(Photos courtesy of The Environmental Center)
BREAKING NEWS!
The mystery of the lost reusable dishware goes unsolved! After years of faithful service, hundreds of events, thousands of uses and saving the planet one fork at a time, four of our lime-green reusable dishware kits have gone… missing! This hilarious occurrence is one that could only happen here in Bend.
Here’s what happened: After a thoughtful low-waste high school reunion on Friday, a helpful volunteer was instructed to load the dishware into their friend’s unlocked blue Subaru. The issue is, we are in Bend, there are A LOT of unlocked blue Subarus. Our precious bins were lovingly placed into the wrong car, belonging to a complete stranger.
With Bend being 60% Subarus and predominantly blue, locating which blue Subaru driver unintentionally got our reusable kits is the question!
We are asking all Central Oregonians: If you or someone you know owns a blue Subaru, can you check the trunk? If you or your friends find four large plastic totes filled with lime green plates, bowls, cups and utensils, please know you are not going crazy, and those belong to The Environmental Center! They’re part of a low-waste hero squad and we’d love to reunite them with their home.
Any information about the missing dish kits please email kavi@envirocenter.org, or stop by The Environmental Center and ask for the “Lost Dish Department” (just kidding, we don’t have that… yet). To help locate them, we’ve included a few facts about the program below!
Help us bring these bins home!
Information on the Reusable Dishware Program:
Did you know just one paper plate consumes 8 gallons of water to produce? Reusable dishware is better environmentally across the board, including in terms of water usage.
- The reusable dishware program allows anyone in the community to borrow up to 100 sets of dishware (plates, bowls, cups, utensils) for free. Be it a birthday party, potluck, BBQ, group gathering, or community event, folks can save money and reduce waste by borrowing our reusable dishware. They simply submit a request online, pick them up, use them for their event, wash them (dishwasher safe!) and return them. Easy peasy, barring any mix-ups on the blue Subaru end.
- The program began in June 2022 and just recently completed three full years without a placed-in-the-wrong-blue-Subaru incident.
- 336 kits have been borrowed for 203 events, reaching an estimated 8,400 folks, and saving tens of thousands of single-use serviceware.
- You can find more information on the Reusable Dishware Program and all Resources for Low-Waste Events at org
The Reusable Dishware Program is offered by The Environmental Center’s Rethink Waste Project with support from Deschutes County Solid Waste and additional support from Republic Services and Cascade Disposal. The Rethink Waste Project envisions a community that understands the upstream and downstream impacts of using Earth’s resources and makes responsible decisions about the consumption, use and disposal of materials.