September 2021 * No. 5

JOIN US FOR CAR FREE DAY

Park your cars and participate in CAR FREE DAY. Let us know that you are participating by signing our pledge and filling out our survey here:

https://bit.ly/CarFreeDaySilverton2021

The Mayor is issuing a proclamation declaring September 22 as Silverton Car Free Day at the upcoming City Council meeting.

VOLUNTEER CORNER

A big thank you to Julie H, Steve, Diane and gmail.com. Leslie for their hard work at the Oregon Garden veggie plots. These volunteers connected with Veggie garden manager, Jim Wilson, through Sustainable

And Many thanks to our August Recycling team. We can’t do this work without your help! Jim Esch, Ron Garst, Michael Finklestein, Elyce Hues. Kelley Morehouse

Results from our Survey

At the Beyond Bins Booth at the Farmer’s Market in the last few months, people were asked to fill out a survey about their knowledge and opinions regarding sustainability. 90 completed surveys were tabulated with the key results listed below. Most people had learned about Sustainable Silverton either at the Farmer’s Market (42) or from the City’s 2020 Annual report (19). 58 versus 16 knew that they could recycle household batteries in a zipseal bag in their curbside tote bin. In terms of action areas for Silverton, ratings put these in descending order: consumption and waste; food and agriculture; health, social services, and community well-being; land use and transportation; urban natural resources; and buildings and energy. Asked why they came to the Farmer’s Market, the highest ranking reasons were: to get the freshest produce, to support the local farmers; to buy local products; and to recycle. The majority of people signed up to get the Sustainable Silverton newsletter and many also volunteered to help out. If you would like to volunteer with Sustainable Silverton, just send your name and area of interest to sustainablesilverton@ And, a big thank you to Julie H, Steve, Diane and gmail.com.

Clothing Recycling

Best Places to recycle clothing in Silverton:

  1. The Silverton’s ReVamp Thrift Store - funds go to local Senior Center & community projects.

  2. The Silverton Grange Drop Box helps support education, agriculture, farmers & local, community efforts.

  3. The Gaia Movement, USA, Drop Box in front of the Bike Shop on Lewis Street, supports countries with high poverty and diverts clothing from landfills

SUSTAINABLE SILVERTON JOINS THE CLIMATE MAYOR’S COLLABORATIVE

Is it time for Silverton to join with other civic leaders to reduce transportation emissions by adopting electric vehicles for use by city staff? The Climate Mayor’s Collaborative is an unprecedented cooperation of 409 city mayors across the country to leverage their collective buying power and accelerate the conversion of municipal fleets to electric; it is focused on reducing upfront costs and EV procurement barriers. It is a turnkey, one-stop, online procurement portal providing municipalities equal access to competitively bid electric vehicles and accompanying charging infrastructure, innovative financing options, and access to policy guidance and expert resources. The Climate Mayors Electric Vehicle Purchasing Collaborative is a first-of-its-kind partnership of public fleets, non-profits, and procurement agencies working to accelerate the transition of public fleets to electric vehicles (E.V.s). The collaborative is led by cities with climate mayors and others. Offerings through the Collaborative include electric vehicle charging stations, light-duty vehicle from a wide variety of manufacturers, electric school buses, and equipment such as electric street sweepers. The Collaborative also connects fleets with total cost of operation assessment tools, a large variety of purchasing options for EVs and charging stations, competitive and transparent pricing, and leasing options that can help capture the federal tax credit for EVs. Sustainable Silverton will track the work of the Collaborative and urge Silverton to take advantage of their services as we move forward to adopting sustainable practices.

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LET’S ELECTRIFY OUR HOMES!

A big step toward climate adaptation and resilience

In the midst of this summer’s heat waves, some Silverton residents kept cool by using the same electrical appliance that heats their homes. How could that be?!

ANSWER: Electric heat pumps are designed to both heat and cool – and installing them in our homes is one of the steps we can take to make our homes more livable and to be part of the solution to climate change.

Why electrify?

We’re in a climate emergency. Climate scientists from around the globe have sounded the alarm – the climate is changing much faster than previously anticipated. To avoid the worst impacts of climate change, we need to take immediate and decisive action to make the shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy. At home, that shift begins with weaning ourselves from natural gas appliances and replacing them with electric appliances. We hear most often about the harmful effects of carbon dioxide, a major greenhouse gas that’s causing disastrous changes in our climate. But it’s not the only one. Methane from natural gas is about 84 times stronger than CO2 at trapping heat over a 20-year period. Methane leaks from the natural gas supply chain are contributing at least 25% of our climate-changing greenhouse gases to the earth’s atmosphere. Replacing heating, cooking, and water heating with electric only systems is critical to addressing climate change – and it’s also safer for our homes. For example, indoor pollutants released by gas cooktops and ovens are much greater than homes without these appliances, even when the stove isn’t in use. According to the Rocky Mountain Institute, homes that use gas stoves have indoor air that’s 2 to 5 times dirtier than outdoor air. To learn more about steps you can take to electrify your home, visit

Electrify Your Home — Electrify Now

. Home retrofit clinics are offered free of charge by Nancy Evenson (Nancy@evensonarchitecture.com), a retired architect who serves on the Corvallis Sustainability Coalition’s Housing Action Team. As we learn to adapt to hotter, drier summers and other impacts of climate change, taking steps now to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions means we’re part of the solution. Empowering our community to create a clean energy future is one of the Silverton Sustainability Coalition’s goals – and we invite you to join in this effort by starting at home.