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By Beth Halverson
Rethink Business Program Coordinator
BRING has sought to meet Lane County’s needs since 1971. From kickstarting recycling to remaining the destination for reuse and reimagining everyday items, BRING’s central mission is living well on our planet. Our technical assistance for businesses dates to 2010, when we began offering effective strategies to improve sustainable practices.
Executive Director Sonya Carlson worked with Oregon’s Department of Environmental Quality to utilize Federal Pollution Prevention funding while focusing on the National Emphasis Areas of Automotive Manufacturing and Maintenance and Food and Beverage Manufacturing and Processing (FBM). This project marked an exciting expansion of the Rethink Business Program’s work. Spencer Perillo led efforts to extend EcoBiz Automotive interventions into rural Lane County, building on our existing expertise, while I researched and developed recommendations for FBM programs across Oregon.
As a superfan of food and beverages, exploring interventions for FBMs was enjoyable and surprising! Our principal focus was to meet businesses where they are. Determining effective outreach was pivotal: showing up with a flyer and a smile allowed direct communication with owners. We secured six businesses in Lane County and nine more throughout Oregon. Each FBM taught us how difficult success in this industry is: these companies have strict requirements, work hard to take care of their employees, and have thin margins to contend with constantly evolving competition and an ever-changing business climate. Each FBM would love to make equipment investments or enhance sustainability, but they need help.
We strategized grant funds to prioritize direct business investment between $500-$1000 to implement technical assistance. We offered “Try Before You Buy,” a trial of cleaning products that had the EPA Safer Choice or Green Seal certification. We pursued a tailored energy efficiency project to support the business in its short-term goals for long-term savings.
Palace Coffee | Bakery: Rethink Business Steward
While all businesses were impressive, we really enjoyed supporting local favorite Palace Coffee | Bakery. Lisa + Billy Truelove care deeply for their employees and community and were excited to trial cleaning products. An EWEB Energy Audit ensured they captured EWEB rebates for the LED light upgrade to reduce operating costs and BRING furnished lights to defray the installation expense.
Palace enrolled in the City of Eugene’s Love Food Not Waste program, allowing them to begin collecting food waste in their kitchen to be turned into compost. We then focused on the incredible opportunity to make a sizeable impact by reducing refrigerant waste. According to the North American Sustainable Refrigeration Council, refrigerants can have up to 4,000 times the impact of CO2 in the atmosphere. Therefore, any reduction in use or waste has huge environmental returns.
For Palace, applying reflective window film in the upstairs storage area and moving the placement of several cooling appliances reduced the electrical load through a reduced ambient temperature. We ensured their walk-in cooler operated efficiently with good gasket seals and regular compressor cleaning. These interventions enhanced business resiliency by lowering utility bills and extending equipment life. Palace achieved BRING’s Rethink Business Steward one-year endorsement, and we are supporting them in 2025 to take their next sustainable step!
We would love to support your business with our Rethink program: reach out today!
About the author
Beth is a recent addition to the BRING Team. After working in mental health for over a decade, she wanted to turn her passion project for sustainability and local community support into actionable change. As a Eugene Environmental Film Festival team member, she interacted with BRING’s Director of Education and Outreach Emily Reynolds and learned of the BRING Rethink Business Program. “Offering change with a helping hand” is her mantra: she is passionate about supporting Lane County in every way she can! Reach Beth at [email protected].
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