As one of the founding organizations involved in the creation of GreenLane Sustainable Business Network, I am proud to extend an invitation for you to attend the GreenLane 1st Anniversary Event this coming Wednesday, January 27, from 6 PM to 8 PM held at the Northwest Community Credit Union Gateway location. Individuals as well as businesses are welcome to attend and learn more about our efforts to create a greener, more sustainable community.

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The Lane County Commissioners Trashbuster Awards were presented to recipients on November 10th in anticipation of National America Recycles Day (November 15). Selected were local community members, organizations and businesses that put their efforts toward reducing or preventing waste in our community.

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Thank you Lane County for selecting NextStep Recycling for Best Environmentally Friendly Business in Eugene at the Eugene Weekly Best of Eugene Awards. We love you too! We were honored to receive the award from Mayor sustainablity Kitty Piercy, and Eugene's fab blogger, Jaculynn Peterson, from MyEugene.com. An honor, to be sure. Thanks to everyone who voted. At NextStep, we'll continue to work to protect our environment and leveling the educational playing field for our community members!

Woo wee. We're excited to hear what our community has to say about the Eugene Weekly Best of Eugene Awards tonight! Join us at the Eugene Weekly Best of Eugene Awards Show at 7:30 pm at the McDonald Theatre. Tickets are $10 at EW or through TicketsWest, and benefit White Bird Clinic. NextStep is one of three runner's up for the Best Eugene Green Business. Who's gonna be chosen?

There will be music and festivities. It should be super fun! Hope to see you there.

Sometimes when I am giving a talk to community members, I am asked why NextStep volunteers and staff work so hard to get technology back into the community. The argument is that buying new computers, telephones, lamps, radios - doesn't really cost that much. Why spend all this energy refurbishing and testing? The new Oregon electronics recycling law is all about recycling the hardware - not refurbishing it. The answer is simple. The resource exists right here - right now.

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To the Energy and the Environment Committee members:
With the average life of a computer now between 2-3 years, obsolete electronics equipment is becoming an increasing risk to the environment. A United Nations study found that to manufacture an average desktop computer and 17-inch CRT monitor requires about 1.8 tons of raw materials, primarily fossil fuels, chemicals, and water. The study also found that extending a computer's operating life through upgrades or donations for reuse saved 5-20 times more energy than recycling the computer.

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