The Opportunity Foundation of Central Oregon offers services to local businesses and households that help minimize the environmental impact that our daily activities generate. Their services provide many opportunities for recycling; everything from basic household items such as newspapers and cardboard to computer components and plastic. The Opportunity Foundation is a place where community partners can save money and leave a smaller environmental footprint.
Mike Caisse, Opportunity Foundation’s vocational director, says, “our definition of “sustainable” is using resources that are renewed at a rate equal to or greater than the rate at which they are consumed, as well as taking a long term view of the affects our various endeavors have on the environment. The Opportunity Foundation prides itself in providing meaningful work for individuals with disabilities. Providing a benefit to our environment is just icing on the cake.”
As consumers become savvier about the ‘green’ credentials of the businesses they support and seek more creative ways in which to use resources wisely, the Opportunity Foundation shares the following statistics.
• The Opportunity Foundation’s recycling programs have processed over 9.5 million pounds of material from 2009-13.
• As part of their recycling efforts, the “ecycling” program breaks down electronic components obtained from publically funded organizations and private parties into recyclables, such as copper and plastic. Since 2009, they’ve recycled more than 100,000 pounds of these materials.
• Thrift stores in Bend, Redmond and Madras run by the Opportunity Foundation take in large quantities of donations including clothing, appliances, furniture, sporting equipment, house wares, and books. Many of those items would normally end up in local landfills. What isn’t sold at the thrift stores, is baled, broken down into recyclable parts, or sold to other entities. Since 2009, this represents over 1 million pounds of clothing, etc. recycled.
• The Opportunity Foundation’s Redmond campus wood mill uses “knock down” (scrap) obtained from other wood product companies in the Northwest to manufacture many products, like finger joints made with scrap from a local truss manufacturing plant. From 2007 through 2013, they produced over 2 million board feet of finger joints, made by adults with disabilities, which were then sold on the open market. Other scrap wood is mixed into wood chips and sawdust which is then sold to make particle board. Some woodchips are made into bedding for animals, firewood and blocking material.
The Opportunity Foundation of Central Oregon is a non-profit organization founded in 1965 to provide services and support for persons with disabilities. We envision a world in which persons with disabilities are supported in their choices of jobs and places to live, and are continually encouraged to grow and become integral parts of the communities in which they live.
The Opportunity Foundation fosters supportive and interdependent relationships with its wider community, which enhances its work for persons with disabilities.
If you would like information regarding the recycling services provided by the Opportunity Foundation, call 541-548-2611
