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Dec 10Ways to reduce, reuse, and recycle in Portland, Oregon
aka: punk rock ways to upcycle your surplus and scavenge from others
RECYCLE & BUY: Gift wrap, craft supplies, and paper goods
School and Community Reuse Action Project – SCRAP is totally badass. It’s this warehouse full of categorized goods — office supplies, art project pieces, calendars from bygone years, piles of scrap fabric, photo frames, and miscellaneous plastic bits. Priced at $0.10-$0.25 per piece, or sometimes $1.00 per inch, these materials not only create the opportunity for forgotten bits to avoid the landfill, but give local crafters the opportunity to find affordable source materials. Donate any crafty, office-y, paper-ish bits to SCRAP!
SCRAP creative reuse center offers materials to make gift wrap personalized and unique, including craft items like fabric pieces, bottle caps, corks, and dozens of others. Save bows, ribbons, and gift bags to reuse next year. (503-294-0769, 2915 NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., 10-6 dailyscrapaction.org)
RECYCLE: Building materials
The ReBuilding Center
(3625 N. Mississippi Ave., 503-331-1877. Mon – Sat 9 – 6, Sun 10 – 5)
The ReBuilding Center is a project of Our United Villages, a non-profit community enhancement organization. “The ReBuilding Center accepts the region’s largest volume of used building and remodeling materials, providing resources for the benefit of communities with the goal of promoting sustainable practices.”
free pick up service for larger loads and specialty items.
The types of materials accepted (see list for specifics)
Lumber, trim, and siding, Doors, Glass and Mirror, Windows, Kitchen and Bathroom Cabinets, Sinks, Toilets, Appliances, Furnaces, Woodstoves, Tubs, Fencing, Floor Coverings, Lighting
If you’re doing work on your house, the ReBuilding Center also offers affordable Deconstruction Services. It’s also a great place to shop for affordable pieces to upcycle your home building project materials.
RECYCLE: home goods
(communitywarehouse.org, 3969 NE MLK Jr. Blvd daily 10-4 or 8745 SW Canyon Lane Tu-Sa 11-4, 503-235-8786,
donation@communitywarehouse.org)
Community Warehouse takes donations of home goods to help people in need get set up in apartments. They will even pick up large items (but ask for a $20 donation to help cover the cost of the truck). Obviously all donated items should be clean and ready to use by individuals moving into small apartments.
- furniture
- kitchenware
- linens
- household items (fans, space heaters, vacuums, brooms, telephones, irons)
CHECK THE LIST for items they do not take.
RECYCLE & BUY: building supplies, household goods, miscellany
(www.pdxrestore.org, 66 SE Morrison St., 503.283.624, 9-5pm Tues-Sat)
Re-Store (Habitat for Humanity, many locations throughout the US) have stores that accept household recyclables to sell in order to support Habitat for Humanity projects in the area. “We keep usable materials out of the waste stream and into home building, remodeling, and creative arts projects.”
Shop: We have two locations, one in Portland, OR and one in Vancouver, WA. Come visit us. New goods daily. Treasures are waiting.
Donate: Individuals and businesses can donate new and gently used materials to our stores. We accept donations both large and small.
Volunteer: The Portland and Vancouver ReStores need the help of volunteers like you. We have plenty of opportunities for both individuals and groups. Find out more on our Volunteer page.
RECYCLE: your nasty ol’ fridge
ENERGY TRUST OREGON fridge recycling program
If you give up your old clunker fridge or freezer before 12/31/2010, you could get $50 (normally $30?). More info here.
“Refrigerators built before 1993 can use 2-3 times more energy than new high-efficiency models. If you recycle and replace your pre-1993 fridge and replace it with a new ENERGY STAR qualified model, you can save more than $100 a year on energy costs. Discontinue using a second fridge in your garage or basement and you can save up to $200 a year. When you recycle your old refrigerator or freezer, 95 percent of its components are reused, and the toxins and ozone-destroying gases from its foam insulation are disposed of safely.”
RECYCLE: gadgets – computers, monitors, and TVs
“Oregon e-cycles is a free electronics recycling program for computers, monitors and televisions. 1-800-532-9253 oregonecycles.org.
Some of you might find the articles on avoiding data theft and obliterating hard drive data of note as you cycle through electronics in your home or office.
RECYCLE: Plastic bags & packaging, electronics, rechargeable batteries, athletic shoes…
Far West Fibers has seven drop-off locations around the region.
(503-255-2299, farwestfibers.com)
Electronics: NO CHARGES FOR 7 ITEMS OR FEWER (excluding businesses). Copiers, Miscellaneous Mixed Electronics (@ 25 cents a pound), Televisions (@ 30 cents a pound), keyboard, mice, cables ($1.00 each), Telephone ($2.00 each), VCR, CD Players, DVD Players ($4.00 each), CPU, Printers, Scanners, Fax, Stereo Components ($5.00 each), Monitors, Laptops, Microwaves ($10.00 each) and Cell Phones, Ink Jet Cartridges (no charge).
RECYCLE: office surplus and school supplies!
Schoolhouse Supplies runs a free store for teachers to find classroom supplies.
Monday – Friday 9am – 5pm (schoolhousesupplies.org, 503.249.9933, 2735 NE 82nd Ave., info@schoolhousesupplies.org)
Most needed items:
Pencils, Spiral Notebooks, Erasers, Glue Sticks, Pocket Folders, Paper, Crayons, Markers, Colored Pencils, Scissors, Rulers, Pencil Sharpeners, Bottled Glue
Office supplies they like:
Reamed copy paper, Staplers, Tape dispensers, Post-it notes, Tape, Pencil sharpeners, Rubber bands, Push pins, Highlighters, Dry erase markers and boards, Index cards, Desk organizers, Filing products, Binders (1/2-3″ spine, without printing), 3-Hole punches
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Create more, consume less.
March 19th, 2011 at 1:11 pm
[...] to Portland-area readers: We have a TON of punk rock resources for inexpensive goods and supplies, including SCRAP on MLK and the ReBuilding Center on Mississippi Ave. I’d love to learn about [...]
March 20th, 2011 at 12:00 am
[...] Don’t forget the retail-style salvage and reuse options in Portland. A growing list of these resources is available here. [...]
April 27th, 2011 at 8:32 pm
[...] near Multnomah Falls! Dining at Farm Café! I also shared a few of my favorite places – SCRAP reuse center, Powell’s Bookstore, and Redbird Studio. It was a wonderfully exciting four [...]