Member Profile: BRING Recycling

For more than five decades, BRING Recycling has served as a cornerstone of sustainability and environmental education in Lane County. Founded by community volunteers in the wake of the first Earth Day, BRING has grown from a grassroots recycling effort into a multifaceted nonprofit focused on creative reuse, education, and environmental stewardship. The Springfield Chamber spoke with Emily Reynolds, BRING’s Director of Education and Outreach and Rethink Business Coordinator, to learn more about how the organization is helping individuals, schools, and businesses across the region rethink waste and reduce their environmental impact, one salvaged material at a time.

Tell us a little about BRING
BRING is one of Lane County’s longest-standing environmental nonprofits, with over 50 years of dedication to keeping reusable building materials out of the waste stream and promoting recycling and sustainability in the community. Today, we are best known for our home and garden thrift store in Glenwood, where we offer everything from windows and doors to tools, furniture, tile, and more. By recovering and selling these valuable materials, we help prevent waste, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and preserve local resources for our community.

In addition to our retail outlet, we offer a variety of educational programs to inspire residents, students, and businesses to reduce waste, conserve resources, and adopt more sustainable lifestyles. These programs include hands-on do-it-yourself classes and maker workshops, K-12 presentations, sustainable business technical assistance and certifications, and more.

Where and how did BRING start?
A group of passionate volunteers inspired by the first Earth Day founded BRING Recycling in 1971. In its first year, the organization collected 400 tons of glass and introduced the “reduce, reuse, recycle” movement to the community—values that have since become ingrained in our way of life.

As we grew, BRING launched the first conservation education program in local schools and found ways to recycle materials that were previously discarded—like plastic, milk cartons, and e-waste. We expanded from recycling to salvaging building materials like windows and sinks. Our small beginnings soon gave way to overflowing quarters filled with reusable materials of all kinds. Builders, artists, fabricators, and bargain hunters flocked to BRING, and over time, we became a hub for creative reuse.

In 2007, we moved to our current location, the Planet Improvement Center in Glenwood between Eugene and Springfield. Here, we offer much more than just used goods. The Center has become a community treasure, featuring an art gallery, a demonstration garden, and growing examples of green building, creative reuse, and renewable energy. It’s a place where people can discover how to live sustainably and reduce waste, embodying the core principles BRING has championed for over 50 years.

What services do you offer and what makes BRING unique?
BRING offers a wide range of services tailored to individuals, students and teachers, and businesses, each designed to promote sustainability and reduce waste.

For individuals, we provide opportunities to donate unwanted household building materials, which we then sort, clean, and recirculate into the community for reuse. We also offer hands-on DIY home improvement classes through our Toolbox Tactics program, where participants learn valuable skills while using sustainable materials. Additionally, our maker workshops encourage creative upcycling, allowing people to craft unique, fun projects from reclaimed materials.

For businesses, we offer custom sustainability reporting through our Rethink Business program to help track and improve environmental practices. Specifically, for construction businesses, our recently relaunched construction Materials Recovery program helps identify and collect usable materials from demolition sites, salvaging valuable building resources for reuse.

For teachers and students, we offer waste prevention and recycling classroom presentations designed to engage and educate the next generation on sustainable practices. Our K-12 educator also provides tours of local waste handling facilities, including the Short Mountain landfill and Glenwood transfer station, giving students a behind-the-scenes look at the waste management process.

What do you like most about this work?
What I love most about this work is seeing the direct impact we have on the community. Whether it’s watching someone learn a new skill in a workshop or seeing construction materials saved from a landfill and repurposed, it’s incredibly rewarding to know that we’re helping to create a more resourceful future for our region. The partnerships we build with local businesses and organizations also make this work incredibly fulfilling.

Do you have any advice for others?
My advice would be to start small but think big. Even small actions can lead to significant change when it comes to sustainability. Whether it’s reducing your personal waste or getting involved with community efforts, every effort matters.

Anything else you’d like to share?
I’d like to encourage anyone interested to get involved with BRING. Whether you’re looking for materials, interested in learning new skills, or want to support our programs, we’re always excited to welcome new participants and supporters into our community. Together, we can make a lasting difference for the environment and future generations.

About BRING Recycling
BRING is one of the nation’s oldest non-profit recyclers. Since 1971, they have encouraged people to rethink what they use and what they throw away. They help our community keep useful items out of the landfill, find ways to use less stuff, reuse as many things as possible, and recycle the rest. Through their retail outlet and education programs, they fulfill their mission to provide vision, leadership, and tools for living well on the planet we share.