The Applegater

Applegater Summer 2015 1 SUMMER 2015 Volume 8, No. 2 Serving Jackson and Josephine Counties — Circulation: 10,500 Applegate Valley Community Newsmagazine Photo by Teya Jacobi www.applegater.org Applegate Valley Community Newspaper, Inc. P.O. Box 14 Jacksonville, OR 97530 Celebrating Years Nonprofit Org US Postage PAID Permit #125 Medford OR ECRWSS Local Postal Customer Fire report: This year the intensity level was higher by SANDy SHAFFER See INTENSITy LEVEL, page 8 See ZERO WASTE, page 12 Once again I made the late-March trek across the Cascades to attend this year's Wildland Urban Interface Conference in Reno. e conference is put on by the International Association of Fire Chiefs, with folks from across our nation and around the world attending. As I drove over for the tenth year in a row, I wondered whether I'd find something new to write about for the summer Applegater. After two days of lectures, panel discussions and networking, I hadn't heard many new concepts or research results. However, I did come away with a pair of unnerving perceptions: first, we are seeing unprecedented fire weather and behavior globally. And second, a whole lot of people seem to be unwilling to take control of their fire risk. Not a good combination! Fire seasons are s t ar ting earlier and lasting longer. Southern California is pretty much in "fire season" every month of the year now. Drought conditions are being declared somewhere almost daily, it seems. In Jackson County there was no open burning allowed The solution is zero by HEATHER MURPHy The news that our penchant for consumption has us galloping headlong toward a resource shortage is not exactly hot off the presses. Nor is the news that the waste resulting from this habit is damaging the environment. What might be news is that there is a vibrant and growing sustainability movement, "zero waste," which directly addresses issues of pollution and shortage caused by waste. e goal of zero waste is that nothing, ever, becomes garbage. T h e p h r a s e " z e r o w a s t e " was coined in the 1970s, when Paul Palmer, a chemist, developed Zero Waste Systems, a company that repackaged chemicals from the burgeoning electronics industry for further use by consumers, thereby forestalling their entrance to the environment. Later Palmer founded the Zero Waste Institute, which rejects practices like recycling refuse and recirculating used clothing as mere extensions of garbage management, since their end result, however far down the line, is items in the dump. "e best way to avoid waste," according to the Zero Waste Institute, "is to reuse everything over and over— perpetually." Consumer goods that are specifically designed and manufactured for perpetual reuse and zero waste have a life cycle termed "cradle to cradle." "Cradle to grave" refers to current unsustainable modes of production that ultimately lead to scarcity and pollution. Various assembly lines around the world are now making headway "closing the loop" in all phases of manufacturing, with more joining them each year. Anheuser Busch, GM, Toyota, Subaru, and Xerox now have zero waste- to-landfill production sites among their plants, and Bridgestone Tires recently gained the Underwriters Laboratory (UL) certificate of validation of zero waste for their tire manufacturing facility in Wilson, North Carolina. Zero waste is quickly gaining traction as a workable model for the future. Many businesses and nonprofit groups have joined the Zero Waste International Alliance, a nonprofit organization of RED LILY VINEYARDS 6 - 9 PM • LIVE MUSIC DINNER BY ELEMENTS TAPAS BAR WINE & BEER SILENT AUCTION • TICKETS ON SALE AFTER JULY 4 Applegate Store Hidden Valley Market Ray's in Jacksonville Ruch Country Store • $50 PER PERSON Must be over 21 No pets Tickets will not be sold after August 9 and will not be available at the door. All proceeds benefit the Applegater newsmagazine. No refunds; all sales final. Waste to landfill: getting to zero From www.triplepundit.com McKee Bridge Day will kick off with a ribbon- cutting ceremony at 11 am to mark the official opening of the restored McKee Bridge. A number of special guests are expected to assist in that ceremony. ere will be a quilt show on the bridge, great food, children's crafts, boat races in the irrigation ditch, prizes, a bake sale, a craft sale, a 50/50 raffle, music by Dan Doshier and Off the Wall Music, and more! It is hoped that this will be the best party ever. e latest restoration of our 98-year-old covered bridge was completed in February. Friends and members of McKee Bridge were very generous in helping us raise over $62,000 in matching funds to go along with the two major grants needed for the restoration effort. ODOT administered the work, and the result is a bridge that is stronger than the original construction. e Board of Directors of the McKee Bridge Historical Society wishes to thank all of the members and friends who so generously contributed to the Restoration Fund. Come out and see the wonderful restored bridge! Before the bridge was closed for restoration, it was estimated that more than 6,000 people visited the bridge each year. Most came from Oregon and California, but others came from all over the world. e sign-in log showed that the bridge was visited by people from every continent in the world except Antarctica. For more information, go to www.mckeehistoricalcoveredbridge.org. Celebrate McKee Bridge Day Saturday, June 13 11 am to 3 pm ~ ~ Reduce. Then what can't be reduced Reuse. Then what can't be reused Recycle/Compost. Then what can't be recycled or composted Recover. Using state-of-the-art combustion processes to generate clean, renewable energy, and then Dispose of that which has no other uses and must be landfilled

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