DEQ awarded $1.2 million in Reduce, Reuse, Reimagine grant funds to 14 recipients in 11 counties across Oregon that stood out for their vision, creativity, and potential to make a meaningful difference in waste prevention. DEQ received 110 applications from across the state in which applicants demonstrated innovation, dedication, and community impact in their project proposals.
“The grant program supports statewide efforts to reduce the environmental and human health impacts of materials at all stages of their lifecycle,” said DEQ Grants Coordinator, Haley Miller. “After a pause in 2020, our team has been hard at work reigniting a program that can more effectively invest in community solutions to the environmental, social and health impacts created by production, consumption, use and disposal of materials.”
The 2024 Reduce, Reuse, Reimagine Grant recipients are:
Eastern Region
- Central Oregon Environmental Center (Bend) -- Reuseable food serviceware at food cart pod
- Klamath Works (Klamath Falls) -- Updates to construction materials thrift store
Northwest Region:
- Bold Reuse (Portland) - Reusable food ware program for Providence Park, Oregon Convention Center, Moda Center, and Veterans Memorial Coliseum
- City of Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability (Portland) - Deconstruction Program expansion and updates to commercial deconstruction that emphasize waste prevention for recovered materials
- Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization (Portland) – Reusable goods market accepting and distributing household items, furniture, and personal care items that would otherwise end up in landfills
- University of Portland (Portland) - Collect and repurpose usable items generated during student move-in and move-out
Western Region
- Be The Change Rogue (Ashland) -- Rogue-To-Go development and expansion of take-out reusable dishware
- Benton County Government (Benton County) -- Waste prevention of single-use items at community events
- BRING (Eugene) -- Construction site material recovery
- Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Community of Oregon (Grande Ronde) -- Reusable dishware for childcare center and laser engravers to move away from plastic product labels
- Garten (Salem) -- Modernizing Refurb Lab to increase reuse of hard drives, laptops and computers
- Lane County Government (Lane County) -- Durable dishware and water bottle refill stations for large-scale events in Lane County
- McMinnville Tool Library (McMinnville) -- Tool lending for community empowerment and sustainability
- Oregon Cascades West Council of Government Meals on Wheels (Albany) -- Reusable container program for Meals on Wheels sites in Benton County
“DEQ’s Materials Management Program extends its congratulations to all recipients, and gratitude to everyone who applied,” said Sanne Stienstra, DEQ Materials Management Program manager. “Your work enriches our collective efforts to reduce the environmental and human health impacts of materials at all stages of their life cycle.”
The Reduce, Reuse, Reimagine grant will have a different focus for its funding each year. This year’s focus was waste prevention. Just like with health, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Waste prevention provides more benefits by reducing the consumption of natural resources and generation of waste before something becomes trash or pollution. Waste prevention activities reduce waste by changing product design, by using less, by using something longer, or by repairing it.
The Materials Management Program is focused on reducing the environmental and human impacts when managing materials at every stage of life, from design to disposal. Read about the program’s 2050 Vision.
Media contact: Katie Romano, DEQ Materials Management, 503-875-7915, kaitlin.romano@deq.oregon.gov
Communication and Outreach Specialist
Materials Management
503-875-7915
