Learn, engage and broaden your horizons at the Lake Oswego Sustainability Resource Fair

Editor’s note: This story appears in the April edition of LO Monthly.

For the past two years the Lake Oswego Sustainability Resource Fair has given community members the chance to learn more about how they can make a difference in their own backyards.

From learning about solar panels or electric cars to trying out the “library of things” with the Lake Oswego Public Library, the fair gives Lake Oswego residents the chance to broaden their horizons and learn about how expansive sustainability can be.

The third annual event at Lakeridge Middle School is from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 20. The Earth Day event brings together a tight knit coalition of sustainability-minded organizations with a variety of booths, activities and information. This year’s Sustainability Resource Fair is organized in collaboration by the city of Lake Oswego Sustainability Advisory Board, the Lake Oswego School District, the Lake Oswego Sustainability Network and the Oswego Lake Watershed Council.

“It’s a great opportunity to come and expand your mental model,” said Larry Zurcher, LOSD’s sustainability teacher on special assignment. “Come and learn something new — that’s it in a nutshell.”

This year’s fair will feature a few new additions including an electric vehicle ride-and-drive opportunity in the school parking lot.

There will also be electronic waste recycling by Green Century Recycling, so bring old computers, tablets, phones, TVs and hard drives for safe disposal at the fair.

“It’s a great community oriented event, I just love the opportunity to see everyone. With all of the diversity of the related offerings and programs, all in one location and seeing community members interact with that, it just brings me so much joy,” said Amanda Watson, sustainability program manager in the city manager’s office. “What I think is really special about the fair is that we see a lot of families, so it’s actually a range of ages from families to retired folks.”

One of the returning partners this year is Shifting Gears, Gifting Gear, a local organization that helps families reuse bikes and sports gears that their children have grown out of. In a “pay it forward” model, kids are able to give their equipment to someone the right size, while they have the chance to grow and upgrade as well.

By focusing on sustainable ideas like equipment sharing or repairing clothes, the fair is able to broaden the definition of sustainability.

“What does sustainability mean? When I work with the school board, or teachers, or a PTO, we start with a conversation and we write about it. It’s usually recycling, the environment, things like that. What we do is look at the bigger picture than just that. Yes, the environment is one significant piece, but there’s a social equity component, an economic component. Once you open up that mental model, suddenly people start seeing it in more places and that’s really exciting,” said Zurcher.

For Lake Oswego students, the sustainability fair is an important community event that features student organizations like the Green Team and Lake Oswego Youth Leadership Council.

“This year, the LO High School sewing club is going to have stations and they’re going to have different things that kids can do to learn how to sew or learn how to repair something,” said Zurcher.

The event also served as a way to introduce the community to the new Lakeridge Middle School — an example of sustainable design and architecture nestled right in Lake Oswego.

When the fair started two years ago, the idea was to “create community” through a sustainability network, but also to host an event that was fun, engaging and highly informative.

“We have the library there — we’ve had them every year — they’ll have a small collection of books usually, and resources that are focused on sustainability,” Watson said. “But they also really promote the library of things, which I think is an incredible program.You can check out anything from a musical instrument to an air fryer.”

Watson said that adding new organizations and partnerships each fair has “generated so much energy and positive feedback.” This year, the EV ride-and-drive and e-waste recycling are new additions, but LOSD is adding more programming and activities for kids that include gardening and sustainable food programs.

The fair will also feature a raffle; past prizes have included a farm share subscription and art, as well as free native seedlings to take home and plant.

“It’s a nice boost to the folks that have been doing this for years and also a way to invite other people into climate action and to building a healthy and sustainable community,” said Watson. “It’s a reminder and a catalyst for us to build that movement and that momentum. So it’s a celebration, but it’s also that mobilization. We love the natural world and there’s more we need to do to protect it.”