Eugene, Oregon community action: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 15:06, 4 September 2017

Eugene is a city of the Pacific Northwest located in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette Rivers, about 50 miles (80 km) east of the Oregon Coast. The city's population for 2014 was estimated to be 160,561 by the US Census. It is the second most populous city in the state (after Portland) and the county seat of Lane County. Eugene is home to the University of Oregon and Lane Community College. The city is also noted for its natural environment, recreational opportunities (especially bicycling, running/jogging, rafting, and kayaking), and focus on the arts. Eugene's official slogan is "A Great City for the Arts and Outdoors". It is also referred to as the "Emerald City" and as "Track Town, USA" ^W

Sustainability initiatives

Initiatives by topic

Biodiversity

Cascade Mycological Society - Lane County Audubon - McKenzie River Trust - McKenzie Watershed Council - Mount Pisgah Arboretum - Native Plant Society of Oregon, Emerald Chapter - Native Forest Council - Walama Restoration Project

Climate action

Climate Justice League

Community involvement

Eugene is noted for its "community inventiveness." Many U.S. trends in community development originated in Eugene. The University of Oregon's participatory planning process, known as The Oregon Experiment, was the result of student protests in the early 1970s.

In the 1970s, Eugene was packed with cooperative and community projects. It still has small natural food stores in many neighborhoods, some of the oldest student cooperatives in the country, and alternative schools have been part of the school district since 1971. The old Grower's Market, downtown near the Amtrak depot, is the only food cooperative in the U.S. with no employees. It is possible to see Eugene's trend-setting non-profit tendencies in much newer projects, such as the Tango Center and the Center for Appropriate Transport. In 2006, an initiative began to create a tenant-run development process for downtown Eugene.

In the fall of 2003, neighbors noticed that "an unassuming two-acre remnant orchard tucked into the Friendly Area Neighborhood" had been put up for sale by its owner, a resident of New York City. Learning that a prospective buyer had plans to build several houses on the property, they formed a nonprofit organization called Madison Meadow in June 2004 in order to buy the property and "preserve it as undeveloped space in perpetuity." In 2007 their effort was named Third Best Community Effort by the Eugene Weekly, and by the end of 2008 they had raised enough money to purchase the property.

The City of Eugene has an active Neighborhood Program. Several neighborhoods are known for their green activism. Friendly Neighborhood has a highly popular neighborhood garden established on the right of way of a street never built. There are a number of community gardens on public property. Amazon Neighborhood has a former church turned into a community center. Whiteaker hosts a housing co-op that dates from the early 1970s that has re-purposed both their parking lots into food production and play space. An unusual eco-village with natural building techniques and large shared garden can be found in Jefferson Westside neighborhood. A several block area in the River Road Neighborhood is known as a permaculture hotspot with an increasing number of suburban homes trading grass for garden, installing rain water catchment systems, food producing landscapes and solar retrofits. Several sites have planted gardens by removing driveways. A 65-tree filbert grove on public property is being restored by citizen volunteers in cooperation with the city of Eugene. There are deepening social and economic networks in the neighborhood. ^W

Organically Grown Company, the largest distributor of organic fruits and vegetables in the northwest, started in Eugene in 1978 as a non-profit co-op for organic farmers. Notable local food processors, many of whom manufacture certified organic products, include Golden Temple (Yogi Tea), Merry Hempsters and Springfield Creamery (Nancy's Yogurt & owned by the Kesey Family), and Mountain Rose Herbs. ^W

Reduce, reuse, repair and recycle

BRING Recycling - Materials Exchange Center for Community Arts

NextStep ReUse (also known as NextStep Recycling) is a non-profit organization based in Eugene, Oregon. Hundreds of volunteers have provided over 136,000 hours of service refurbishing and recycling electronics. To date, 20,000 computers have been refurbished and more than 6.2-million pounds of electronic waste have been recycled. ^W

Sustainable transport activism

Center for Appropriate Transport

Towards sustainable economies

Eugene's Saturday Market, open every Saturday from April through November, was founded in 1970 as the first "Saturday Market" in the United States. It is adjacent to the Lane County Farmer's Market in downtown Eugene. All vendors must create or grow all their own products. The market reappears as the "Holiday Market" between Thanksgiving and New Year's in the Lane County Events Center at the fairgrounds. ^W

Trees, woodland and forest

Friends of Buford Park and Mt. Pisgah - Friends of Trees, Eugene

References Template:Attrib sca ref

@@ Line 4: / Line 4: @@
 {{Photowantedsca}}
-Eugene is a city of the Pacific Northwest located in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette Rivers, about 50 miles (80 km) east of the Oregon Coast.
+Eugene is a city of the Pacific Northwest located in the U.S. state of [[Oregon]]. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette Rivers, about 50 miles (80 km) east of the Oregon Coast.
 The city's population for 2014 was estimated to be 160,561 by the US Census. It is the second most populous city in the state (after Portland) and the county seat of Lane County.
 Eugene is home to the University of Oregon and Lane Community College. The city is also noted for its natural environment, recreational opportunities (especially bicycling, running/jogging, rafting, and kayaking), and focus on the arts. Eugene's official slogan is "A Great City for the Arts and Outdoors". It is also referred to as the "Emerald City" and as "Track Town, USA" {{W|Eugene, Oregon}}