Since its corporate inception in 2004, Klamath Sustainable Communities (now Sustainable Klamath) has been actively involved in providing services to Klamath Falls residents to promote sustainable living.
These include:
1) 1996 – 2020; Waste Management: Our members worked with Waste Management and SWAC to encourage recycling in the Klamath Basin. We helped change garbage rates to a volume base instead of a flat 32 gallon can base and increased the volume that was recycled. Working with local Waste Management, we created a coloring book as part of Earth Day which was distributed at PLAY at the Fairgrounds in January, Winter Wings Festival at OIT in February, and Migratory Bird Day in Veterans Park in May. In 2004 -2005, we sold a total of 550 backyard compost bins. In 2007, we partnered with the OSU garden to have a compost demonstration site and later developed one at Mountain Valley Gardens and in our own Community Garden in the Mills Addition.
2) Sustainability Education Kiosks: With permission from various officials for many years, we placed our kiosks delivering free sustainable living information in the County Administration Building, OIT, the Chiloquin Community Center, the Jefferson Mall, and the Klamath County Library.
3) Educational Forums:
a) 1996 and 1997; presented sustainability principles and information to over 40 community leaders.
b) 2007 – 2009; used Andrew Morrison (a Strawbale home builder) principles to teach strawbale construction, including working with contractors to build a home in Chiloquin and one in Bonanza.
c) January and October 2010; collaborated with Energy Star companies in Klamath Basin to educate over 100 local residents about energy saving opportunities using local companies to better heat and cool their homes as well as other home improvements to save energy.
4) 2010 The Mills Community Garden; People rented plots for a nominal fee so they could grow their own food from 2010 until the property was sold by the owner in 2022.
5) 2011 DVD produced on Energy Saving; collaborated with local companies such as Ecosolar and Seasons Change to produce a video by Tyra Arraj entitled “Paying too much to heat your home”. It sold for $10 and was shown as part of an energy-saving information workshop sponsored by Klamath County Library.
6) 2016; we were one of the first organizations to join Blue Zones.
7) 2017; we opened the Tool Library, one of only 7 in the state of Oregon, most of which are in the Portland area.
8) 2022; Trash Talk articles in the Herald and News.
9) other partnerships over the years include Americorps program, Rural Organizing Project (ROP), Garden Street Congregational Church, KLCAS, Klamath Food Bank, and Klamath Tribal Health and Family Services.
10) 2025; New Tool Library home purchased on East Main Street in Mills Addition.