February 16, 2025 • 29 mins
The best kind of recycling is reuse, and that's what SCRAP Creative Reuse does. How you can make your community Firewise. The future of Oregon's EV charging stations
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to Local Voices. I'm brad Ford. The best way
to recycle is to reuse, which is what Scrap Creative
Reuse in Portland is doing. Is your neighborhood firewise, We'll
tell you how it can be and what it means.
Oregon is adding DC fast vehicle charges on two freeways
in a highway, but future funding about the program is
in doubt. The best type of recycling is reusing something
(00:31):
or getting someone else to reuse something you don't want anymore.
In Portland, that's what Scrap Creative Reuse does. Joining us
on Local Voices is Kimberly Maruska, Executive director of Scrap
Creative Reuse. Kimberly explain how this works.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
People will donate their creative reuse materials, and that's anything
from paintings, fabrics, yarn, jewelry, making item, ceramics. They'll donate
them to Scrap Creative Reuse and then we resell them
at a drastically reduced price. We also provide educational programming
(01:06):
and workshops to teach people. One of our classes is
Sewing one oh one of sewing basics, so we do
teach about how to reuse materials and additionally education sustainability,
behavior change.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
So how did Scrap Creative Reuse start?
Speaker 3 (01:25):
Yeah, it actually has a really great story.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
Back in nineteen ninety eight, teachers we're trying to figure
out what to do with their materials at the end
of a school year when they'd have to clean out
their classrooms, and Scrap Creative Reuse was started a school
and community reuse action project and they were basically sponsored
by a teacher space, so the teachers would be able
(01:51):
to bring their stuff there and then other teachers could.
Speaker 3 (01:53):
Come and pick them up at the beginning of the
next school year.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
And then that kind of stayed for about a year.
And Joan Grimm, who ended up becoming the first executive
director of Scrap Creative Reuse, worked with Julia Woolf, Arthur Davis,
and Capra Geneva and they those three actually wrote our
very first grant that we got that got scrapped out
(02:20):
of the fiscal sponsorship.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
And actually our very first.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Location was inside the Rebuilding Center when they were in
the north west Portland area in that industrial area.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
And where are you located now?
Speaker 2 (02:35):
We are currently located on the west side right off
of Older Street on seventeen thirty six, but I will
let you know we are actually moved returning to the
east Side because we used to be on the east
Side for many years and we're returning to the east
Side in April.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
You accept a lot of items, but what items do
you not accept?
Speaker 3 (02:56):
Clothing or.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
Furniture, Although if you had an easel, we would accept
an easel.
Speaker 3 (03:03):
We like to try to keep it too.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
Creative reuse materials, so canvases, paint brushes, paint as I've said, fabrics,
although we do have minimum for how small they can be, yarns,
leather strips, We even take bottle caps and cork quorks
(03:27):
from wine bottles, and we kind of accept a lot
of different things.
Speaker 3 (03:31):
We have a really.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
Extensive materials less on our website, and I will also
say there's periodically times when we have overflow of materials,
so it's always good to check that website to see
if we are currently accepting those items, because we do
have to pause sometimes on different items depending upon how
stocked our store is.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
What is the website address?
Speaker 2 (03:54):
It is www dot Portland dot scrap Creative Reuse dot.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
So how do you want people to bring you items?
Do they need to be in containers. Do they need
to be wrapped?
Speaker 2 (04:06):
The best way to bring us items is to have
each category separated. It just makes it easier for us
to process things when they come into the store. So
if you have like a little container of all of
your bottle caps or all of your wine forks, fabrics
(04:27):
in a separate box or a separate bag, it just
makes it easier for our volunteers and staff to sort
through things and get them out onto the sales floor.
We do at the Portland location, we do have a
couple of days a week where people can come in
in between eleven and one o'clock to donate, and then
(04:49):
we have scheduled appointments. We also have a few bins
right at the front register for anything for things that
will take at any time. It's kind of a do
it yourself where you drop things into those containers. Do
you need volunteers to help, Oh, we are always looking
for more volunteers. They are definitely the lifeblood of scrap creators.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
What do they do sort material that kind of thing?
Speaker 4 (05:16):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (05:16):
Yeah, definitely, they sort material. They make scrap products.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
So we do put together like clash packs and in
different we kind of put a bunch of materials together
to create a pack so somebody can take it home and.
Speaker 3 (05:32):
Work with themselves or with their kids.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
They volunteers also will wrap fabric for us. They will
help us price fabric and price different yarns. They will
go through I mean sometimes you get a whole container
of like buttons, and so they'll go through and they'll
sort them out into colors for us to make it
easier for customers. If they're looking for a red button,
(05:55):
they can go to the spot and look at all.
Speaker 3 (05:57):
Of the different red buttons.
Speaker 5 (05:58):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (05:59):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
Do you sell products online?
Speaker 3 (06:03):
We do. We do have an online store.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
It anything that we sell online is specific to online,
so if you see it there, you want to purchase
it there before coming into store. And we kind of
we have a particular staff member who takes care of
the online store and so we it's curated and we
do drops.
Speaker 3 (06:24):
I believe it's once a week at Portland.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
Now you mentioned this earlier. What kind of educational opportunities
do you offer?
Speaker 2 (06:34):
Yeah, we have multiple different educational opportunities. We try to
hit a variety of youth and adult programming. We have
camp scraps for the summertimes and when the Portland public
schools are closed, we typically offer a camp for kids
to come in and learn about sustainability and reuse, and
(06:58):
then throughout the month we have as I said earlier,
we have like a sewing basics class. We were actually
creating new programming all the time.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
We also have been working on this thing called UFO.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
Which is Unfinished Objects and it's where people actually come
in with their own projects and work together as a
group and they finish their own projects within a community
of people. So we are and we're always looking at
additional things we can do different classes. We're looking for
volunteers to help teach classes as well. We do a
(07:35):
lot of scrap at schools and outreach and field trips
as well, so our education coordinator will go out to
schools and teach within the schools about reuse and sustainable education.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
Wow, that is terrific. Have other states picked up on this?
Speaker 2 (07:51):
Yes, Actually scrap did start in Portland, Oregon, but we
have four other locations. We have a location in annarbur Michigan,
from Or Maryland, and Richmond, Virginia. But we're not the
only creative reuse out there. There are multiple different creative
reuses within the whole Nation, and if you're not in Portland,
just google creative Reuse near me and that is how
(08:14):
you'll find other creative reuse centers.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
Do you want to talk a little bit about how
important it is to reuse instead of really recycle. Recycles
a good thing, but reuse doesn't take the energy that
recycling something requires.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
Exactly, Reuse is you're taking that item and you're not
having to break it down like recycling does, so you're
not utilizing all that additional energy. And reuse is about
giving things second and third lives.
Speaker 3 (08:45):
And the way the meaning I have by life is
like if you have fabric.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
And you created this amazing T shirt out of it,
but you have these additional larger scraps of fabric left.
Instead of just throwing them away into the waste stream,
you can take those and reuse them and create something
else out of it. Sometimes it's even just reuses learning
about mending. We have some mending classes where you have
a T shirt or not a T shirt, a sweater
(09:12):
that you love and you've got a hole in it,
and you can be actually taught how to mend that
so you can continue to use that item.
Speaker 3 (09:20):
Reuse is really.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
A very important part of what we need to do
in society to help with our environment and with sustainability.
Speaker 3 (09:31):
We have over the.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
Last calendar year we have diverted over one hundred and
I want to say, seventy thousand pounds of materials from
the waste stream and Portland alone.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
Kimberly, anything else you'd like to add that I didn't
ask you about.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
Please follow us on social media. We have an Instagram
and a Facebook and a TikTok account.
Speaker 3 (09:54):
And we are going to be moving back. We're going
to be returning to.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
The East Side and we are into pipating a grand
opening in April, so please stay tuned and come check
us out at during your location.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
Terrific and can people visit your current location now?
Speaker 3 (10:09):
Yes, they can.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
We are maintaining our store hours. We will have more
information on that on the website. There will be a
section that's about the move. But we are currently maintaining
our current store hours and our donations processing for throughout
this month and into March at the very least.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
Very good. Tell us one more time again, what's the website?
Speaker 3 (10:34):
Portland dot scrap Creative Reuse dot org.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
Kimberly, thanks for joining us, a local voices. That's Kimberly Maruska,
executive director of Scrap Creative Reuse. Their website again is
Portland dot Scrap Creative Reuse dot org. Oregon has a
program called Firewise. It helps communities reduce the risk of wildfire.
(10:58):
Christy Shaw is the Oregon Department of Forestries National Fire
plan coordinator. What is the Firewise program?
Speaker 4 (11:05):
Firewise USA is a community recognition program and it really
highlights kind of the community coming together, identifying wildfire risks
to their own community and then working together to mitigate
those risks. Risks and some of that is supporting each other,
identifying things that they can do to help each other,
(11:26):
and that includes sometimes like ingress egress type opportunities where
they can work together to make sure that they have
the ability to get in and out if there is
a wildfire occurrence. Sometimes it's just like, hey, I can
help you. You're maybe an elderly member of our community,
and I can help you by helping you clean your
gutters or doing some activities like that. But it's really
(11:48):
focused on mitigating wildfire risk and working together as a
community rather than depending on maybe some outside entities to
support them in their needs.
Speaker 1 (11:58):
So it's a process for people if they want to
get involved, do they sign up for it?
Speaker 4 (12:04):
So the first step is usually to go to the
Firewise website and that gives them just kind of an
intro as to what it is and really gives them
some informative information to make sure that it's a program
that they want to get involved with. Then I always
recommend them to contact their local ODF office. The field
(12:24):
folks that we work with, they're the ones who are
going to help guide them through the process. And really
we both ODF manages, the Department Forestry manages Firewise across Oregon,
but we also partner with a lot of other agencies,
so the Ogan Fire Marshal, local fire districts, some nonprofits
may be part of the process of helping them gain recognition.
(12:49):
But starting out, I always recommend start with your local
ODF office.
Speaker 1 (12:53):
Are there grants for fire prevention work that are available?
Speaker 4 (12:56):
There are not, but again if you work with your
local ODFF this Oftentimes we do have other grants that
help with fuel reduction activities, and we work with other
partner agencies and help identify opportunities where maybe you could
receive some help to mitigate fuels or you know, in
some cases there are home hardening opportunities at a local level,
(13:20):
but there's nothing that's specific that is identified for firewise
communities unfortunately, what are.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
Some things that communities can do to reduce fire risk
in their area.
Speaker 4 (13:31):
So it starts off with having an assessment done in
the community, and that doesn't necessarily mean going home to
home and identifying what needs to be done at each home,
but it's kind of general themes within a community, and
those that's where either the local ODF forest or some
of our partners will perform that risk assessment with the
members of the community. So some of the residents, that's
(13:53):
where they're going to find out what's because each one
of those are nuanced a little bit differently what the
priorities might be depending on what the community is. But
a lot of the recommendations that we see home owners
being participating in is things like making sure gutters and
valleys are free of leaf debris, pine needles, that kind
of thing, making sure that anything under a deck is screened,
(14:17):
any of their vents into their home has screening on it,
moving firewood away from homes during fire season so it's
not stacked on the porch or the deck it's moved away.
Those are some of like the kind of immediate pieces
within the home what we call the home ignition zone,
so that's zero to five feet. We then start talking
about making sure in that same zero to five feet
we don't have materials that are combustible, so we use
(14:39):
things like gravel rock instead of having bark dust in place.
Those are some of the low cost type activities that
we recommend, and just as that first step in improving
the survivability of homes and structures, then we start to
move out to some of the other you know, the
zero to earth excuse me, the five to thirty feet,
(14:59):
and we want to have people be looking at do
we have anything that maybe is limbs touching the roof
or things like that where it can move from the
fuel the vegetation onto the home itself. We'd like to
see people limbing up and also spacing out the canopy
so it's not moving from vegetation to vegetation to the home,
but actually providing that spacing gap where if a wildfire
(15:21):
did come through that they would see that it didn't
spread to the home.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
How many firewise communities are there in Oregon? And how
does Oregon compare with other states.
Speaker 4 (15:31):
So, Oregon for the last several years has been number
two in the nation for the number of firewayse sites.
This year we have two hundred and ninety eight. That's
as of December thirty one, twenty twenty four. Already, in
this first few weeks of twenty twenty five, I've already
seen numerous new sites that are conveying interest in the
(15:52):
program asking for help working through the process. So we
always expect to see those numbers increase. We were also
second in the nation for new sites last year, and
last year was actually a first for the Fireways program nationwide,
and that we have a cross boundary site with in
New Pine, Oregon New Pine, California. It's a cross state site,
(16:15):
which is the first one that they've seen anywhere, and
that was just really exciting for us to be able
to work with the folks in California through the Modoc
Fire State Council to make that happen and the residents.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
Themselves over the state line. That's great.
Speaker 3 (16:29):
YEP.
Speaker 1 (16:30):
So you think of areas that are close to forests,
of course, so we saw the fires down in California
that race for a neighborhood. Are firewise communities always going
to be in forested areas or do you have some
that are in urban areas.
Speaker 4 (16:45):
We see an entire spectrum, and I don't think I
think we have do have a mindset of like, oh,
it's in that wild then urban interface. But we also
see where some of those communities are. They're right on
the edge of that forested space as you're talking in
So we actually we have in some places we have
entire towns that are part of it. In some places
we have maybe just a street, sometimes it's an homeowners association.
(17:09):
So we see the entire gamut in Oregon, and what
we have seen is so we talked about New Pine
being a new one, it's actually the first one in
Lake County. What we see is people gain an interest
they see that maybe an adjoining home owners association or
they're adjoining a street that's nearby becomes firewise and it
garners that interest of hey, what does that mean? What
(17:31):
can we do to make ourselves be more fire wise
and resilient? And I definitely I think we see what
made the news in California for their communities is a
reminder for us that it doesn't just happen in those
forested areas. It easily spreads from forested truly forested areas,
(17:53):
or vegetative fires to that wild and urban interface into
what we consider more urban fuels.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
And that's certainly what happened here in twenty twenty as
well with the Labor Day fires. Is there a minimum
number of homes that need to be coordinated in order
to get the Firewise designation.
Speaker 4 (18:11):
So the minimum is eight homes, and that really like
it could you could have a Homer's Association of fifteen homes,
but only eight want to participate. That's great. We still
want those eight to participate. We still want to support
them through the program. What we hope eventually is that
that enthusiasm of those eight spreads to the remaining homes
and maybe even expands beyond there. We do have a
limit of twenty five hundred acres because we feel like
(18:33):
that twenty five hundred acre boundary is what really is
a space that people can operate in and truly have
it be a community type advancement in terms of resiliency
for the community.
Speaker 1 (18:46):
So, if people want to find out more about the
Firewise program, where can they go online to do that.
Speaker 4 (18:52):
So the best place to start is for the Firewise
website itself, which has a really long but it's through
NFPA dot org, Slash Education and Research Slash Wildfire slash
Firewise USA. But if you just google Firewise or search
on the internet for Firewise USA, you will get to
(19:13):
their website and it has links both for me as
the statewide liaison, as well as a lot of really
great background information that can provide kind of where the
starting points might be and help you set up if
you have any questions you want to ask me once
you contact.
Speaker 1 (19:29):
Me, Christy, anything else you'd like to add.
Speaker 4 (19:31):
I'm just super excited that this is a topic that
we're able to share out with folks and hopefully again
garner some of that enthusiasm and be able to make
a difference in some of these communities.
Speaker 1 (19:44):
Thanks Christy. That's Christy Seawan, the Oregon Department of Forestries
National Fire Plan Coordinator, with details on the Firewise USA program.
If you have eight neighbors who want to take part,
you can become a Firewise community. Oregon was awarded fifty
two million dollars from the federal government for electric vehicle
(20:06):
charging stations along freeways and highways. Some of those projects
are moving forward and some are paused. Matt Noble where
the Oregon Department of Transportation joins us on local voices. Matt,
what's the current status for federal funding to build EV
charging stations in Oregon.
Speaker 5 (20:21):
It's been a bit of a roller coaster the last
few weeks. But the short version is that last week
the Federal Highway Administration, which is the federal agency that
manages the NEVY program, that's the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program.
That's the one that's going to fund stations in all
fifty states along major highways and interstates. And these will
(20:45):
be DC fast charging stations, the ones that can charge
EV's super quick. So then it's really meant to help
people like driving long distances and all that kind of stuff.
So it's a really cool program. But last week the
Federal Highway Administration partially froze some of the NEVY funding,
and so in simple terms, that means we only have
access to some of the funding that we were promised
(21:08):
through this program by law. But the good news is
is that that partial freeze does not fully mess up
our plans for twenty twenty five and Nevy in Oregon.
So we will still fund Nevy charging stations along the
three roads that we what did last year, So that
(21:29):
would be Interstate five south of Eugene, Interstate two oh
five through Portland, and US ninety seven through central Oregon.
Those three roads. We're still going to fund stations along
those roads, and the private contractors who are actually installing
the stations tell us that they should be online. They'll
start to come online in like late twenty twenty five
(21:50):
as there is their best estimates. So that's the good news.
But the bad news is is that beyond those three roads,
it's still a bit of a question mark, waiting for
more guidance from the Federal Highway Administration about like what's
going to happen with a Navy program. What can we do?
What can we do? Because we have eight more roads
that we have plans for to fund these Navy stations on,
(22:14):
but until we get more guidance, we're just in a holding.
Speaker 4 (22:17):
Pattern for now.
Speaker 1 (22:19):
Do you have a number on how many charging stations
or chargers have been installed under federal infrastructure funding.
Speaker 5 (22:26):
I don't have a national number. It hasn't been too
many in Oregon. We don't have any at the moment.
But like I said earlier, we do have plans to
fund a total of thirteen along those three roads, so
I five, I two, O five, and US ninety seven,
and the first of those thirteen should be online later
(22:46):
this year.
Speaker 1 (22:46):
I would imagine that it takes time. Once you federal
government says Okay, we're going to do this, then what
talk to me a little bit about the process. I
would imagine you've got to find contractors to do it,
You've got to find a place to put them, and
then the construction actually has to happen.
Speaker 3 (23:04):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (23:04):
No, you're right. It's it's a big machine essentially.
Speaker 2 (23:08):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (23:08):
I mean, I mean we got the Nevy program was
you know, it's in law from twenty twenty one, but
you know, the law doesn't really tell us how to
do it, like how to do the nuts and bolts
of the day to day. That's what the Federal Highway
Administration is for. They're the ones who write the rules
that govern the program and tell us how to actually
do it and what are the requirements and what are
(23:28):
the milestones, right and so binding up a brand new
multi billion dollar fifty state program. It takes time, and
there's only so many people to do it, and and yes,
Nevy was a little slow to get out. I'm sure
you know our EV drivers wished it it went faster.
But the real benefits of it taking this time is that, well,
(23:53):
up until last week, I mean, we had a really
streamlined and robust and solid plan to start really getting
these stations out the door quickly. But like I said, that,
beyond those first three roads, it's it's it's all up
in the air at the moment.
Speaker 1 (24:07):
So would that construction, would the first or that construction
begin this year or has any construction been going on
before this year?
Speaker 5 (24:16):
In Oregon, the first of that construction would begin later
this year. But there are there are a couple of
states that I know have stations completed and they were
in the process of with of you know, getting bids
out for more stations. And that's kind of really one
of the most chaotic and disappointing things about the recent
(24:37):
federal executive orders and it's partial funding Freez is that like,
there are forty nine other states who are all in
various stages of implementing their own heavy programs, and so
we're so you know, we're faring better than some states.
Some states are faring better than us. It's just you know,
in each state, it's it's it's specific to them and
they have their own issues that they're trying to deal
(24:57):
with with the federal Highway administrations, you know, funding free.
So it's just it's a bit of a mess at
the moment, and we're all really just waiting for the
federal government to give us more guidance.
Speaker 1 (25:09):
And at this point that money has been paused, so
the federal government hasn't said no, we're going to scrap
this at least yet.
Speaker 5 (25:16):
Essentially they are pausing the program while they rewrite the
rules that govern the program, so they in theory, will
have they may have different requirements or different milestones for
states to hit. And in the meantime, the memo says
that without getting too complicated, essentially the money that the
(25:37):
states have gotten through have gotten over certain thresholds, they
can still use. So that's why that we can still
fund these those those three roads in twenty twenty five
because we got some money through certain thresholds that's still
available to us even while the federal government rewrites in
every rules. However, we still technically we have more funding
(26:01):
coming to us. I mean, we only have about half
of what we were promised in the original law, and
it's the same I think for the fort down for
the forty nine other states. So that other half of
the funding for US, that's what we're not sure what
will happen with that. It might stick around, it might not,
you know, I mean, I don't want to I don't
(26:22):
want to seem like I'm speculating, because honestly we can't.
We just need to wait for federal guidance exactly.
Speaker 1 (26:27):
You need to wait to find out if it's gonna
be paused, if the pause will be removed, or if
they're just going to say no or change the rules.
All right, well, let's move on to to a different program.
The community charging Rebate program is underway in Oregon. Tell
us about that.
Speaker 5 (26:44):
Yeah, so this is it's a completely different program from
the one we're from, the one we're just we're just
talking about, and it's actually funded through state dollars, so
it's not affected by any of the any of the
whackiness at the federal level. This is just a state
funded program, and this one targets level two chargers, So
those are the ones that a lot of ev drivers
(27:05):
have in their homes. The charge of EV's up overnight
takes like six to eight hours, depending on what kind
of EDI drive, and the program offers rebates for those
level two charging projects at multifamily homes and workplaces and
public parking areas. Really just it's like those areas of
the states that are like that have gaps in EV
(27:27):
charging infrastructure and maybe a little harder to get charging into.
And we're currently running a funding round for that rebates
program and it's going super well. It's only been open
for about two months and we've already funded fifty seven projects,
which is really exciting. That's over two billion dollars all
across the state. And so yeah, and so our message
(27:50):
is really just if you are at one of those
locations and you are an eligible applicant, that we courage
you to apply so you can get EV charging out
there where to need the most.
Speaker 1 (28:02):
Are there other EV charging programs that the state is
working on.
Speaker 5 (28:06):
There are a couple other federally funded programs that it's
kind of a mixed bag of whether they are quote
unquote safe or whether they're a little up in the
air about whether they are still funded or if their
rules are going to change. We're also waiting for more
guidance on the federal level with some of those, but
we're moving forward with the ones that we can move
forward with. So yeah, it's a bit of a bit
(28:27):
of an uncertain time at the federal level.
Speaker 1 (28:30):
Man, anything else you'd like to add that I didn't
ask you about to.
Speaker 5 (28:33):
Those folks in Oregon who are kind of who may
be concerned about, you know, what this new federal guidance
and what the new federal administration stance on electric vehicles
and EV charging infrastructure are nationally. Despite the federal stance,
in Oregon and at ODATS, our values and our mission
(28:55):
around electric vehicle charging has not changed. We still think
this is one of the biggest puzzle pieces that we
need to fit into place to reduce emissions from transportation,
not only in Oregon but across the entire country. So
as much as we are able to, we will still
fund EV charging infrastructure in Oregon for as long as
(29:17):
we can.
Speaker 1 (29:18):
That's Matt Noble with odd and an update on the
efforts to increase the number of electric vehicle charging stations
in Oregon. Thanks for listening to local voices. I'm brad
Ford You can hear past episodes on the iHeartRadio app
under the podcast tab. Local Voices is a public affairs
presentation from iHeartRadio.
Welcome to Local Voices. I'm brad Ford. The best way
to recycle is to reuse, which is what Scrap Creative
Reuse in Portland is doing. Is your neighborhood firewise, We'll
tell you how it can be and what it means.
Oregon is adding DC fast vehicle charges on two freeways
in a highway, but future funding about the program is
in doubt. The best type of recycling is reusing something
(00:31):
or getting someone else to reuse something you don't want anymore.
In Portland, that's what Scrap Creative Reuse does. Joining us
on Local Voices is Kimberly Maruska, Executive director of Scrap
Creative Reuse. Kimberly explain how this works.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
People will donate their creative reuse materials, and that's anything
from paintings, fabrics, yarn, jewelry, making item, ceramics. They'll donate
them to Scrap Creative Reuse and then we resell them
at a drastically reduced price. We also provide educational programming
(01:06):
and workshops to teach people. One of our classes is
Sewing one oh one of sewing basics, so we do
teach about how to reuse materials and additionally education sustainability,
behavior change.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
So how did Scrap Creative Reuse start?
Speaker 3 (01:25):
Yeah, it actually has a really great story.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
Back in nineteen ninety eight, teachers we're trying to figure
out what to do with their materials at the end
of a school year when they'd have to clean out
their classrooms, and Scrap Creative Reuse was started a school
and community reuse action project and they were basically sponsored
by a teacher space, so the teachers would be able
(01:51):
to bring their stuff there and then other teachers could.
Speaker 3 (01:53):
Come and pick them up at the beginning of the
next school year.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
And then that kind of stayed for about a year.
And Joan Grimm, who ended up becoming the first executive
director of Scrap Creative Reuse, worked with Julia Woolf, Arthur Davis,
and Capra Geneva and they those three actually wrote our
very first grant that we got that got scrapped out
(02:20):
of the fiscal sponsorship.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
And actually our very first.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Location was inside the Rebuilding Center when they were in
the north west Portland area in that industrial area.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
And where are you located now?
Speaker 2 (02:35):
We are currently located on the west side right off
of Older Street on seventeen thirty six, but I will
let you know we are actually moved returning to the
east Side because we used to be on the east
Side for many years and we're returning to the east
Side in April.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
You accept a lot of items, but what items do
you not accept?
Speaker 3 (02:56):
Clothing or.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
Furniture, Although if you had an easel, we would accept
an easel.
Speaker 3 (03:03):
We like to try to keep it too.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
Creative reuse materials, so canvases, paint brushes, paint as I've said, fabrics,
although we do have minimum for how small they can be, yarns,
leather strips, We even take bottle caps and cork quorks
(03:27):
from wine bottles, and we kind of accept a lot
of different things.
Speaker 3 (03:31):
We have a really.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
Extensive materials less on our website, and I will also
say there's periodically times when we have overflow of materials,
so it's always good to check that website to see
if we are currently accepting those items, because we do
have to pause sometimes on different items depending upon how
stocked our store is.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
What is the website address?
Speaker 2 (03:54):
It is www dot Portland dot scrap Creative Reuse dot.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
So how do you want people to bring you items?
Do they need to be in containers. Do they need
to be wrapped?
Speaker 2 (04:06):
The best way to bring us items is to have
each category separated. It just makes it easier for us
to process things when they come into the store. So
if you have like a little container of all of
your bottle caps or all of your wine forks, fabrics
(04:27):
in a separate box or a separate bag, it just
makes it easier for our volunteers and staff to sort
through things and get them out onto the sales floor.
We do at the Portland location, we do have a
couple of days a week where people can come in
in between eleven and one o'clock to donate, and then
(04:49):
we have scheduled appointments. We also have a few bins
right at the front register for anything for things that
will take at any time. It's kind of a do
it yourself where you drop things into those containers. Do
you need volunteers to help, Oh, we are always looking
for more volunteers. They are definitely the lifeblood of scrap creators.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
What do they do sort material that kind of thing?
Speaker 4 (05:16):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (05:16):
Yeah, definitely, they sort material. They make scrap products.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
So we do put together like clash packs and in
different we kind of put a bunch of materials together
to create a pack so somebody can take it home and.
Speaker 3 (05:32):
Work with themselves or with their kids.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
They volunteers also will wrap fabric for us. They will
help us price fabric and price different yarns. They will
go through I mean sometimes you get a whole container
of like buttons, and so they'll go through and they'll
sort them out into colors for us to make it
easier for customers. If they're looking for a red button,
(05:55):
they can go to the spot and look at all.
Speaker 3 (05:57):
Of the different red buttons.
Speaker 5 (05:58):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (05:59):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
Do you sell products online?
Speaker 3 (06:03):
We do. We do have an online store.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
It anything that we sell online is specific to online,
so if you see it there, you want to purchase
it there before coming into store. And we kind of
we have a particular staff member who takes care of
the online store and so we it's curated and we
do drops.
Speaker 3 (06:24):
I believe it's once a week at Portland.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
Now you mentioned this earlier. What kind of educational opportunities
do you offer?
Speaker 2 (06:34):
Yeah, we have multiple different educational opportunities. We try to
hit a variety of youth and adult programming. We have
camp scraps for the summertimes and when the Portland public
schools are closed, we typically offer a camp for kids
to come in and learn about sustainability and reuse, and
(06:58):
then throughout the month we have as I said earlier,
we have like a sewing basics class. We were actually
creating new programming all the time.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
We also have been working on this thing called UFO.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
Which is Unfinished Objects and it's where people actually come
in with their own projects and work together as a
group and they finish their own projects within a community
of people. So we are and we're always looking at
additional things we can do different classes. We're looking for
volunteers to help teach classes as well. We do a
(07:35):
lot of scrap at schools and outreach and field trips
as well, so our education coordinator will go out to
schools and teach within the schools about reuse and sustainable education.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
Wow, that is terrific. Have other states picked up on this?
Speaker 2 (07:51):
Yes, Actually scrap did start in Portland, Oregon, but we
have four other locations. We have a location in annarbur Michigan,
from Or Maryland, and Richmond, Virginia. But we're not the
only creative reuse out there. There are multiple different creative
reuses within the whole Nation, and if you're not in Portland,
just google creative Reuse near me and that is how
(08:14):
you'll find other creative reuse centers.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
Do you want to talk a little bit about how
important it is to reuse instead of really recycle. Recycles
a good thing, but reuse doesn't take the energy that
recycling something requires.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
Exactly, Reuse is you're taking that item and you're not
having to break it down like recycling does, so you're
not utilizing all that additional energy. And reuse is about
giving things second and third lives.
Speaker 3 (08:45):
And the way the meaning I have by life is
like if you have fabric.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
And you created this amazing T shirt out of it,
but you have these additional larger scraps of fabric left.
Instead of just throwing them away into the waste stream,
you can take those and reuse them and create something
else out of it. Sometimes it's even just reuses learning
about mending. We have some mending classes where you have
a T shirt or not a T shirt, a sweater
(09:12):
that you love and you've got a hole in it,
and you can be actually taught how to mend that
so you can continue to use that item.
Speaker 3 (09:20):
Reuse is really.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
A very important part of what we need to do
in society to help with our environment and with sustainability.
Speaker 3 (09:31):
We have over the.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
Last calendar year we have diverted over one hundred and
I want to say, seventy thousand pounds of materials from
the waste stream and Portland alone.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
Kimberly, anything else you'd like to add that I didn't
ask you about.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
Please follow us on social media. We have an Instagram
and a Facebook and a TikTok account.
Speaker 3 (09:54):
And we are going to be moving back. We're going
to be returning to.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
The East Side and we are into pipating a grand
opening in April, so please stay tuned and come check
us out at during your location.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
Terrific and can people visit your current location now?
Speaker 3 (10:09):
Yes, they can.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
We are maintaining our store hours. We will have more
information on that on the website. There will be a
section that's about the move. But we are currently maintaining
our current store hours and our donations processing for throughout
this month and into March at the very least.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
Very good. Tell us one more time again, what's the website?
Speaker 3 (10:34):
Portland dot scrap Creative Reuse dot org.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
Kimberly, thanks for joining us, a local voices. That's Kimberly Maruska,
executive director of Scrap Creative Reuse. Their website again is
Portland dot Scrap Creative Reuse dot org. Oregon has a
program called Firewise. It helps communities reduce the risk of wildfire.
(10:58):
Christy Shaw is the Oregon Department of Forestries National Fire
plan coordinator. What is the Firewise program?
Speaker 4 (11:05):
Firewise USA is a community recognition program and it really
highlights kind of the community coming together, identifying wildfire risks
to their own community and then working together to mitigate
those risks. Risks and some of that is supporting each other,
identifying things that they can do to help each other,
(11:26):
and that includes sometimes like ingress egress type opportunities where
they can work together to make sure that they have
the ability to get in and out if there is
a wildfire occurrence. Sometimes it's just like, hey, I can
help you. You're maybe an elderly member of our community,
and I can help you by helping you clean your
gutters or doing some activities like that. But it's really
(11:48):
focused on mitigating wildfire risk and working together as a
community rather than depending on maybe some outside entities to
support them in their needs.
Speaker 1 (11:58):
So it's a process for people if they want to
get involved, do they sign up for it?
Speaker 4 (12:04):
So the first step is usually to go to the
Firewise website and that gives them just kind of an
intro as to what it is and really gives them
some informative information to make sure that it's a program
that they want to get involved with. Then I always
recommend them to contact their local ODF office. The field
(12:24):
folks that we work with, they're the ones who are
going to help guide them through the process. And really
we both ODF manages, the Department Forestry manages Firewise across Oregon,
but we also partner with a lot of other agencies,
so the Ogan Fire Marshal, local fire districts, some nonprofits
may be part of the process of helping them gain recognition.
(12:49):
But starting out, I always recommend start with your local
ODF office.
Speaker 1 (12:53):
Are there grants for fire prevention work that are available?
Speaker 4 (12:56):
There are not, but again if you work with your
local ODFF this Oftentimes we do have other grants that
help with fuel reduction activities, and we work with other
partner agencies and help identify opportunities where maybe you could
receive some help to mitigate fuels or you know, in
some cases there are home hardening opportunities at a local level,
(13:20):
but there's nothing that's specific that is identified for firewise
communities unfortunately, what are.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
Some things that communities can do to reduce fire risk
in their area.
Speaker 4 (13:31):
So it starts off with having an assessment done in
the community, and that doesn't necessarily mean going home to
home and identifying what needs to be done at each home,
but it's kind of general themes within a community, and
those that's where either the local ODF forest or some
of our partners will perform that risk assessment with the
members of the community. So some of the residents, that's
(13:53):
where they're going to find out what's because each one
of those are nuanced a little bit differently what the
priorities might be depending on what the community is. But
a lot of the recommendations that we see home owners
being participating in is things like making sure gutters and
valleys are free of leaf debris, pine needles, that kind
of thing, making sure that anything under a deck is screened,
(14:17):
any of their vents into their home has screening on it,
moving firewood away from homes during fire season so it's
not stacked on the porch or the deck it's moved away.
Those are some of like the kind of immediate pieces
within the home what we call the home ignition zone,
so that's zero to five feet. We then start talking
about making sure in that same zero to five feet
we don't have materials that are combustible, so we use
(14:39):
things like gravel rock instead of having bark dust in place.
Those are some of the low cost type activities that
we recommend, and just as that first step in improving
the survivability of homes and structures, then we start to
move out to some of the other you know, the
zero to earth excuse me, the five to thirty feet,
(14:59):
and we want to have people be looking at do
we have anything that maybe is limbs touching the roof
or things like that where it can move from the
fuel the vegetation onto the home itself. We'd like to
see people limbing up and also spacing out the canopy
so it's not moving from vegetation to vegetation to the home,
but actually providing that spacing gap where if a wildfire
(15:21):
did come through that they would see that it didn't
spread to the home.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
How many firewise communities are there in Oregon? And how
does Oregon compare with other states.
Speaker 4 (15:31):
So, Oregon for the last several years has been number
two in the nation for the number of firewayse sites.
This year we have two hundred and ninety eight. That's
as of December thirty one, twenty twenty four. Already, in
this first few weeks of twenty twenty five, I've already
seen numerous new sites that are conveying interest in the
(15:52):
program asking for help working through the process. So we
always expect to see those numbers increase. We were also
second in the nation for new sites last year, and
last year was actually a first for the Fireways program nationwide,
and that we have a cross boundary site with in
New Pine, Oregon New Pine, California. It's a cross state site,
(16:15):
which is the first one that they've seen anywhere, and
that was just really exciting for us to be able
to work with the folks in California through the Modoc
Fire State Council to make that happen and the residents.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
Themselves over the state line. That's great.
Speaker 3 (16:29):
YEP.
Speaker 1 (16:30):
So you think of areas that are close to forests,
of course, so we saw the fires down in California
that race for a neighborhood. Are firewise communities always going
to be in forested areas or do you have some
that are in urban areas.
Speaker 4 (16:45):
We see an entire spectrum, and I don't think I
think we have do have a mindset of like, oh,
it's in that wild then urban interface. But we also
see where some of those communities are. They're right on
the edge of that forested space as you're talking in
So we actually we have in some places we have
entire towns that are part of it. In some places
we have maybe just a street, sometimes it's an homeowners association.
(17:09):
So we see the entire gamut in Oregon, and what
we have seen is so we talked about New Pine
being a new one, it's actually the first one in
Lake County. What we see is people gain an interest
they see that maybe an adjoining home owners association or
they're adjoining a street that's nearby becomes firewise and it
garners that interest of hey, what does that mean? What
(17:31):
can we do to make ourselves be more fire wise
and resilient? And I definitely I think we see what
made the news in California for their communities is a
reminder for us that it doesn't just happen in those
forested areas. It easily spreads from forested truly forested areas,
(17:53):
or vegetative fires to that wild and urban interface into
what we consider more urban fuels.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
And that's certainly what happened here in twenty twenty as
well with the Labor Day fires. Is there a minimum
number of homes that need to be coordinated in order
to get the Firewise designation.
Speaker 4 (18:11):
So the minimum is eight homes, and that really like
it could you could have a Homer's Association of fifteen homes,
but only eight want to participate. That's great. We still
want those eight to participate. We still want to support
them through the program. What we hope eventually is that
that enthusiasm of those eight spreads to the remaining homes
and maybe even expands beyond there. We do have a
limit of twenty five hundred acres because we feel like
(18:33):
that twenty five hundred acre boundary is what really is
a space that people can operate in and truly have
it be a community type advancement in terms of resiliency
for the community.
Speaker 1 (18:46):
So, if people want to find out more about the
Firewise program, where can they go online to do that.
Speaker 4 (18:52):
So the best place to start is for the Firewise
website itself, which has a really long but it's through
NFPA dot org, Slash Education and Research Slash Wildfire slash
Firewise USA. But if you just google Firewise or search
on the internet for Firewise USA, you will get to
(19:13):
their website and it has links both for me as
the statewide liaison, as well as a lot of really
great background information that can provide kind of where the
starting points might be and help you set up if
you have any questions you want to ask me once
you contact.
Speaker 1 (19:29):
Me, Christy, anything else you'd like to add.
Speaker 4 (19:31):
I'm just super excited that this is a topic that
we're able to share out with folks and hopefully again
garner some of that enthusiasm and be able to make
a difference in some of these communities.
Speaker 1 (19:44):
Thanks Christy. That's Christy Seawan, the Oregon Department of Forestries
National Fire Plan Coordinator, with details on the Firewise USA program.
If you have eight neighbors who want to take part,
you can become a Firewise community. Oregon was awarded fifty
two million dollars from the federal government for electric vehicle
(20:06):
charging stations along freeways and highways. Some of those projects
are moving forward and some are paused. Matt Noble where
the Oregon Department of Transportation joins us on local voices. Matt,
what's the current status for federal funding to build EV
charging stations in Oregon.
Speaker 5 (20:21):
It's been a bit of a roller coaster the last
few weeks. But the short version is that last week
the Federal Highway Administration, which is the federal agency that
manages the NEVY program, that's the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program.
That's the one that's going to fund stations in all
fifty states along major highways and interstates. And these will
(20:45):
be DC fast charging stations, the ones that can charge
EV's super quick. So then it's really meant to help
people like driving long distances and all that kind of stuff.
So it's a really cool program. But last week the
Federal Highway Administration partially froze some of the NEVY funding,
and so in simple terms, that means we only have
access to some of the funding that we were promised
(21:08):
through this program by law. But the good news is
is that that partial freeze does not fully mess up
our plans for twenty twenty five and Nevy in Oregon.
So we will still fund Nevy charging stations along the
three roads that we what did last year, So that
(21:29):
would be Interstate five south of Eugene, Interstate two oh
five through Portland, and US ninety seven through central Oregon.
Those three roads. We're still going to fund stations along
those roads, and the private contractors who are actually installing
the stations tell us that they should be online. They'll
start to come online in like late twenty twenty five
(21:50):
as there is their best estimates. So that's the good news.
But the bad news is is that beyond those three roads,
it's still a bit of a question mark, waiting for
more guidance from the Federal Highway Administration about like what's
going to happen with a Navy program. What can we do?
What can we do? Because we have eight more roads
that we have plans for to fund these Navy stations on,
(22:14):
but until we get more guidance, we're just in a holding.
Speaker 4 (22:17):
Pattern for now.
Speaker 1 (22:19):
Do you have a number on how many charging stations
or chargers have been installed under federal infrastructure funding.
Speaker 5 (22:26):
I don't have a national number. It hasn't been too
many in Oregon. We don't have any at the moment.
But like I said earlier, we do have plans to
fund a total of thirteen along those three roads, so
I five, I two, O five, and US ninety seven,
and the first of those thirteen should be online later
(22:46):
this year.
Speaker 1 (22:46):
I would imagine that it takes time. Once you federal
government says Okay, we're going to do this, then what
talk to me a little bit about the process. I
would imagine you've got to find contractors to do it,
You've got to find a place to put them, and
then the construction actually has to happen.
Speaker 3 (23:04):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (23:04):
No, you're right. It's it's a big machine essentially.
Speaker 2 (23:08):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (23:08):
I mean, I mean we got the Nevy program was
you know, it's in law from twenty twenty one, but
you know, the law doesn't really tell us how to
do it, like how to do the nuts and bolts
of the day to day. That's what the Federal Highway
Administration is for. They're the ones who write the rules
that govern the program and tell us how to actually
do it and what are the requirements and what are
(23:28):
the milestones, right and so binding up a brand new
multi billion dollar fifty state program. It takes time, and
there's only so many people to do it, and and yes,
Nevy was a little slow to get out. I'm sure
you know our EV drivers wished it it went faster.
But the real benefits of it taking this time is that, well,
(23:53):
up until last week, I mean, we had a really
streamlined and robust and solid plan to start really getting
these stations out the door quickly. But like I said, that,
beyond those first three roads, it's it's it's all up
in the air at the moment.
Speaker 1 (24:07):
So would that construction, would the first or that construction
begin this year or has any construction been going on
before this year?
Speaker 5 (24:16):
In Oregon, the first of that construction would begin later
this year. But there are there are a couple of
states that I know have stations completed and they were
in the process of with of you know, getting bids
out for more stations. And that's kind of really one
of the most chaotic and disappointing things about the recent
(24:37):
federal executive orders and it's partial funding Freez is that like,
there are forty nine other states who are all in
various stages of implementing their own heavy programs, and so
we're so you know, we're faring better than some states.
Some states are faring better than us. It's just you know,
in each state, it's it's it's specific to them and
they have their own issues that they're trying to deal
(24:57):
with with the federal Highway administrations, you know, funding free.
So it's just it's a bit of a mess at
the moment, and we're all really just waiting for the
federal government to give us more guidance.
Speaker 1 (25:09):
And at this point that money has been paused, so
the federal government hasn't said no, we're going to scrap
this at least yet.
Speaker 5 (25:16):
Essentially they are pausing the program while they rewrite the
rules that govern the program, so they in theory, will
have they may have different requirements or different milestones for
states to hit. And in the meantime, the memo says
that without getting too complicated, essentially the money that the
(25:37):
states have gotten through have gotten over certain thresholds, they
can still use. So that's why that we can still
fund these those those three roads in twenty twenty five
because we got some money through certain thresholds that's still
available to us even while the federal government rewrites in
every rules. However, we still technically we have more funding
(26:01):
coming to us. I mean, we only have about half
of what we were promised in the original law, and
it's the same I think for the fort down for
the forty nine other states. So that other half of
the funding for US, that's what we're not sure what
will happen with that. It might stick around, it might not,
you know, I mean, I don't want to I don't
(26:22):
want to seem like I'm speculating, because honestly we can't.
We just need to wait for federal guidance exactly.
Speaker 1 (26:27):
You need to wait to find out if it's gonna
be paused, if the pause will be removed, or if
they're just going to say no or change the rules.
All right, well, let's move on to to a different program.
The community charging Rebate program is underway in Oregon. Tell
us about that.
Speaker 5 (26:44):
Yeah, so this is it's a completely different program from
the one we're from, the one we're just we're just
talking about, and it's actually funded through state dollars, so
it's not affected by any of the any of the
whackiness at the federal level. This is just a state
funded program, and this one targets level two chargers, So
those are the ones that a lot of ev drivers
(27:05):
have in their homes. The charge of EV's up overnight
takes like six to eight hours, depending on what kind
of EDI drive, and the program offers rebates for those
level two charging projects at multifamily homes and workplaces and
public parking areas. Really just it's like those areas of
the states that are like that have gaps in EV
(27:27):
charging infrastructure and maybe a little harder to get charging into.
And we're currently running a funding round for that rebates
program and it's going super well. It's only been open
for about two months and we've already funded fifty seven projects,
which is really exciting. That's over two billion dollars all
across the state. And so yeah, and so our message
(27:50):
is really just if you are at one of those
locations and you are an eligible applicant, that we courage
you to apply so you can get EV charging out
there where to need the most.
Speaker 1 (28:02):
Are there other EV charging programs that the state is
working on.
Speaker 5 (28:06):
There are a couple other federally funded programs that it's
kind of a mixed bag of whether they are quote
unquote safe or whether they're a little up in the
air about whether they are still funded or if their
rules are going to change. We're also waiting for more
guidance on the federal level with some of those, but
we're moving forward with the ones that we can move
forward with. So yeah, it's a bit of a bit
(28:27):
of an uncertain time at the federal level.
Speaker 1 (28:30):
Man, anything else you'd like to add that I didn't
ask you about to.
Speaker 5 (28:33):
Those folks in Oregon who are kind of who may
be concerned about, you know, what this new federal guidance
and what the new federal administration stance on electric vehicles
and EV charging infrastructure are nationally. Despite the federal stance,
in Oregon and at ODATS, our values and our mission
(28:55):
around electric vehicle charging has not changed. We still think
this is one of the biggest puzzle pieces that we
need to fit into place to reduce emissions from transportation,
not only in Oregon but across the entire country. So
as much as we are able to, we will still
fund EV charging infrastructure in Oregon for as long as
(29:17):
we can.
Speaker 1 (29:18):
That's Matt Noble with odd and an update on the
efforts to increase the number of electric vehicle charging stations
in Oregon. Thanks for listening to local voices. I'm brad
Ford You can hear past episodes on the iHeartRadio app
under the podcast tab. Local Voices is a public affairs
presentation from iHeartRadio.
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