BRING gets ready to build new home.

Byline: SCOTT MABEN The Register-Guard

Even ardent recyclers occasionally need something new. For BRING Recycling, one of the nation's oldest nonprofit recyclers, what's needed is a new home to serve Lane County's growing appetite for sustainable living.

The 31-year-old organization is preparing to break ground on a roomier, more conveniently located compound to replace its cramped digs off Interstate 5 east of Lane Community College.

But true to its mission, BRING is reusing a piece of ground - a 2.8-acre lot it bought last year on Franklin Boulevard in Glenwood.

At 2 1/2 times larger than its present location a mile to the south, the new site will allow for an expanded yard for used building materials, from windows to light fixtures to lumber, and an assortment of other household items diverted from the county dump.

The new location also will offer visitors much more than a place to donate and pick up salvaged goods. The plan is to transform it into a showcase for building, gardening, landscaping and other practices that are good for the environment.

The approach recognizes that basic recycling has become a mainstream activity but is not enough to address society's more complex problems, said Julie Daniel, BRING's general manager.

"Recycling is sort of the low-hanging fruit. It's not too hard to convince people to put their bottles in the recycling bin rather than the garbage can," Daniel said.

"Today we have to put recycling in a larger context, which is sustainability. We need to popularize conservation and reuse to the same extent we have recycling," she said. "That's a bigger behavioral change, and we recognized in our current facility we couldn't possibly achieve that goal."

The vision for BRING's new headquarters is a fun, attractive, inspiring atmosphere, a place where a garden sprouts from the office roof, where rain and sunlight are captured and used in creative ways, where discarded utility poles support covered retail space and walkways, keeping shoppers and merchandise dry.

"Our goal is to create a place that becomes a magnet for the community, that's really a tourist attraction, in a way, with a serious message," Daniel said.

That message, she said, is much more can be done to counter the rising tide of waste and overconsumption that contribute to global warming, water and air pollution, loss of species and other problems.

"The issue of waste is very serious, because we're wasting the things we value the most," Daniel said. "And each of us is making more and more trash each year."

Work will begin soon to remodel a 3,000-square-foot building that formerly housed retail space for Burkett Trailer Sales & Service.

The remodeling will use materials salvaged from other places, including Gilbert Hall at the University of Oregon, the Hult Center and the Eugene Airport. The space, to become BRING's offices, will incorporate energy-efficient practices, such as natural lighting and ventilation powered by the sun and wind.

A green or "living roof" also may top the building, said Rudy Berg, a BRING board member and the head of design work for the new site. The landscaped roof, probably featuring a hardy plant commonly found in rock gardens, will help insulate the offices and prolong the life of the roof.

It also will capture the rain, in turn keeping the water cool and clean as it drains into the stormwater system. "Essentially it will act like big sponge," said Berg, owner of Common Practice Building Design in Eugene.

Elsewhere on the site, designers are planning to build bio-swales, which are depressions in the earth with special plants that act as biological filters. It's another small way to help improve water quality for salmon and other aquatic wildlife, Berg said.

"When water falls onto blacktop or a dark-colored roof, it gets warmed in a way it wouldn't if it fell in the forest," he said. "It's one of the things that doesn't just leap out at you - a connection between buildings and parking lots and salmon."

In future phases, BRING plans to add workshops to clean and repair donated items and add value to other materials, such as wood scraps. It also plans to incorporate more landscaping as well as artworks into the site, again using recycled materials.

"We see one of the issues around sustainability is, it has become this nebulous concept," Daniel said. "We felt people need concrete examples, things they can see and touch and experience, that are relative to their lives."

The move is expected to happen over the next 18 months but will depend largely on the success of fund raising at a time when nonprofit agencies are struggling to raise cash, Daniel said.

The estimated cost is $1.94 million, including in-kind contributions. A formal capital campaign will begin in 2003.

The project recently got a jump start from the Meyer Memorial Trust, which pledged grants totaling $110,000.

BRING IT ON

Mission: Since 1971, BRING Recycling has helped the community keep useful items out of the landfill, find ways to use less, reuse as many things as possible and recycle the rest.

Used goods: BRING's reuse warehouse at 86641 Franklin Blvd. (off Interstate 5 exit 189 South) has the widest selection of used building materials for sale between Portland and San Francisco. Each month, the warehouse takes in nearly 40 tons of building materials and other reusable items donated by the public, contractors and businesses.

To market: BRING also processes recyclable materials the public drops off at the county's Glenwood Central Receiving Station or at four public drop sites. It crushes, sorts, bales and sends to market more than 200 tons of cans, glass, plastic, cardboard and milk containers every month.

Education: BRING provides free reuse, recycling and waste reduction presentations, tours and educational resources to schools and community groups throughout the county.

Hours: The warehouse is open Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday, noon to 4 p.m., until March 1, when it stays open until 5 p.m.

For more information: Call 746-3023. On the Web:

www.bringrecycling.org.

- BRING Recycling