Coming in May to the coveted “Duderanch Ballroom” is NuMark Office Interiors.  NuMark is a “full-service commercial furnishings dealership providing clients with a broad range of interior product and furniture service solutions.”  There’s some synchronicity at work in getting this group into the old jazz club, as General Manager Randy Ito has some jazz history himself (you’ll have to ask him).  He’s already known affectionately around the Leftbank office as “Ballroom Randy.”

The breathtaking 3rd floor is probably even more beautiful than the last time you looked.  Beginning this past weekend, Sockeye Creative is moving their operation to Leftbank.  An integrated brand creative agency, they say, “Think of us as a physical trainer for your brand.  We’ll whip it into the best shape of its life.  All muscle.  No fat.  That’s where the metaphor ends.  You won’t catch us checking ourselves out in the mirror.”

Stop by and welcome the new neighbors when you have a chance.  We couldn’t be more pleased to have them on board.

When we opened for the season a few weeks ago, we knew this would be a very different year for Portland Farmers Market. We’ve expanded the footprint of our largest market at PSU, we’re adding two markets to our weekly farm-direct roster, and we are staring straight into the eyes of the meanest market monster: garbage. With founding support from the Office of the Mayor, we have undertaken a new effort to radically reduce the amount of waste that is generated at our markets. We have christened this campaign EverGreen and with it, we hope to move a giant step closer to creating a sustainable food system.

The EverGreen campaign will be introduced across all PFM locations over the next three years, beginning with the PSU Market in 2010. This season, we are asking customers to find an EverGreen waste station to recycle it, compost it, or waste it rather than seeking out the nearest garbage can on campus. The EverGreen stations are staffed by volunteer “garbage gatekeepers”, providing guidance to customers about how to shrink one’s personal waste footprint by ensuring that waste goes where it belongs.

Our goal for this year is to divert 50% of waste generated at the PSU Market to compost and recycling streams. By the third year of EverGreen, we will divert 90% of waste from all market locations to compost and recycling, redirecting more than ten tons of would-be garbage from the landfill over the course of each season. Of course, we need all sorts of help to make this happen. Vendors, volunteers, customers, civic partners, and government leaders are all being asked to pitch in and help us realize this (near) zero-waste vision. Do you want to join our fight against the trash monster and spread the garbage gospel to the masses? Please click here or email EverGreen Coordinator, Ryan McLaughlin for more information. (Stay tuned next week for more about Ryan, the newest member of our farmers market family.)

See you at the market!

From Leftbank’s inception, it was understood that the Project needed room for events.  Events have unique capacity to inspire, unite, and broaden our reach.  Of course we want that here. 

The same principles that define Leftbank Project have shaped the development of Leftbank Annex.  Check it out!

Focus the Nation is a national non-profit headquartered in Portland, Oregon. It was founded in 1999 by professor and economist, Eban Goodstein. We believe in the science of climate change and the opportunity it presents to rebuild American communities and US leadership at the local, national and international level.

We are driven by a fierce commitment to empower young people with the leadership, educational and civic engagement opportunities that will accelerate our transformation to a more just and prosperous clean energy future.