waste legislation.

• We spoke to Craig from Total Reclaim about the effects of the e-waste legislation on both of our organizations. He said that it has caused a lot of uncertainty in the recycling industry. For Total Reclaim, there are problem with the manufactures in WA contracting with the biggest least expense (and probably least responsible) recyclers. There is also more and more recyclers starting up, so more competition can be expected. Total Reclaim sells a lot of their plastic to China and Craig expects the demand remain high, but he is concerned that less e-waste will go to smaller recyclers with the new legislation in WA and OR.

Recommended action:

• Call Megan Stine from Office of Sustainable Development, Recycling at Work Program to set up a good recycling program for our kitchen and office waste. (eBeth left a message for Megan)

• We should put a fold down display booth for tabling events on our website's wishlist so that we can participate in recycling trade shows and more.

• Call Jan Whitworth from the DEQ to find out how we can get on the Advisory Committee for implementing the E-Waste Legislation.

• We should become AOR members and send Liane to the next annual conference.

• Everyone should read the “Omnivore's Dilemma” and “The Ecology of Commerce.”

• We should plan a field trip to visit “Total Reclaim,” Craig said that we are welcome.

• Have a serious talk about pick up sites around the greater Portland area.

• We should apply for a grant from DEQ to be able to start pick up sites.

• We should create and advertise a hard drive wiping certification (Ask about legalities) to attract organizations that have serious security concerns.

• We should invite all of our new friends to Geek Fair!

All the power point presentations will be displayed on the AOR website, http://www.aorr.org <http://www.aorr.org/>

Contacts:

• Daniel Bluerecylclers

Center for Urban Studies-PSU

Program Manager for Community Environmental Services

phone: 503-725-8448

email: blued at pdx dot edu

Rosalynn Greene

Recycling Specialist

Recycling at Work Program

phone: 503-353-4465

email: Rgreene at co dot clackamas dot or dot us

Craig Lorch

Total Reclaim Inc.

phone: 206-343-7443

email: clorch at totalreclaim dot com

Sego Jackson, Principal Planner

Snohomish County Solid Waste Management Division

425-388-6490

Office of Sustainable Development

503-823-7202

Eileen Stapprecylclers

Waste Reduction Education Coordinator

phone: 503-353-4454

email: eileens at co dot clackamas dot or dot us

Amy Wilson

Metro

Waste Reduction Education

phone: 503-797-1521

email: wilsona at metro dot dst dot or dot us

Jan Whitworth

DEQ

phone: 503-229-6434

AOR Conference 2012 Report

Attended: Liane (Collective), Darren (Collective), Mark Ralston (Board), Nick Isbister (Recycling Intern - Came on scholarship) July 7th-9th

We again attended AOR as A/V support and brought with us:

• 2 laptops (although three would have been better)
• 2 projectors (need to test in advance)
• Assorted cables (could bring fewer of these, check connectors for compatibility)
• Shiny laptop for silent auction

We should also have brought:

• 1 or 2 computer speaker sets (for last-minute audio)
• Laptop remotes would be helpful, AOR should procure for next year

Generally, it was valuable to have the travel time with two Collective members and Board member to discuss the state of Free Geek, etc. It was also an excellent idea to have someone from the Board, as well as staff and a volunteer available to represent us. As they only run three concurrent sessions at a time, it might make sense to send down a similar makeup of four people if we're attending next year. This way, we could have three people operating A/V when necessary and still have another person available to attend/interact with sessions or help run between areas. Would also be possible, but not necessary, to have Collective member, BU staff, Board member and volunteer to get whole range of experience.

While many of the sessions were not geared toward a business like ours, I feel it is very important for us to continue to attend to keep the voice of non-profits in the conversation. Otherwise, it is possible that waste legislation and education will bypass non-profits that are well-appointed to serve their communities. Some sessions that were helpful to attend included: DEQ's 2050 Vision for Materials Management in Oregon; Where are the People in the Profit, Planet, and People Equation? Part 1: A Conversation About Social Equity and How to Achieve It; From Packaging to Pyrolysis, A Full Spectrum Look at Plastics; MRF Trends and Issues; Legislative Session (a review of recycling legislation in past year); Lessons Learned in Education, Outreach, and Marketing.

This was a good opportunity to foster relationships with our current recyclers and city/county/state workers. Although our conference fees were waved, there is still a considerable expense for travel, food and lodging.

Liane's input:

While the AOR conference seems to be geared toward businesses that do other recycling work than Free Geek(curbside collections, bottle recycling) participation by Free Geek should keep happening. Especially as OR e-cycles laws are evolving, Free Geek needs to be somewhat connected so that reuse stays part of the conversation, as well as the OR e-cycles collection and recycling model adaptable to groups like Free Geek. It is quite an expense to attend even without the conference fee, but at this time the only way Free Geek is still connected to some of the people instrumental in driving the legislation and rules (Scott Klarg from Metro!, staff from the DEQ). At some point staff or volunteers may be asked again to sit on a panel (Jen Higgins in 2011) or contribute in some other way. If Free Geek is not represented, it's voice won't be heard. Also, AOR as an organization is involved in all sorts of recycling, from volunteer Master Recyclers to big time recycling collectors, and Free Geek fits in there well as a organization that involves volunteers.