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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Nov. 29, 2018
New Salem Public Art Sculpture Honors the 1971 Bottle Bill, the Land We Love Dec. 13th’s public art dedication to celebrate the landmark bill’s legacy and today’s impact.
The elevator pitch: Oregon’s Bottle Bill turns 47 this year, and its legacy is stronger than ever. Members of Oregon Environmental Council (OEC), officials with the City of Salem, the Oregon Beverage Recycling Cooperative (OBRC) and other environmental champions plan to unveil a new sculpture in Salem on Thursday, Dec. 13, 2018 to celebrate the landmark legislation. This year is on pace to reach nearly 1 billion bottles collected for recycling.
The basic details: Who: Salem Mayor Chuck Bennett and other guests will dedicate the creation of “Good Cents” in celebration of 1971’s Bottle Bill. What: Good Cents is a sculpture commissioned in celebration of the bill. When: Noon, Thursday, Dec. 13, 2018 Where: Mill Race Park, on the south side of Trade Street between High Street and Church Street Why: Forty-seven years ago, Oregon made history by being the first state in the United States to formally adopt a bottle redemption system. This landmark legislation has since grown to become as much a part of the Oregonian identity as its public beaches, speed limits, and sales tax-free shopping. The artists selected to commemorate the bill have created a sculpture that honors our ancestors and past leaders. How: Artists were selected via Salem Public Art Commission, which funded the project along with OEC, OBRC, Travel Oregon and other partners.
More: The legacy of the state’s Bottle Bill is stronger than ever, and the landmark legislation is one of the first bills that Oregon Environmental Council’s sought to champion during its 50-year history.
The 1971 bill–which originally required consumers to pay a nickel deposit that would be re- collected after returning an empty glass bottle for recycling–led to the expanded recycling of aluminum cans and plastic bottles, and other legislation such as curbside pickup in several cities and 2017’s increase to 10-cent deposits.
To commemorate the ground-breaking law and the 50th anniversary of the Oregon Environmental Council, the nonprofit has partnered with the City of Salem to commission a sculpture by celebrated Oregon artists Lillian Pitt, and Mikkel and Saralyn Hilde. Salem Mayor Chuck Bennett and other guests plan to reflect on the Bottle Bill’s impact at the dedication.
The event is the second in a series from Oregon Environmental Council’s Art of Loving Oregon campaign, which included the celebration of Senate Bill 100 at the Sokol Blosser Winery last August. A 2019 event to dedicate a sculpture at Portland State University to commemorate the 1971 Bike Bill will be announced a later date.
222 NW Davis Street, Suite 309 Portland, OR 97209-3900 503.222.1963 OEConline.org | @OEConline
For Salem, Good Cents is a brushed aluminum sculpture 10 feet in height, incorporating the use of recycled materials in its fabrication. It will be installed in Salem’s Mill Race Park, on the south side of Trade Street between High Street and Church Street.
The Pitt-Hilde team drew on Native basket designs, petroglyphs, and pictographs in the design, while also employing symbols referencing the bottle bill. Good Cents is intended to show respect for nature and sustainability and to inspire healing and understanding.
Pitt, who is a member of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, moved to Portland in 1961; she said she remembers the Bottle Bill, “not only helped clean up the land, but then that nickel for each bottle helped some people—gave the kids—some spending money … I have so many memories of the planet and how’s it changed and how people have changed. Our goal has always been to improve.”
Good Cents is all about hope and celebration in honoring the good sense of all the people of Oregon,” said Saralynn Hilde, one of three artists who created the sculpture. She adds she hopes “people recognize the importance of the environment and how our actions affect the world in which we live in.”
The artwork was selected by the Salem Public Art Commission from several proposals from regional artists. A total of $30,000 was made available from OEC, the Oregon Beverage Recycling Cooperative, a grant from Travel Oregon, and the City of Salem Public Art Fund for design, artist fees, fabrication, transportation, and installation of the sculpture.
“Our roads and highways were littered with bottles and trash in the years before the 1971 Bottle Bill,” said OEC Executive Director Andrea Durbin. “Thanks to hardworking Oregonians who crafted this legislation, a large percentage of our bottled trash is recycled. Oregon Environmental Council with all our partners takes pride in celebrating this bipartisan legislation that’s molded our state’s environmental legacy.”
Oregonians have returned more than 500 million containers from July through September, according to OBRC’s third quarter report for 2018, and when combined with the first six months, nearly 1 billion containers have been recycled. Last year, the cooperative counted about 1.3 billion containers.
OBRC collected 45 percent more containers during its third quarter of 2018 compared to the same period last year. Measured in raw volume of containers, the three months have been “by far the busiest three months in the history of Oregon’s bottle return system. This was the first summer season with both the increased deposit value and the expanded class of containers,” according to OBRC’s most recent public report.
--30-- Press Contact: Tony Hernandez, Communications Manager [email protected], 503.222.1963 ext. 115
About Oregon Environmental Council: We bring Oregonians together to protect our water, air and land with healthy solutions that work for today and for future generations. Founded in 1968 by concerned Oregonians from across the state, we are a membership-based, nonpartisan nonprofit. Follow us! @oeconline | OEConline.org