BRING Eyes Northwest Eugene

BRING Recycling, Lane County’s main construction materials re-use organization, wants to open an outlet in northwest Eugene and is searching for a spot to lease.

The nonprofit’s main facility in Glenwood is packed with materials due to successful new donation programs, and the Highway 99 area in northwest Eugene is “underserved,” says BRING Executive Director Sonya Carlson.

“We’re bringing in more quality re-usable materials, and we need somewhere to put them, and we want to share them with our customers more broadly across the region,” Carlson tells Eugene Weekly.

BRING began its search earlier this year, Carlson says. It’s been hard finding a spot that meets the agency’s criteria, she says. BRING wants roughly an acre on a major arterial road, with a retail building, and enough space for customer parking and for materials storage, she says. Plus, it wants to be close to big-box home improvement stores.

Why proximity to big-box stores? “We would like to make it really easy for people to choose re-use first. If it’s convenient for somebody to take a quick jaunt and check us out first, before they head to a [big-box store], that’s what we’d like to be able to do,” says Carlson.

BRING opened its 2.5-acre Glenwood location, with product display areas, donation center, storage areas and offices, in 2007.

BRING last year opened a donation center at Lane County’s Glenwood Transfer Station, the main garbage and recycling facility in the Eugene-Springfield metro area. Also, BRING has reactivated a program for construction companies, commercial and residential debris removal and hauling companies, and others to channel re-usable items to BRING, Carlson says.

While the agency is financially stable, it doesn’t have the money to buy a northwest Eugene property, she says, so it is looking to lease.

“It seems like an underserved area and we could fill that need,” she says.For more information, contact BRING at 541-746-3023 or visit BringRecycling.org.

A Note From the Publisher

Dear Readers,

The last two years have been some of the hardest in Eugene Weekly’s 43 years. There were moments when keeping the paper alive felt uncertain. And yet, here we are — still publishing, still investigating, still showing up every week.

That’s because of you!

Not just because of financial support (though that matters enormously), but because of the emails, notes, conversations, encouragement and ideas you shared along the way. You reminded us why this paper exists and who it’s for.

Listening to readers has always been at the heart of Eugene Weekly. This year, that meant launching our popular weekly Activist Alert column, after many of you told us there was no single, reliable place to find information about rallies, meetings and ways to get involved. You asked. We responded.

We’ve also continued to deepen the coverage that sets Eugene Weekly apart, including our in-depth reporting on local real estate development through Bricks & Mortar — digging into what’s being built, who’s behind it and how those decisions shape our community.

And, of course, we’ve continued to bring you the stories and features many of you depend on: investigations and local government reporting, arts and culture coverage, sudoku and crossword puzzles, Savage Love, and our extensive community events calendar. We feature award-winning stories by University of Oregon student reporters getting real world journalism experience. All free. In print and online.

None of this happens by accident. It happens because readers step up and say: this matters.

As we head into a new year, please consider supporting Eugene Weekly if you’re able. Every dollar helps keep us digging, questioning, celebrating — and yes, occasionally annoying exactly the right people. We consider that a public service.

Thank you for standing with us!