Bonneville Environmental Foundation

Yea for May! There’s been way more sun and far less rain. Perhaps that’s why May is National Bike to Work Month. Since I started at BEF in January there has been a signifigant increase in the number of bikes in the basement and on the bike racks outside when I get to work. Here’s a photo I snapped, excited that nearly all of our bicycle parking spaces had been filled. From front to back there is, my bike, Eva’s, Randy’s, and two bikes who’s owner I’m not sure of, probably Michelle and one other mystery rider.

Among our many traditions at BEF (including cookie day on Wednesdays, the annual June corn dog eating contest, and the birthday stamp… more on that some other time), we have a Friday afternoon staff meeting (fondly known as “Beer Thirty”– which starts at 3:30pm every Friday).  This is a shot of a small, small number of our staffers.  From the bottom left, around the table clockwise:  Pat Nye (Sales team), Dave Lettero (solar schools team), Marilyn Roach (marketing & sales team), Bryce Smith (solar schools team), & Joanna Gilson (admin team) (Sara Reinhardt is in between Bryce & Joanna but you can’t see her in this shot & I can not figure out how to upload another image to this post… the more I do these posts, the better I’ll get!).  In today’s beer thirty staff meeting, Bryce & Dave told us about the crazy band they’re going to see tonight– a cover band/ reincarnation of the Grateful Dead.  Joanna wowed and amazed the table with her tales of actual Grateful Dead shows.  Perhaps Bryce & Dave will post an update on Monday & tell us about the show?

It seems that you cannot turn on the TV these days without watching an advertisement for a green product or service. Some advertisements are quite clever and from a marketing perspective I admire their ability to communicate a clear and transparent message about a topic like renewable energy or sustainability.

I thought that I would share a couple of advertisements that inject a little creativity and humor into their messages. This spoof pokes fun at the “clean coal” ads that have been running lately. I have to admit that I personally cringe whenever I see the “clean coal” and “clean oil company” messages splashed all over TV. Finally someone thought of a clever spoof!

Here’s an ingenious wind energy advertisement from an investment firm:

I’ve been with BEF for one full year now.  In the last year, I’ve come to the very vivid realization that a significant part of my team’s job (the marketing team) is to bring to life the amazing adventures and successes of our colleagues throughout the organization.  It’s one thing to try to bring to life these stories using words… but, let’s face it, so many things about carbon offsets, renewable energy generation and watershed restoration are confusing to folks… so, we’re constantly pushing ourselves to discover more interesting, visual ways of bringing the stories to life.  Recently, we decided to venture into the world of video story telling.  Through a bit of luck we stumbled across an amazing, talented group of local film makers called SandyMontana.  Most of the SandyMontana folks just graduated from film school here in Portland– so, they’re high on talent & enthusiasm but low on paying clients.  We hit it off in our first meeting.  They were inspired by us and our stories, we were impressed by their work and their people– a relationship was born!  They’re giving us a great deal; we’re giving them great stories to bring to life on screen.  Thought you might enjoy a photo of the home-made sound booth we used at our audio recording session last week (the walls are made from blankets, the actor inside is holding a flashlight to read his script)– an ingenious, resourceful solution if you ask me.  Stay tuned for their amazing videos– we’ll post them here sometime later this summer.

A friend of mine just found a job for her hyperactive rescue dog with the University of Washington’s Center for Conservation Biology. She’s such a busy dog, the trainers think she’ll be perfect for snooping out endangered species’ scat. Check it out:

http://depts.washington.edu/conserv/conservation_canines_program.html

Last month, BEF’s Watershed Program travelled to Coos Bay, home of BEF’s sixth and newest Model Watershed Partnership. Thanks to Green Tag customers, BEF has dedicated ten successive years of funding and technical assistance to support the Coos Watershed Association’s long-term, adaptive restoration strategy.

To kick off the Partnership, our President, Angus Duncan, delivered the keynote speech at the Coos Watershed Association’s annual meeting, on the topic of climate change and watershed restoration. Not only is climate change expected to increase ambient air temperatures and raise sea levels, but the changes in the quantity and timing of rainfall are anticipated to drastically change many Northwest rivers. He also pointed out that this isn’t the first time salmon have experienced shifting weather patterns, wowing the crowd with descripions of the prehistoric, 6-foot long, saber-toothed salmon (see painting by artist, Ray Troll above).

Angus couldn’t have picked a better location to highlight the hopes and challenges of restoring rivers in the face of global warming. In one of the Coos Watershed Association’s riparian planting projects, they measured a 10-degree F decrease in stream temperatures over a seven year period (click here to read their report). THIS IS AMAZING! By the end of the century, most climate change models predict a 3.1-degree F increase in air temperatures — but the Coos Watershed Association’s Willanch Creek Project demonstrates that there’s hope of cooling streams by shading them with streamside trees and shrubs, to the degree that we still may be able to keep the water cold enough for native trout and salmon.   

For more info on river restoration and climate change, check out the University of Washington’s Climate Impacts Group. Also, the National Wildlife Federation has two great reports out, the second was published just a few weeks ago: Fish Out Of Water and A Great Wave Rising.

This year’s Better Living Show was a huge success! With over 25,000 visitors to the Portland Expo Center, including guest speaker, Ed Begley, Jr., we were able to interact with many folks, some of whom were embracing renewable energy and sustainability for the first time.

Very Important Side Note: Speaking of Ed Begley, Jr., does anyone else remember him as “Stumpy” in This Is Spinal Tap? No? Well, OK, then you’ll just have to trust imdb.com.

I had a wonderful time working with our local Portland vendors who donated so many amazing items for our green wedding booth display. If you are planning a wedding soon, be sure to check out Olivia Luca’s beautiful wedding dresses made from sustainable natural fabrics, and Miss Zumstein’s cakes that are hand crafted with the finest local ingredients. Here’s some pictures of our lovely booth:

Before the crowds arrived:

After:

At least we don’t have to dress up as vegetables! I don’t remember what these vendors were selling at the Natural Products Expo in Calfornia, but it made me glad that we don’t dress up as colorful energy offsets. If we did, I’m not sure what it would look like - a white squash?

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