One of the many dispatches I get from Deschutes County came today about Knott Landfill's free tire collection event coming up on September 19th. I don't personally worry much about tires, but I like to know when these free collection events are since I've been known to get rid of other things...

Residents can dispose of unwanted tires free at a collection event scheduled on Saturday, September 19 at the Knott Landfill Recycling & Transfer Facility. This annual event benefits the community by giving citizens an opportunity to dispose of used tires in a responsible manner.

The recycling event takes place at Knott Landfill, 61050 SE 27th St. in Bend, on Saturday, September 19, from 7:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Citizens are encouraged to take this opportunity to clean up their property as well as neighboring lands, which helps to serve as a deterrent to the West Nile virus.

Tires both on-and-off the rim can be dropped off, however, no tires over 24.5” (wheel diameter) can be accepted. No farm equipment tires, tires from businesses, fleet tires, or heavy equipment tires will be accepted. A limit of 12 tires per household has been set so if you have more than that please contact the Solid Waste office for approval.

For more information, please contact the Deschutes County Solid Waste Office at
317-3163 or visit the Solid Waste website at www.co.deschutes.or.us/solidwaste.

Monday kicks off Commute Options Week, the annual week-long driving alternative campaign "encouraging the use of sustainable modes of transport and raising awareness on the environmental impacts of citizens’ modal choice." From the 15th through Sunday the 21st there's a whole slew of events people can get involved in, like:

• Ride BAT (Bend Area Transit) all day for free on Monday the 15th
• Bike Repair Clinic at Pine Mountain Sports on Tuesday the 16th
• Spring Fling Fashion Show at Parilla Grill on Friday the 19th

How will you be getting to work?

This weekend marks the end of Riverfest, and today is the Deschutes River Clean-Up—I'm writing this right under the wire as the event starts at 9am (view the events here):

Deschutes River Clean-Up
Come and join the Upper Deschutes Watershed Council to keep our river and its riparian area clean! Do your part during the Deschutes River Clean-Up and feel great about contributing to the health of the river. Meet at the Les Schwab Amphitheatre at 9:00 AM for bagels, coffee, & juice. Learn about all of the different clean-up sites, and then head out at 10:00 AM with a team leader for a few hours of service, smiles, and stewardship. Presented this year by the Oregon State Lottery and made possible thanks to valuable assistance from the Deschutes County, the City of Bend, and many dedicated site hosts.
Time: 9:00 AM – 2:00 PM
Information: 633-3765

A couple of weeks ago I blogged about the Badlands Brewery Crawl, an effort by the Oregon Natural Desert Association to raise awareness to get the Badlands east of Bend designated as a Wilderness Area. Now, ONDA is pushing April 1st as a "Day of Action" to further the process:

ONDA.org announces its April 1st Online Day of Action:

The Oregon Badlands can become a Wilderness NOW
If we show a huge upsurge in public support!

Join Hundreds of Oregonians TODAY as we coordinate a mass movement of voices in support of Badlands Wilderness.

Click here to take action.

Whats an online day of action?

• It's your chance to take 1 minute and have the impact of many thousands.
• It's your chance to make your voice heard with hundreds of others.
• & It's our chance to push this effort over the edge and make the Badlands a true Wilderness!

The Badlands will only become a Wilderness if we show Senator Wyden (our chief ally) that he HAS the support he needs to move this proposal forward.

Home to 1,000 year old Junipers, rare and unique wildlife, and ancient Native American pictographs, this pristine, high desert landscape is just 15 miles from downtown Bend an area that has tripled in size in the past decade. If we want to keep this precious wild place for the generations of Oregonians that will continue to move here, visit here, and prosper here we need to protect wilderness.

Take 1 minute and help to protect the Badlands forever!

That’s our opportunity today.

This came in as a press release and seems like a cool event, even though it's the first time I've heard of a brewery crawl in a grassroots campaign like this. They'd welcome people from the media, too.

(Incidentally, the other two breweries are Deschutes and Bend Brewing.)

The Oregon Natural Desert Association is on the move, amping up its campaign to protect the Badlands of Central Oregon as an official Wilderness this spring and on Thursday, March 27th will host a Brewery Crawl for the Badlands.

Just 15 miles east of Bend, the Badlands is home to 1,000 year-old Juniper trees, unique wildlife, exceptional spring wildflowers, and incredible lava flow formations. But as our community continues to grow, it is vital that we protect this amazing area as one of our last wild places.

Right now Bend has its best opportunity to preserve the Badlands as a Wilderness and so, the time is now for fans of the Badlands to show their support and take action to preserve this priceless resource for future generations.

Join ONDA on March 27th for a ‘Badlands Brewery Crawl.’ Starting at five o’clock at the Silver Moon Brewery on Greenwood and moving to two more fine brewpubs downtown, ONDA will be generating important visibility and action for the Badlands all night along the way. Come toast the High Desert and celebrate this effort to protect such an amazing wild place in Central Oregon with ONDA on March 27th!

And right now what can you do? Go to www.onda.org and check out our new action website when you click “take action for the Badlands” on the right.

This came through my email on Friday, but it's worth posting. Several times a year, Knott Landfill has a free collection event for various things; this time it's tires. These events are a good deal; otherwise you can end up with a hefty bill for recycling.

The link to this event is also here.

Residents can dispose of unwanted tires free at a collection event scheduled for Saturday, March 8 at the Knott Landfill Recycling & Transfer Facility. This annual event benefits the community by giving citizens an opportunity to dispose of used tires in a responsible manner.

Citizens are encouraged to take this opportunity to clean up their property as well as neighboring lands, which helps to serve as a deterrent to the West Nile virus.

The recycling event takes place at Knott Landfill, 61050 SE 27th St. in Bend, on Saturday, March 8, from 7:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Tires both on-and-off the rim can be dropped off, however, no tires over 24.5" (wheel diameter) can be accepted. No farm equipment tires, tires from businesses, fleet tires, or heavy equipment tires will be accepted.

For more information, please contact the Solid Waste Office at 317-3163 or visit the Solid Waste website at www.co.deschutes.or.us/solidwaste.

Dave sends me a pointer to The Green Gathering, coming up this next Saturday October 20th:

[O]n this one-time and one-stop only tour, organizations and individuals will be coming together to have fun while building community and learning about green energy alternatives.

In order to build conscious community in Central Oregon, the day will be full of interactive events. The activities will be organized around a two-story dome, outfitted with hammocks, cushions, and couches. Free coffee will be available to you whilst listening to the melodies of The David Bowers Colony. They will be playing live music from noon-2pm, followed by an open-mic. The entire event will be solar powered compliments of The Giggling Gardener.

Outside the dome, the Bend Bike Co-op will be holding a clinic, community radio will be recording the day's festivities, and Avatierre and friends of the Juniper Forest will be hosting a poetry booth. BlueSky, ONDA, and other nonprofits will also be there chatting about what they're up to.

It's at Troy Park downtown—that's the park on Bond Street next to McMenamins (which seems to be largely used as a dog park?), and takes place from 11 to 3.

Suzanna Johnson writes in with a good cause to promote: Energy Independence Month.

In an effort to not wait for legislation but rather light the fire under our community to choose renewable and more efficient energy sources, five local non-profits are collaborating on a month long series of events known collectively as Energy Independence Month.

Kicking off this week (June 18th) with the Commute Options Week, the events run the gamut from fun to more serious. The Art of Energy Independence Fair (July 14th and 15th) will occur as part of the Bend Summer Festival; Northwest Earth Institute is offering a discussion course on global warming and personal choices; Oregon Paleo Lands Institute has a number of tours and trips; 3E Strategies and reSource have several presentations with local and visiting experts. All the details are on the website.

From the site:

Energy Independence Month is an initiative to empower the citizens of Central Oregon to begin the process of creating a model energy independent community. Our intention is to rally a sense of urgency and empowerment about our nation’s need to transition to a cleaner, energy independent future.

We will deliver a series of events, publications and action campaigns that address practical ways to reduce fossil fuel dependency, increase energy efficiency, increase development of local renewable energy resources and establish community and economic development practices that reduce energy demand and greenhouse gas emissions.